In Canada, the May long weekend traditionally marks the unofficial start of summer.

It won’t be long before we all start to break out the gardening tools and yards and gardens around Calgary are alive with colour once again.

Here are 10 great tips for creating a beautiful and healthy yard this year:

1. If salt deposits have formed on your clay pots, spray them with a solution made from equal parts of water, vinegar, and rubbing alcohol. Scrub with a plastic brush and let dry before you plant anything in them.
2. A constantly breaking gas trimmer line can be incredibly frustrating. You can reduce breakage by spraying trimmer line with vegetable oil.
3. Turn your shovel or other long handled yard tool into a measuring stick. Lay it on the ground and mark out meters and centimetres with a felt pen so you can use it to space plants and rows.
4. Put a ball of twine in a small clay pot and stick the end through the drain hole. Place the pot upside down in your garden and you’ll never lose your ball of twine again.
5. If you don’t like the look of wooden plant markers, write the names of plants on flat stones with an indelible marker and place them at the ends of your rows.
6. When you boil vegetables, don’t dump the water down the drain. Let it cool and use it to water potted plants. They’ll love the vitamins and nutrients in the broth.
7. The acidity of soil can be increased by sprinkling coffee grounds or tea leaves over it. Plants like azaleas, rhododendrons, camellias, and gardenias thrive in acidic soil.
8. Do you have a herb garden? If you want to dry your herbs, lay them in a single layer on newspapers placed on a seat in your car. Close the windows and doors and the herbs will dry quickly and make your car smell nice at the same time.
9. Young seedlings are often killed off by any number of fungi that thrive in damp soil. Add chamomile tea to the soil around young plants or use it as a foliar spray to control damping off fungus.
10. Cows eat weeds, sheep don’t. Mixing sheep manure in your soil will make it more fertile without introducing weeds.

For more lawn and yard care tips and full landscaping services, contact 5 Star Landscaping in Calgary.