15+ Clever Gardening Tips That Can Save You Loads of Time and Money

Gardening brings a lot of joy, but it can become even more enjoyable when you know how to make it easier and less time-consuming. From planting seeds in eggshells to turning old jeans into a pouch for carrying tools, green-thumbed Internet users are happily sharing tricks that help them grow the tastiest vegetables and the most beautiful flowers.

We at Bright Side selected a bunch of DIY gardening tips that can simplify your garden work, and we hope you can try them out in your own gardens and yards. And as an added bonus, many of these tips and tricks help you to recycle plastic and repurpose old stuff you don’t need instead of throwing them away.

1. “I discovered apple packaging works well for starting seedlings!”

2. You can make a gardening pouch from old jeans.

3. Plastic bags and bottles work well as pots for herbs and small vegetables.

4. “Want to buy mulch for the garden but don’t own a truck? A kiddie pool holds lots of mulch.”

5. “Use a ladder when hauling tall plants.”

6. Old bed frames can turn into vegetable or flower beds or trellis that support climbing trees.

7. Try growing vegetables and herbs in stacking planters if you don’t have enough space for them in your garden.

8. Use egg cartons to propagate succulents and other small plants.

9. Don’t have enough space for growing strawberries? Try building a vertical strawberry garden out of plastic bottles. Water the top row and let gravity do its thing.

10. “Got tired of making temporary markers for our rows, so the wife and I painted some bricks for a more permanent solution.”

11. Potatoes, zucchinis, and other big vegetables can be grown in plastic bags.

12. Eggshells can be perfect starter pots for seedlings. No plastic needed!

13. For planting seeds you can also use toilet paper rolls...

14. ...and even magazine pages.

15. “I’m growing my cantaloupe vertically and they needed a little support so I crocheted some tiny little hammocks.”

16. “My life hack: put a plastic pail through the belt so both hands are free to pick the raspberries!”

17. Old plant hangers can come in handy when you need to dry lavender and other herbs from your garden.

Do you like gardening? Can you share your own gardening tips and tricks with us in the comments?