A year round garden is the greatest of all, our annuals allow you to have beauty at home through all seasons. There can be many little creatures, critters, weather inferences and plant diseases that look to destroy all of your hard planting work. Some of these great tips can be found from ingredients in your pantry, and will help you keep all imposing parties at bay and allow you to continue to admire your Pohlmans garden all year round.
1. Pesky Pooch Spray
Homemade capsicum spray will keep the dogs away, this subtle mixture sprayed directly onto the leaves of your seedlings will deter your pooch from digging.
Puree of 1 capsicum and hot chilli, combined with the same amount of water and a teaspoon of dishwashing liquid (this will help the liquid stick) will keep your dogs away.
2. Garlic Insect Repellent
To discourage pesky bugs you can make a garlic cayenne pepper spray. Chop up 1 head of garlic, adding 1 tablespoon of cayenne pepper. Combine ingredients with 2 cups of water. Set this aside to steep for an hour. Strain and spray on buggy plant leaves. NOTE: This will repel ALL insects, even pollinators like bees. So be sure to use this wisely.
3. Vinegar Weed Killer
Vinegar can be used as a broad-spectrum herbicide, but it is not selective, so be careful to only spray weeds with this. To make this easy mix, simply fill a spray bottle with some apple cider vinegar, adding 1 tablespoon of dishwashing liquid. Spraying weeds in the heat of the day. This will kill foliage but not necessarily the roots. Tough weeds will need repeat applications.
4. Coffee for slugs and snails
Did you know that pesky snails and slugs are deterred by spraying your plants with some of your morning coffee? You can also try sprinkling coffee grinds around the plant as well. Coffee grinds are a superb and cheap soil amendment. Earthworms love them and they condition the soil. Sprinkling grinds in the garden will also discourage your neighbours cats.