Friday, February 27, 2015

Do Not Discard. 15 Household Products You Can Use on Your Yard



Spring is cleaning time, and you may be ready to throw away products you haven’t used for years. 

Many of these products are good for your yard -- you may remember if you watched Jerry Baker on PBS or if you’ve read his books. He advocates the use of tonics and solutions to make flowers, shrubs and grass come alive. 

Dianthus flowers fed with epsom salts, sugar and beer
De-bug, Loosen Soil and Fertilize with Household Products
Watching too much Jerry Baker is why I buy beer for flowers, but many of the products he advocates are ones I used to pitch out in spring cleaning. If you’re inclined to use environmentally-safe products and go green, you may want to keep these items for your flowers, shrubs, trees or lawn.

Here are a few products you can use on your plants or yard:

Beer or cola drinks Flowers don’t care if there’s no fizz or if they’re years old. Beer encourages organic activity and cola is a sugar. Diet colas don't have the sugar content plants love, but will provide liquid and some acid for roses and azaleas.

Baby shampoo and dishwashing liquid Lemon scented products helps keep bugs away, but others loosen soil, coat leaves and deter animals.

Ammonia (provides nitrogen)

Molasses, clear corn syrup, or sugar (feed good bacteria)

Epsom salts (magnesium)

Apple juice (sugar)

Murphy’s Oil Soap (works on slugs and bugs as well as rabbits)

Antiseptic mouthwash (destroys harmful bacteria)

Hydrogen peroxide (mild bleach)

Baking Soda (ph balancer)

Vinegar and rubbing alcohol (keep away leafhoppers, mealy bugs, whiteflies)

Coffee grounds and instant tea (nicotine and tannic acid)

Vegetable oil (coats leaves for protection)

Critters don’t like lemon-scented products, mothballs, cayenne pepper, garlic or tobacco. Mosquitos are repelled by the lemon scent, and dogs and cats will not enter areas sprinkled with cayenne pepper.

Jerry Baker has a website and a blog where you can learn more about using household products and edibles for your yard. 

We have no affiliation with Jerry Baker, but we read his books and use his advice in our flower beds and lawn. We encourage green living and safe products for the yard, and have lots of critters and birds who seem to like our natural products. 

Cardinal in tree against blue sky in Texas green landscape
The cardinal is a regal bird, even in an old tree
See you next time. We hope to have our spring cleaning done as well as income taxes before we meet again.

Linda