Some people truly enjoy the process of nurturing a garden. From experimenting with different plants to having one’s own herb garden- the one with a green thumb is constantly trying to grow different plants in her garden that will make her garden more useful and beautiful. Here are eleven gardening tips that will help you make your garden more productive, eco-friendly and efficient.

1. Starting off plants in different and creative ways: You can use eggshells or the peels of an orange or any citrus fruit as a container to start off your seedlings. This help eliminates the need to use plastic, reuse your resources and to later use the same items in your compost. Apart from this, you can make small containers out of a newspaper or discardable egg crates or even cupcake liners which can easily be decomposed.
2. Eggshells to the rescue: As already mentioned, you could use eggshells to start off your seedlings. Apart from this, there are many other ways that you can use this magic material in your garden! Coarsely crumbled eggshells are a great remedy against soft-bodied pests like snails or slugs. These also provide a great calcium boost to your plants when added to the soil.
3. Epsom salt in your garden: Another commonly found an item that you can use to better the lives of your plants, Epsom salt can come in handy in more ways than one in your garden. When you transplant a seedling or plant a new plant, place about a tablespoon of Epsom salt in the bottom of the hole and add a layer of dirt on it- this will save the plant from “transplant shock”. Apart from this, the magnesium in the salt promotes the germination of seeds. There are multiple other benefits of using Epsom salt, one being that it increases the nutrient absorption capacity of the plant thus eliminating the need to use chemical fertilisers. It also helps prevent the curling and yellowing of leaves and keeps pests away. More benefits can be credited to Epsom salt- like it helps it helps grow sweeter fruits, tastier tomatoes, beautiful and lush roses, higher yield in peppers etc.
4. Reuse water: Water is a precious natural resource, and often maintaining a garden demands substantial availability of water. You can reuse water from your kitchen to feed the plants in your garden. You can use the water discarded after boiling vegetables, eggs etc. Not only is it free of any form of chemicals, but also rich in nutrients. Use the water that has been left over after it cools down.
5. Vinegar in your garden: Vinegar is a great way to retard weed growth in your garden. Apart from this, you can use vinegar to clean rust from your garden tools by soaking them in undiluted vinegar overnight.