Let’s Get This Garden Started

If you like to grow plants from seed, here's a great use for the clear plastic containers tomatoes and other produce come in. Make them into mini greenhouses! The containers have holes for air and drainage, so all you need to do is add soil and plant the seeds. When the seedlings grow tall, leave the lid open until it's time to transplant them into the garden. You can reuse the containers year after year.

Give vegetable and flower seedlings an early growth spurt this spring. Place seedling trays in a mini greenhouse—an upside-down transparent storage container. Just put the lid in a warm, sunny location, load it with trays, then snap on the container. For greater air circulation, drill a few 3/8-in. holes in the sides of the box or let it rest loosely on the lid.

Here's how to make flower pots, vases, planters, boxes or almost any not-quite-flat-bottom object sit flat on the floor without scratching or slipping. Apply four blobs of acrylic caulk to the bottom, and let them dry until they're almost set. Then turn over the object and place it on a sheet of wax paper until the caulk cures. You'll get four stable feet.

When you sow seeds, it can be hard to tell little weeds from the young sprouts. Cut cardboard tubes from toilet paper into one-third sections to encircle the seed and keep you from plucking out your young plants.

Few projects add as much charm and color to a house as flowers in window boxes. Build your own window box or buy one from a garden center. These work best when mounted below double-hung, slide-by or stationary windows?casement and other swing-out window sashes will decapitate the flowers. Use a plastic liner to prolong the life of the planter and simplify fall cleanup. Easier yet, arrange container gardens in pots and planters on the front stoop or along the walkway.

Plus: 13 Bush Pruning Tips for Healthier Bushes

Grass is a sun-loving plant. It typically needs six to eight hours of sunlight daily for good health. While several shade-tolerant species may do OK under trees and in other sheltered spots, it's more likely that you'll end up with weeds, scraggly grass and bare ground. It's much better to plant a shade garden or a shade-tolerant ground cover that in a few years will blanket the area like a green carpet. And you won't have to mow. A local nursery expert will advise you on which plants and ground covers do best in your region.

Cut a piece of plywood roughly to the shape of your wheelbarrow's back end and screw a few wood cleats along the sides to keep it from slipping off while you wheel. Now you'll have both soil and a potting surface right at hand when you take the wheelbarrow to the garden.