I have found that if you spray "Ivory" soap along with your water to the exterior shrubs and flowers, you will have very few mosquitoes.  Happy summer to all who try it.  Just fill your hose end sprayer with Ivory, attach your hose and spray away.

Della M. Schultz

Garden tip:  Used coffee grounds can be spread out underneah azalea bushes...helps keep the soil acidic and they love it!

Monica Ouziel

I save the egg shells from cooking, toss them into a paper bag under my sink, crunch them down occasionally to make room for more shells, and twice a year, fall and spring, process the dried shells in my cuisenart.  Then I sprinkle the egg shell dust onto any flower beds that have lime-loving perennial plants.  My daylilies, spring flowering bulbs, and chyrsanthemums love their twice yearly treat!

Sr. Madeleine Gregg, fcJ

We have tried to grow roses for years without too much luck.  Last summer, my husband started "planting" his morning banana peel in his rose bed each day.  I'm sure the potassium enriched the soil, and we had the biggest and most beautiful roses we have ever had.  We plan to continue to "plant" the banana peels this summer. 

Jean B. Walk

Perhaps this is not a tip, but I would like to tell you what I observed in my bean vines last year. I have tried to garden organically for a number of years as I know there is such a thing as 'The Balance of Nature'. When the larvae of the Mexican Bean Beetle began to eat the leaves, I noticed a tiny beetle was consuming the larvae. I had five short rows of halfrunner beans and gathered ten bushels. How's that for Organic Gardening?

Pat Sanders

Recycle that newspaper everyday by mulching your plants with it. Newspaper makes a great weed block when your small seedlings need it the most and then it decomposes into the soil, enriching it with organic matter. Also, newspaper, whether shredded or applied in whole sheets, is a great way to conserve moisture in the soil.

Regards, OldGrafter

   Each year when it's time to mulch around trees, shrubs, and plants in gardens, most people rush out to buy bags of bark chips, shredded mulch, and/or cocoa bean shells.  They use this not only to protect plants, keep moisture in, and weeds down, but also to make their gardens more decorative.  Depending on the size of space you want to mulch, this can become quite costly.
   In our city, as our street crews trim trees away from power lines, cut down trees, and recycle Christmas trees, they "dump" their trucks in large square areas, and offer it as "free"  mulch to our citizens.  Not only is this mulch "FREE" for the taking and hauling, but it lasts much longer (sometimes only needing to be mulched every other year--while it breaks down to give added nutrients to our plants, it doesn't break down not nearly as fast as the kind you buy by the bag, and our plants seem to do better with mulch that is normally found in their natural surroundings--not to mention the numerous birds that like to pick up pieces here and there for their bird houses!
   The recycled pine Christmas trees also add a touch of fragrance through out your yard as well!  Not only do our plants, shrubs, etc., do better, our wildlife loves it, and so does our wallets!  Plus, it does our hearts good to know that we are recycling "the natural way" from "our very own" natural resources!

Kathy Hansen

For "no work" fall lettuce let spring planted lettuce go to seed.  If you plan to allow this to happen, be careful about where you plant the lettuce in the garden in the spring, so it will not be in the way of something else.  This lettuce will not be in rows, but will spread about 3 feet on both sides of the row.

Jo Ellen

We save all our eggshells to recycle in the garden.  After drying, and crushing, we spade them into the soil where they replenish calcium without costing us a dime!  This helps prevent calcium deficiency problems like "blossom end rot" in tomatoes.

Anonymous