9 homemade garden hacks

With planting season underway in some parts of the country and gardens around the country beginning to take shape, Successful Farming and Living the Country Life has 9 reader suggestions for homemade garden hacks you might find useful.

Garden trellis

Need more garden space? Try trellising more of your fruits and vegetables. Build the trellis at least 5 feet high and wide. Nail strong wire or fencing to posts that are placed firmly in the ground. Be sure not to block sunlight to other plants.

– K.W, Illinois

Grown-up swing set

Do you have a children’s play set sitting in your yard that never gets used anymore? I changed a children’s swing set into an adult version by taking off the children’s swings and adding a log swing, plants, wind chimes, and other decorations. 

– D.B, Wisconsin

Garden jingle

While working in the garden, I found that my 2-year-old daughter would wander out of sight, so I attached two loud sleigh bells to her clothing. Now I just listen for her direction and distance.

– J.C., Minnesota

Easy garden fence

My husband and I built an inexpensive fence around our garden using plastic fencing, 

7-foot T-posts, and plastic clothesline. We drove the posts with a post driver, tied the clothesline around each pole, and attached the plastic with twine.

– P.B., Georgia

Bucket stool

For years, I have used a bucket with a snug lid as a stool in my garden. It’s easy on my back to sit and pick produce or weeds, and inside the pail, I can store gloves, small tools, string, and more!

– C.W., Tennessee

PVC seed planter

A ½-inch-diameter section of PVC is a simple, cheap, multiuse garden tool. I can plant while standing by pushing the end of the pipe into the soil, dropping a seed down, and covering it as I pull the tube out.

Versatile trellis

Using standard livestock panels (welded and galvanized), steel T-posts, and wire clips, I built multipurpose support units for climbing fruits and vegetables. They come down easily at the end of the season for cleaning and storage.

— R.B., Alabama

Tomato cages

My husband made new circular tomato cages using 5-foot tie concrete reinforcement wire with large holes. He staked each one to the ground with a T-post. The tomatoes are easier to pick, and the cages hold up well to the Nebraska wind.        

 – D.K., Nebraska

Pick a peck of rocks

To stop birds from eating my strawberries, I painted a few small stones red and scattered them among my plants be-fore the fruits formed. When the birds pecked at the “berries” and found them hard, they gave up and didn’t return when the real strawberries ripened.

– C.G., New York