Try to avoid the use of chemical pesticides. There are many organic and botanical sprays or powders on the market that work quite well in controlling insects.
Make sure to draw a map of your garden every year, so you can keep track of your plantings from season to season. This will enable you to rotate your crops on a four year cycle.

Is your garden too small? Try using wide rows and growing your vine crops vertically.

Look into the use of a floating row cover. They are very easy to use and offer excellent protection from insects, plus they are not harmful to the environment.

The use of some kind of mulch around your plants will keep down weeds and help retain moisture during dry spells.

Don't rely entirely on chemical fertilizers to nourish your plants. Use of compost, manures, grass clippings, leaves and organic mulches all add humus to the soil and promote good plant growth.

Plan for a Fall garden! Most gardeners only plant a spring crop. This is a mistake! Many vegetables grow better in the cool Autumn weather... and wouldn't fresh produce taste good from your garden this Fall?

Make a raised bed this year. Two by sixes nailed together and filled to the top with loose soil, make an excellent medium for root crops.
Buy a few soaker hoses this year. They are relatively inexpensive and the water they conserve will pay for themselves in a short time.

After purchasing your seeds in the springtime, store in a cool, dry place till planting time. Try placing them in an air-tight jar (a wide mouth canning jar works well) in the coolest room of the house. This will keep the seeds fresh until sowing.

Here's a tip on making a "lazy mans garden".  In the fall, construct some raised beds in the garden.  Cover these beds with 8 inches of hay or straw.  In the spring, when time is of the essence, just pull the mulch to the sides of the bed to plant.   If planting warm weather crops, make sure the soil is warm before planting.   As the plants start to grow, pull the mulch back around the plants.  The mulch will choke out weeds and keep the soil moist (you will not have to water as often).  As an added bonus, you may find that the earthworm population in your garden has greatly increased since using this method.   This can work for just about everything in your garden except for corn and sunflowers (makes them too shallow rooted, thus suffering from wind damage).   So if you are always rushed to get your garden planted in the spring, get out in the garden now and give this "lazy mans garden" a try! 

All parts of the Yarrow plant can be sprinkled over the green matter in the compost heap.  This will cause the matter to decompose very quickly.  Even a few Yarrow leaves placed on the compost material will begin to decompose the pile in a hurry. Yarrow planted throughout the garden will help activate the disease resistance of nearby plants.  It also intensifies the medicinal actions of other herbs.

If you have a problem with cabbage worms in your garden, try this non-toxic trick! By sprinkling the plants with hot water for a few seconds, you can kill the pesky cabbage worms.  Fill your watering can with hot (130 to 150 degrees F.) water and sprinkle the plants for 1 or 2 seconds.  This will not harm the plants, but will kill the cabbage worms infesting them! 
Please NOTE: This will work on cabbage, broccoli and other cole crops.  Just make sure the water is not too hot and do not sprinkle for more than 2 seconds to avoid damage to the plant!

Here is a tip on an inexpensive way to keep the bugs off your cabbage.  Give them each a "hat" to wear!  Use old panty hose cut into 6-8 inch lengths and tied in a knot at one end.  While the cabbage plants are still small,  place the open end of the panty hose over each plant, with the excess material on the bottom near the ground.   As the cabbage grows,  the panty hose  will enlarge with the plant and keep insects from causing damage.  This should  last the whole gardening season, helping you grow  the best cabbage ever with its use. 

Want to make better and quicker compost?  Want your garden to be healthier and more productive?  Then go for a worm walk!   After a good rain,  grab some plastic bowls and comb the neighborhood for earthworms.   Look on the edges of lawns where the grass ends, in the gutters, on the ends of driveways, etc. or grab a flashlight and look through your yard in the evening.  (You can also look in your neighbors yard in the evening, just make sure you get their permission first).   The rain forces many of the worms up to the surface, where they are easy to pick up.     After you have a supply of worms, dig down into your compost pile, water the area thoroughly, add the worms and recover.   You now have a compost pile filled with hundreds of tiny workers to help break down the compost!  When adding the compost to your garden, you will also be adding earthworms to the soil.  Just a reminder, earthworms find chemical fertilizers very toxic.   Try to refrain from adding these fertilizers to your garden if you want a healthy population of worms in your soil.

Many salad greens do best in cooler weather.  In areas with very warm summers, you can grow tastier greens during the warm summer months by providing a little shade for those plants.  What better way than to provide shade using another vegetable plant! Put simple lattice supports for your cucumbers (made from 1" by 1/8 " lathe boards) over  a framework of 1/2" square cedar garden stakes. With the trellis  leaning and positioned to provide plenty of shade underneath during the afternoon sun,you are able to grow wonderful salad greens under these structures, even during the heat of summer.  It also provides a little extra sun for the heat loving cucumbers that grow up the lattice work.   Other vining crops such as peas, beans, small melons, tomatoes and some squash could also be grown on the trellis, by adjusting the height or size of the support to accommodate the size and weight of the variety you wish to grow.  Using these supports, you can grow cool weather crops during the summer, plus save space by growing the vining crops up, instead of sprawling on the ground.

Mint can be very effective in keeping cabbage moths out of the garden, but mint plants can quickly spread and become a problem in itself.  Try growing your mint in containers.  You can move the plants around the garden to control the moths wherever you have a problem, and still have plenty of mint for your own use!

Here is an old gardening rule of thumb.  When sowing seeds, plant one seed to grow and two for the birds.   Here is a tip for discouraging birds in the garden.  If birds become a problem and eat your newly sowed corn, bean, or squash seeds or sprouting plants, try this method of scaring them.  Run temporary string along every second or third row, tying white strips of old sheeting to the string at one-foot intervals.  Position the string three feet above the rows.   The string can be attached to temporary wooden poles or stakes.  The strips of sheeting should be 3 inches wide by 2 feet long.   The strips blow gently in the wind and scare the birds away.  Remove the strings after the plants have become established.

Here is a suggestion for an effective, simple and environmentally friendly way to kill weeds in your garden.   I have 15 raised beds in my garden and even though I mulch, I still get weeds in the aisles between the beds and around the parameter of the garden.  My solution is simple.  When I make my morning coffee, I boil a couple of pots of water at the same time.  I then go out into the garden and pour the boiling water on the weeds.  It kills them and saves me weeding time later on.
Note:  Be careful not to pour the boiling water on your garden plants, as it will kill them too! 

 "Are you tired of blossom end rot on your tomatoes?" Crush two Tums antacid tablets and spread them around the tomato plant before watering.  The calcium in the tablets helps control the blossom end rot.    

Have a problem with birds in your garden?  Try this suggestion on how to use the new computer technology to help.
Are you constantly receiving unwanted CD disks in the mail with free offers for online services?  Don't throw these disks away. Set up two poles (5 to 6 feet tall) in the garden on either side of the area that is to be protected from the birds.  Tie a string from the top of one pole to the other pole.  The unwanted computer CD's are then hung from the string with a second piece of string.  The reflection of the sun from the CD's deters the birds from entering your garden.

I've always had minor problems with different insects attacking my pumpkin vines.  This year I decided to try some companion planting to see if it would help.   All through my pumpkin patch I planted onions, radish and a few nasturtiums.   Around the edges of the patch, I planted nasturtiums and marigolds.   To my surprise, I had a pest free pumpkin patch the whole season!  

For an inexpensive way to protect young plants from a frost, make a "teepee" out of newspaper.  Simply use  two to three pages of newspaper and roll  into a cone.  Keep the papers shape with a piece of tape.  Cover the bottom edges with soil to secure the "teepee" in place.   For frost protection at night, close the top with a clothes pin.  Remember to reopen the top during the day.  The "teepee" must not remain on too long, or the plant will grow spindly and weak.  A great way to help your early transplants through a little cold spell!

  Have your soil tested before planting next year's garden.  You might be surprised at what you find! 

Here's a tip on keeping insects away from your eggplant, pepper and tomato plants, in addition to increasing their production.  Place aluminum foil underneath the plants (shiny side up) a few days after you transplant them into the garden.  Make sure the foil extends beyond the expected diameter of the plant at maturity, using fabric pegs to secure the foil to the ground.  As the sun shines on the foil, it is reflected back up onto the bottom of the leaves.  This confuses the insects that normally hide under the foliage.   With no safe place to hide, the insects move on to another area.   Another benefit of the foil is that it exposes more leaf surface to the sun, increasing the fruit production.

Here is another tip for combating cabbage moths in the garden using companion planting.  To keep the moths from laying their eggs on your cole crops (broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower etc.) simply plant radish seeds around your transplants.  The radish plants help deter the moths away from your garden! This method has  proven to be about 90% effective in the garden.  Another plus: Eventually the radish plants will grow taller and produce flowers, providing the cole crops with a little needed shade as the weather gets warmer into the summer.

Place tin cans around your vegetable plants when transplanting them into the garden.  Just take out the tops and bottoms of the cans, place one can around each plant, then press it into the soil about an inch or more.   The tin cans help deter cut worms, protect the young seedlings from the birds and helps shield the plants from the elements while they adjust to the outside.

When planting your tomatoes, place 2 crumbled egg shells in the bottom of each hole.  This is an excellent source of calcium (an insufficient amount of calcium can cause blossom end rot).  This method,also relieves the problem with blossom rot.Use crumbled egg shells around the base of your plants to protect them from cut worms.

It's always nice  to have fresh herbs ready to use in the kitchen whenever possible.   During the growing season, cut a stem or two from the herbs you use most often and place them in a glass of water in the refrigerator.  Whenever you are cooking, you can simply go into the refrigerator and "pick" a few leaves of whichever herb the recipe calls for.  This saves you a trip to the garden every time you want some herbs (also saves you from getting wet on a rainy day!).  The herbs will last about a week when stored in this manner.

Try planting a few hot pepper plants  at the end of the row of squash plants to prevent the plants from being bothered by squash bugs.

 Old hoses someone had discarded, because they had a few leaks can be given a new lease on life  by poking them with a sharp nail,  to be used as "free" soaker hoses that you can use to water the garden.  So, don't throw those old hoses out - they can still be put to good use!
Here's a tip on growing cool weather crops during the heat of summer!  Choose a 4 by 4 foot square in the garden.  Place metal fence posts into the ground in each corner of the square. Fasten a piece of lattice work on the fence posts with twine, leaving one panel tied in a way that can easily be loosened, giving easy access to weeding and watering.  You now have a 4 by 4 foot shaded box that can grow lettuce, spinach, radish and other cool weather crops in warm weather.   It's also very easy to take down for storage, so it can be used again next year!

 Having problems with squirrels and rabbits digging up you perennial flower bed.  Here is how you can solve this problem.  Go to your local hairstylist and ask them to save a bag of hair for you. Most of the time,  they will have some the same day you ask.  About once a month, work some of this hair into the soil of your flower bed. 

To get your heat loving plants off to a good start, buy some inexpensive wire tomato cages and place them over each transplant in the garden.  Next,  wrap the cages with sturdy, clear plastic, leaving enough loose plastic at the top to fold over the cage.  During the day, keep the top open, and at night when it gets cooler, close the top with a clothespin.  These little "mini" greenhouses enable you to start your plants a little earlier in the season!

"If you live in the city,try  growing many kinds of vegetables in large storage-type plastic containers.  For a few dollars, you can get a few large (3' long by 2' wide and 12-16" deep) plastic storage boxes and drill holes in the bottom.  Now you can grow baby carrots, cabbage, just about anything that needs a deeper root or more space.   Because these containers are clear, you can better tell when the plants need watering, too.  Here's a great tip for making a homemade spray that will control aphids!
Chop up a few garlic gloves, one large onion, a few chive leaves and place in a blender.  Fill the blender half full with water.  After you have blended the ingredients well, strain to form a clear solution and discard the pulp.   Add additional water to make a gallon of spray.  When using on plants, make sure to spray the undersides of the leaves where the aphids hide.  This spray will kill the aphids but not harm other beneficial insects.  It also helps to control whiteflies. 
Note: Before using this or any other homemade spray, always pretest on a small area of the plant to make sure it will not harm it.

To grow salad greens such as arugula, endive, lettuce, mache and spinach, try working rabbit food (alfalfa pellets) into the soil before planting.  Use one cup of rabbit food for every 10 square feet of soil.  The rabbit food is a good source of slow release nitrogen that salad greens really love!
Note: Keep this tip in mind when planting your fall crop of salad greens!

Want to kill weeds in your garden without using harmful chemicals?  Fill a spray bottle with vinegar and zap the weeds with it - just make sure not to spray your nearby crops!  This will work on weed seedlings as well as full grown plants.  For particularly tough weeds, use cider vinegar, which has a higher acidity.

Tulips - Don't plant in the same spot for 2 consecutive years. However, if you plant African Marigolds where Tulips have flowered, the balance in the soil will be restored and you can plant bulbs in the same spot year after year.

Bluebells - English Bluebells are invasive so for a less rampant variety choose the Spanish type, Hyacinthoides hispanica.

Lilies/Tulips - Never plant these together as they suffer from the same diseases.

Snowdrops - To give bulbs a boost, apply a light feed of a general fertiliser, eg liquid seaweed once they have flowered and the leaves have started to die down.

Snowdrops - Keep track of rare varieties by planting in aquatic planters and plunging in the ground.

Tulips - After flowering, pull away leaves as soon as they are yellow and withered. This helps to prevent disease entering the bulbs. Then apply a liquid fertiliser to build the bulbs up ready for next season. Feed once a week for a month or so.

 

Pellets based on metaldehyde are less effective in damp conditions as Slugs/Snails can recover - they lose the chemical through their slime. Better to use pellets based on methiocarb as it has an anti-sliming agent.

To stop slugs and snails nibbling your container plants, place a layer of vaseline around the edge of the pot. They can't get over it.

Try growing Garlic close to susceptible plants to help deter vine weevil.

Rosemary and Sage deter Carrot Fly.

Nettle Spray is great as a general insect repellent and plant food. Fill a bucket with fresh nettles and water, cover and leave to ferment for a few weeks. Strain and spray on your plants.

Marigolds, limnanthes, calendula and poppies attract hoverflies whose larvae eat greenfly and other aphids.

Grow chives with roses to protect them against aphids.

Place mothballs in containers to deter Earwigs and Ants.

Elder and Mint discourage Caterpillars.

To prevent whitefly on tomatoes, underplant with basil and marigolds.

Marjoram and Mint help to repel ants.

When you've boiled eggs, use the leftover water to pour between the cracks in the path to prevent weeds growing.

Rounded pots suit spiky plants such as Yuccas, Agaves and Phormiums.

Tall chimney pots suit busy billowing plants like Bidens, Gypsophila or other cascading plants such as Amaranthus.

Plant succulents such as sedums and sempervirens in shallow pots.

For an attractive wooden trough, build a wooden framework and surround it with log roll. Insert a plastic trough inside the wooden frame and plant away !!

If you are using whicker baskets outside, give them 3 coats of yacht varnish to protect them.

To make brand new containers look immediately old, coat them in natural yoghurt and leave in the sun.

If soil in hanging baskets becomes too dry, add a squirt of washing up liquid to the water. This helps the water to enter the compost instead of just running off.

Aquilegias - Don't feed too much as it can make plants flop over after heavy rain.

Delphiniums - To produce outstanding blooms, plants need a steady supply of moisture at the roots during the growing season. Mulch to keep in moisture.

Dianthus - If plants have pale tips they may be suffering from a shortage of magnesium. Mix 1 oz of Epsom Salts to 1 gallon of water and water each plant.

Hostas - Plant variegated forms next to terracotta water features for a fresh look.

Ophiopogon planiscapus 'Nigrescens' - Plants can disappear into surrounding soil as it is dark. Plant next to pale stone or grow amongst silver-leaved sempervivums.

Acid Lovers - Feed with Sequestrene in June. Water around Rhododendrons, Camellias, Azaleas, Pieris and all other acid loving plants to prevent yellow leaves and encourage strong growth.

Camellias - Flowerbuds are formed in the Summer, so ensure plants are kept moist during July and August. Drought will cause flower buds to drop off in Spring.

Garrya - A handful of pelleted chicken manure in April and a monthly feed of tomato fertiliser between June and September will help promote growth and catkins.

Hedges - Use Thuja plicata instead of Leylandii as it has the ability to throw new shoots out of old wood, unlike Leylandii.

Hedges - When trimming a hedge, the base should be wider than the top.

Ivy - The secret of getting a new ivy to cling to your walls is to cut it hard back after planting. New shoots get a grip straight away - old ones never do.

Houseplants - If you have an aquarium, save the water each time you change it to water your house plants with. You'll be amazed at the results.

Ponds - When building a new pond, remember that siting it in full sun will encourage the growth of algae, so position it in the shade.

Weeds - When hoeing the ground, only disturb the top 1/2" of soil. Going deeper than this will cause more weed seeds to germinate.

Begonias - If you have difficulty in telling which way up a tuber should be planted, place in a plastic bag with enough moist, peat based compost to cover it, seal top, put in a warm place such as the airing cupboard and gently shake bag every day to disturb it. Once you see signs of growth, take it out and pot up with shoots uppermost.

Cucumbers - Avoid watering with cold or chlorinated water, leave to stand for a few hours before use.

Heating - Place a few dustbins filled with water under greenhouse staging. The water heats up during the day, releasing its warmth slowly at night. Concrete floors also provide the same benefit.

Tomatoes - Try Epson Salt (1tsp) around tomato plants to green up the foliage.

Watering - Use a cork on a cane to see if a plant is in need of watering. If the plant is thirsty, the pot will ring like a bell when tapped otherwise it will sound like a dull thud.

Watering - Never use water collected from water butts to water seedlings. Use tap water, but allow it to stand for a couple of hours before use to ensure the chlorine disappears.