We've heard the best... now the rest!

[jerseydizdreamer]

Everybody has gotten great gardening tips at one another... but what's the absolute worst tip anyone ever gave (or, for that matter, that you ever gave... come on, we've all killed someone's roses in an attempt to de-bug their garden!)

Richard

 

[DebºoºS]

Hmmm.... good question. Think think. The only advice I can think of that turned out to be really bad was planting ivy around the foundation of my house to fill in. It grew so well that it pulled the brick out of the fireplace and took shingles off of the outside of the house. I never did get rid of it. That advice came from a dear relative.
I hope I haven't given out any bad advice.

 

[Snowwark]

Richard! What a sweetie you are!!

Welcome to the Flower & Garden Board!

Hmmm....bad gardening advice. I can't think of anything like Deb's superhuman Ivy, but in my siggy it used to say...."Put some colour in your cheeks, garden in the nude!" Good advice as long as it's warm out and you wear lots of sunscreen, bad advice when winter is here, and Jack Frost in nipping at your....well you get the idea.

Oh yes, another one!! Putting out dishes of beer to drown the slugs. I've always found this to be rather ineffective, and can often bring your gardening plans for the day to a hazy halt. Some beer for them, a couple sips for the gardener, some beer for them, more for the gardener. Soon the gardener begins to resemble the slug.......

 

[nativetxn]

I don't give a lot of gardening advice but I had a landlord once who listened to a relative and planted spearmint all around the house. When the spearmint bloomed it attracted blow flies. My house was full of the nasty things and when you walked past that flower bed they would all rise up, millions of them. It was gross.

The moral: don't plant spearmint near your house, it spreads like a weed, is difficult to get rid of and attracts nasty insects

Hi Richard!

 

[amid chaos]

I've got one....who told me to put those styrofoam shipping popcorn thingys in the bottom of my barrel planters??? it takes up less dirt...doesn't weigh as much if you have to move it around...mY %&*.....I certainly had an awful time emptying them out this fall....so what do you do with soil that is full of inorganic popcorn &%$#?

 

[bobbiwoz]

When I first began a vegetable garden, DH's uncle told me that the trick to getting good tomatoes was to add a handful of epsom salts to the hole as you plant. This worked great. We lived in Hamilton Township NJ and it also worked in Bucks County PA. When we moved to Ohio, I tried it, and the tomatoes didn't flourish at all. The plants didn't last the season, so I did some research. I no longer use this little garden tip and my Ohio tomatoes are fine! We ate the last one just before Thanksgiving, I can't wait for next year's crop.

Bobbi

 

[Snowwark]

Blow flies, Katholyn? Oh, yuck, that's gross!!

I've read that stepping in cow patties is supposed to bring good luck, but I think I'll sidestep that bit of advice.