READERS’ TIPS
A solution to outdoor ants
We’ve received so many great tips this season, we’ll be doubling up through the end of Grow’s run. The first tip this week comes from Joy Knoll of Westminster:
We have had tiny, pesky ants in the seams and cracks of our driveway for several years and have tried many kinds of ant-killer products,from sprays to granules. Every year, it’s the same old problem of little piles of soil and many ants on the driveway.
We have found the cheapest household ammonia (64 ounces for under $1) can be drizzled into the cracks and is the best eliminator we have used. It is best to do the treatment early in the day when the ants are active, then check daily for new hatchlings and for where they move on to and treat that area also. The ammonia is much cheaper and it is safer around children and pets because there is no residue and you are not tracking it into the house.
A new use for old cans
The second is from Nancy Benton of Parker
Have you ever wondered how to fill up an oversized planting pot without making it too heavy to move? Or without using up bags of potting soil trying to fill that large container?
I fill the bottom third of the pot with empty soda cans. This allows even drainage and helps use less soil and keep the weight of the pot low. Also, I add a couple of tablespoons of Epsom salts to the potting soil by sprinkling it around the base of my plants. This encourages larger blooms for geraniums and other flowering plants.
Got a garden tip? Share it with Grow.
E-mail your good ideas to Grow@denverpost.com. We’ll print the best ones and give the tipster a pair of Sloggys garden clogs, courtesy of Sloggers Garden Outfitters.
READ IT
A photographic tour of global fantasy gardens
If you had all the space and time and money – and hired help – in the world, what kind of garden would you create? A hilltop oasis like La Gamberaia in Settignano, Italy? A managed forest like Sissinghurst in Cranbrook, England?
A manicured rainbow of color like Rashtrapati Bhavan in Delhi, India? Dream away as you flip through the coffee-table book, “Gardens in Time,” (Abrahms, $60) Alain Le Toquin’s dramatic, photo-filled journey through “the most beautiful gardens in the world.”
