I am going to share some easy homemade recipes along with my Best Gardening Tips and Tricks that I have learned over the years.
Table of contents
- Homemade Gardening Recipes
- Homemade Plant Spray
- Outdoor Plant Spray
- Pets & Your Garden
- DIY Pets-Be-Gone
- Unwanted + Unpleasant Growth
- ‘Wither the Unwanteds’ Spray
- ‘Plant Love’ Spray
- Garden Companion Plants
- Pollinator Garden Party
- ‘Pollinator Party’ Spray
- Tending the Garden Harvest
- ‘Don’t Bother Me’ Diffuser Recipe
- Love for the Gardener
- DIY Soothing Gardeners Stick
- The Essential Oils Premium Starter Kit!
- Just click here to get all set up!
- More Gardening Articles
So you’re a gardener…or maybe a startup gardener!
Wherever you land, there are some basic gardening tips and tricks that seem to apply to everyone during the stages of their gardening journey.
Things like weeds, pests, and bad harvests show up in every garden, every year. But this post is going to be your ticket to tackling even the hardest of seasons.
You’ll have gardening tips and tricks up your sleeve that will help you succeed from the day the seed goes in the ground until the day you harvest it.
I am giving away this FREE Gardening Journal which includes DIY Recipes, Garden Bed Planner, Seasonal garden task lists and plant profiles to keep track of everything in your gardens.
Homemade Gardening Recipes
Using essential oils in the gardening process helps us garden in a way that results in fruits and veggies that have been lovingly cared for in the most organic way.
This is one of my top gardening tips and tricks.
You can even achieve that affordably, sustainably, and without the use of harsh chemicals, friend!
Homemade Plant Spray
It’s no secret that bugs can totally ruin your garden plans.
From eating your plants to taking a bite out of you, they can really dampen any gardening dreams!
You could use insecticides or sprays made from harsh chemicals, but certainly at a cost to you and the environment.
They can lead to bioaccumulation of toxins in your body (and even in your plants) that are linked to chronic illness and disease! Yikes.
Fortunately, this Insect Repellent that has been tested to repel mosquitoes, ticks, and fleas using 100% naturally derived, plant-based ingredients.
Pure sesame oil and a carefully selected blend of essential oils traditionally used for their bug-repellent properties come together to make up all 99% of the active ingredients in this formula. The other 1%? Vitamin E.
That means you can use it on your little ones and not worry about the synthetic chemicals used in many traditional repellents. You’ll also love the pleasant, citrusy aroma and smooth, non-sticky application.
If you’re more of a DIY kind of person, try this easy Outdoor Spray recipe! It can be used on you OR your plants!
Outdoor Plant Spray
2 oz. Witch Hazel
2 oz. distilled water
20 drops Thieves
20 drops Lemon
20 drops Rosemary
20 drops Citronella
Mix together in a 4 oz. glass spray bottle.
Saving Dollars and Sense Tip: Shake before each use.
Keep in mind, you should spritz this on your plants once at night.
Doing it in the morning may burn the leaves as the sun rises. We want to keep those plants safe and protected as much as possible!
Pets & Your Garden
Now, what about the pets we love and adore but can’t seem to keep out of our gardens?
As much as we love them, let’s face it, they can get into the garden and cause quite a mess.
A simple and safe way to encourage them to stay away is by using scents.
Dogs dislike the smell of Black Pepper and cats dislike the smell of Rosemary.
Therefore, they’ll choose to stay away from areas with that scent. And if you didn’t know already, those essential oils exist! Perfect!
DIY Pets-Be-Gone
Drop 5-10 drops of essential oil in a shallow pan of warm water. Whisk until oil is spread throughout the water.
Take old washcloths or scraps of clothing and tear into long, skinny strips.
Soak the strips in the water for about 30 minutes to absorb the oils.
Dry them out, then tie them around stakes or plants to keep those animals at bay. Now your beloved furrball won’t ruin your garden!
Unwanted + Unpleasant Growth
You can waste SO many hours on weeds.
Summer is short enough, let’s not spend unnecessary time dealing with weed overgrowth!
If you’re trying to get rid of unwanted plant growth that doesn’t involve harmful chemicals (linked to so many neurological, hormone, and overall health imbalances) just know there are some safe alternatives.
Weeds HATE Cinnamon so try your hand at this easy DIY.
‘Wither the Unwanteds’ Spray
Add 25-50 drops of Cinnamon Bark in a 4 oz. glass spray bottle.
Top it off with distilled water. Shake and spray at offenders. Douse roots and leaves as needed.
Sometimes ‘unwanted friends’ begin to grow on our beloved plants.
That can cause poor growth, bad harvests, or even plant death. They can block the pores of the plant responsible for breathing and eventually choke out the plant completely. They can also steal vital nutrients from the plants which significantly decreases the amount of your harvest! We don’t want that!
‘Plant Love’ Spray
Add 10 drops each of Tea Tree, Peppermint, and Citronella to a 4 oz. glass spray bottle.
Top off with distilled water. Shake and spray along affected parts of the plant during your gardening chores!
Garden Companion Plants
If you’ve been around the garden scene a while you’ve heard of companion planting. And if you haven’t heard, let me enlighten you!
Some plants play well together; others do not.
This is because every plant has certain nutrients that it uses from the soil for growth and fruit production. Also, plants excrete certain byproducts back into the soil that can either help or hinder your harvest!
If you grow two types of plants next to each other that both rely strongly on nitrogen for growth, they will compete and overuse the nitrogen in the soil and starve each other out!
Corn and tomatoes are an example of plants that don’t play nice.
Conversely, if you plant two types of plants next to each other that eat different nutrients they will work together to promote each other’s growth.
A good example of this is tomatoes and carrots.
They work together in the soil. Therefore, plant them next to each other and it will result in a more bountiful harvest.
So what does this have to do with essential oils? Well, essential oils are made from plants so consider using oils in place of your companion plants.
For example, if you are looking to plant Lavender next to Green Beans, grab your Lavender essential oil instead. Create a “Companion Spray” to use on the soil and leaves of the plant using this guide.
Add 10-15 drops of the corresponding essential oil to a 4 oz. glass spray bottle.
Top with distilled water; shake before each use. So easy!
PLANT COMPANION PLANTS
Green Beans……… Lavender, Basil
Broccoli……………. Basil, Thyme
Carrots…………….. Sage
Cucumber…………. Sage
Onion………………. German Chamomile
Potatoes…………… Basil, Sage
Tomatoes………….. Basil
Pollinator Garden Party
Did you know that some plants self-pollinate?
Fruits like peppers can stand alone and produce fruit.
Not every plant does that. Lots of them need the help of cross-pollination between male and female plants!
Know who helps with that?! POLLINATORS!
Bees and butterflies are some of the friendliest insects you can get into your garden!
Without them you’ll have measly harvests and be disappointed that all your hard work didn’t result in the delicious produce you wanted!
Pollinators are attracted to the smell of flowers and luckily some of our wonderful essential oils are distilled from flowers… so convenient!
Create a spray using essential oils to spritz on the flowering buds of your garden to encourage pollinators to come in and get the job done!
‘Pollinator Party’ Spray
Add 6-8 drops of Lavender and Orange essential oil to a 4 oz. glass spray bottle and top with distilled water.
Shake, spray, and party with the pollinators!
Tending the Garden Harvest
It’s the most wonderful time of the year… HARVEST SEASON!
All your hard work and patience has paid off and you get to pluck delicious fresh food from the earth and eat to your heart’s content!
If you’re like me, sometimes I find that fresh produce goes bad before I can eat it.
That’s because bacteria rests on your fruit and without the support of a plant, the fruits and veggies break down and can grow nasty spots on them.
As you can see, it’s important to always wash your fruits and veggies! It keeps you and your family from ingesting yucky things the produce may have tagging along.
Young Living has an exclusive Thieves Fruit and Veggie Soak (and a spray!) that you can use for this very reason.
Soaking the food loosens the dirt and other crud and rinses it right down the drain.
You can even make your very own “produce soak’ with a sinkful of warm water and several drops of Thieves and Lemon essential oils. Super simple!
And has anyone ever noticed that once the fruits and veggies get in the house those pesky winged creatures magically appear?!
Try out this simple diffuser recipe, using your essential oils, to keep yourself sane.
‘Don’t Bother Me’ Diffuser Recipe
2 drops Basil
2 drops Peppermint
2 drops Lavender
2 drops Clove
2 drops Eucalyptus Radiata
The last tip I have for keeping your harvest fresher for longer is to clean your storage containers!
The amazing Thieves Dish Soap contains no sulfates, dyes, formaldehyde, phosphates, or synthetic perfumes and has a delightful citrus scent. It’s one of my faves!
Love for the Gardener
You know we love our plants when we are willing to break our backs, scrape up our fingers, and endure biting bugs in order to give them the best chance they’ve got!
I know you’re just as important as your precious plants and I wanted to share some of my favorite products to help you care for yourself, too!
Muscle Love
Stiffness can be a thing of the past when you use a Deep Relief Roll-On or Panaway on sore muscles.
Simply roll or drop the oil on the area that is giving you grief. Use as needed!
Not gardening tips and tricks related, but Deep Relief is what got me through my hysterectomy recovery when nothing else was working for me!
Skin Love
Lavender is an oil no gardener should ever be without! It may help cleanse and soothe minor skin irritations so keep it on hand. It also can be soothing to the skin after a day in the sun.
If you forget to apply your outdoor spray, don’t worry. This roller recipe will be just what you need!
DIY Soothing Gardeners Stick
5 drops Lavender
5 drops Purification
3 drops Peppermint
Carrier of your choice
Add essential oils to a 10 ml roller and fill the rest with Young Living’s V-6 Vegetable Oil Complex or your favorite carrier oil.
Apply as often as you need it.
The Essential Oils Premium Starter Kit!
It comes with the majority of the oils we talked about in this post so you’ll be able to use them in your garden right away!
You’ll get a few other goodies plus a no-strings-attached wholesale membership with Young Living… an over $400 value for just $165!
You’ll even get access to some incredible Facebook groups and other resources dedicated to helping you get the most out of your investment.
Just click here to get all set up!
Above everything else, I want to give you a very heartfelt THANK YOU for reading!
Gardening is very near and dear to my heart, and sharing ways to improve the gardening experience using these gardening tips and tricks, is an honor and a privilege.
I deeply and passionately believe that we all deserve better health and wellness and that applies to everything we do and love!
More Gardening Articles
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