Thank you to everyone who entered our Gardening Tips competition! We received lots of helpful and clever tricks and hacks for making our gardens thrive.
And now, we're excited to announce the winner of the $100 store credit: Elina Skliarenko from Victoria!
Elina's winning entry, "Bug Snug" really impressed us. Her idea of building a simple shelter using natural materials like bark, pinecones, and sticks to attract helpful bugs is a fantastic way to support a healthy garden ecosystem. Congratulations, Elina!
Read on below to see all the other great tips and tricks that were submitted – you might just find your next brilliant gardening idea!
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Genevieve Locke (WA)
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Genevieve says: Sewing seeds in toilet roll tubes. This is a great way to sew seedlings that don't like their roots to disturbed eg Zinnia and Sweet Peas and also stops your seedlings disappearing when you plant out due to critters in the soil eg cut worm which bites the seedling off at the base. Make 4 even slits half an inch at one end then fold over like the lid of a box. Once seeds have sprouted you can open the bottom or just leave if roots are coming through. Plant the tubes leaving them half a inch above the soil. The rolls will breakdown. I keep mine in recycled meat trays packed in fairly tight so they stand up and water from the bottom. Keep watch for drying out in hot weather as the cardboard draws the moisture
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Genevieve says: Saving seed from your favourite zinnias so they come out with same flower from previous year.
Place organza bags (buy from $2 shop or similar)over the bud before it opens. Zinnias can self pollinate. This method stops bees from pollinating the flower and changing its colour. Once the flower has dried up and changed to a crunchy brown pull the flower apart. I use a pair of long tweezers. The seeds should be hard . If you hold the seed between thumb and forefinger and press the seed should be stiff and not bend. I have had some amazing success and some disappointments where some did not pollinate but about 85%.
The lime and pink zinnia flower came from a bee pollinated zinnia 2yrs ago and this is the first one this yr from this method of saving seed. I got about 50 seeds from this plant
Rocket (VIC)
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Genevieve says: I line a tray with plastic then place punnets in the tray and fill with water. This keeps your seedlings moist even in very hot weather for several days and saves watering time and frequently checking moisture.
Linda (TAS)
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Linda says: Possum Scarer; From a couple of garbage bags, rags, fishing line and 3 sticks I made a Tassie Devil that can be pushed into the grass in my back yard or clamped to the rails on my front deck. It moves in the wind from side to side and scares the possums away
Mickey Vee (WA)
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Mickey says:
A cracking idea!
An Egg-cellent Way to Keep Snails at Bay!
Looking for a cheap and eco-friendly way to protect your plants from snails? Save your eggshells!
Here’s how:
Pop the empty eggshells into your air fryer for 3 minutes to dry them out.
Once cool, crush them using a mortar and pestle into a fine, gritty texture.
Sprinkle the crushed shells around the base of your seedlings and garden plants.
The sharp edges deter snails and slugs without the need for harmful chemicals - plus, eggshells add calcium to your soil over time.
Great for your garden and the environment!
Tanya Afams (SA)
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Tanya says: Rainwater tank keyhole garden.
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Tanya says: Instead of having a crane lift out our old tanks, I drew up this design. 2 keyhole gardens from one tank. Top two rings are the main frame with a small piece cut for entry and flipped to become the middle. The bottom ring becomes the side walls of the key. Huge success on our clay soil. Now have a more friable soil in the tanks.
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Tanya says: Very happy with these time saving raised seedling boxes I designed. Drew out the plan, put the frame together and hubby banged them up. I put them on an old welded frame so just at waist height.
Punnets and seedling pots dry out so fast. With the deeper soil in the boxes, allows soil to remain moist longer. I drilled holes in the wood to accommodate the arch protective netting tunnel so seedlings get a great start.
Paris (NSW)
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Paris says: This is my budget seed raising set up, which sits on the verandah. I use old egg cartons and shells to plant the seedlings in
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Paris says: When they’re ready I can place the egg or cut the square containing the sprout off and add to the bed where I want without risk of damaging the delicate roots. My ‘Greenhouse’ is a broken overturned clear storage bucket on a piece of corflute.
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Paris says: I also have a small indoor version using only egg shells sitting in a clear egg storage container with a lid that I got for about $5 from Bunnings.
Sara (NSW)
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Sara says: Make the birds in your garden your friends. I always leave a tasty treat or two uncovered for my Birdy friends to enjoy. They repay me 100 fold by catching endless caterpillars, grasshoppers and other pests. They never touch the harvest. The most effective hunters in my garden are the noisy miners and the butcher birds. We have families living and breeding in our yard. I could watch them all day long.
Angie Trewhella (WA)
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Sara says: Beer in a shallow dish is the best slug trap there is! They prefer getting sloshed to eating my produce and the birds seem to enjoy a marinated treat!
Plant Addict (VIC)
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Plant Addict says: Old shower caps make fabulous covers to stop drips in hanging baskets that don’t have plastic liners. If the elastic is too blown then a couple of stainless steel pegs work wonders. The colourful caps look great too!
Cas Jsa (QLD)
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Cas says: Rat and Cat Deterrent, sometimes even possums. This tip has saved my corn and other vegies and fruits. Get a small container, either plastic or a small bottle with a tin lid. Punch a few holes in the lid. Fill the container half full of Citronella and put the lid back on. Sit the container in the middle of your garden or on top of the soil in a pot. Rats, mice, cats, and possums HATE the smell and will leave your crops alone. You can see here I've just planted pole beans and I have a tiny plastic container in the middle of the garden that is half full of citronella.
Elina Skliarenko (VIC)
This months winner!
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Elina says:
"Bug Snug" – Creating a Cozy Haven for Beneficial Insects
To maintain a natural balance in the garden, it’s important to attract not only pollinators but also predatory insects that help control pests. That’s why I create "Bug Snug"—a cozy refuge where insects can live, breed, and overwinter.
A Bug Snug is not just a pile of twigs; it’s a true natural shelter where every creature can find its perfect hiding spot. It contains everything they need—bark with tiny crevices, pinecones, sticks, small logs with cracks where beetles love to hide, and even straw for extra comfort.
How to Make a Bug Snug
Creating a cozy corner for insects is easier than you think:
Build the frame. Take three (or more) long sticks—bamboo, hazel, or even eucalyptus will work. I used bamboo sticks and tied them together at the top to form a sturdy tipi. This serves as the foundation for the entire structure.
Secure it in the ground. Push the bottom ends of the sticks into the soil so the structure stands firm and steady.
Add natural filling. I carefully collect and arrange pieces of wood, dry leaves, wood chips, pinecones, straw, bark, and small branches to create a warm and safe home for insects and other garden creatures.
Welcome new residents. Now, I love watching as ladybugs, beetles, spiders, and even small lizards make their home in these cozy hideouts. The Bug Snug comes to life, filled with rustling sounds, tiny movements, and the vibrant pulse of nature itself.
A Bug Snug is not just a charming addition to the garden; it’s a vital part of the ecosystem. By creating these shelters, we support nature, reduce organic waste, and promote healthy soil.
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Elina says:
Green Manure – Nature’s Way to Enrich the Soil
To keep my soil fertile and full of life, I actively use green manure—plants grown specifically to improve soil structure, enrich it with organic matter, and suppress weeds.
How I Do It:
After harvesting, I sow fast-growing green manure plants such as mustard, phacelia, clover, or lupine in my garden beds.
When they grow tall, I don’t remove them completely; instead, I cut them down and leave them as mulch on the surface or gently incorporate them into the soil to break down and enrich it.
Mustard helps cleanse the soil of pathogens, phacelia improves soil structure, and clover fixes nitrogen, making it available for future crops.
In autumn, I plant winter green manure crops such as rye or vetch, which protect the soil from erosion and, in early spring, become a rich natural fertilizer.
Thanks to green manure, my soil remains loose, fertile, and full of life, allowing me to grow abundant harvests without chemical fertilizers.
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Elina says: Nurturing the Soil Microbiome – Healthy Soil Without Chemicals
The secret to a thriving garden is not just good soil—it’s the invisible life within it: bacteria, fungi, and other microorganisms. Instead of simply feeding my plants, I focus on developing a healthy soil microbiome.
What I Do:
• I regularly use microbial inoculants like Popul8 and GOGO Juice, which contain beneficial bacteria and fungi that enhance soil structure.
• I apply Trichoderma and Bacillus subtilis, which suppress harmful pathogens and help plant roots absorb nutrients more efficiently.
• I cover the soil with mulch (straw, grass clippings, wood chips) to create the perfect environment for beneficial microbes to thrive.
• I avoid tilling the soil, preserving the natural relationships between fungi and plant roots.
With this approach, my plants become more resistant to diseases and drought, while my soil grows richer, healthier, and more fertile every year.
Heidi (VIC)
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Heidi says: Full cycle - recycle - pea cycle
Growing sweet peas and eating peas such as sugar snap and snow peas are rewarding crops. After their final harvest I pull out the spent plants and store them in a tub over summer where they dry out. Then in autumn, when I have planted the collected seed and other winter veggies, I use my organic homemade pea straw mulch to keep the soil warm.
Moonie (NSW)
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Moonie says: Grow snail and slug vulnerable flower seedlings in a pot then move pot into the flower border.
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Moonie says: Protect snail and slug vulnerable seedlings in a cloche made from old plastic bottles. Compare size of unprotected versus protected bok choy.
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Moonie says: Lazy seed-raising method for time-poor gardeners using coriander (which enjoys simple direct sowing). Clear and prepare a bed, scatter seed, muss into soil with hands. Let nature do the rest.
Zane B (WA)
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Zane says: When planting several varieties of seeds in pots, it is so easy to forget which pots have which seeds. But I found an easy way to tell. I line up a row of pots of one variety and make a marker flag for the start of that row, and I don't have to buy anything special to do it. Whenever I cook skewers of meat on the barbie, I save the used skewers after dinner and rinse them off. Then, when it is seed planting time, I take one of the skewers, cut off the top of a seed packet from the Seed Collection with the name on it, tape it to the skewer, and voila! I little flag to identify what's planted. Here you can see the one I've made for the Broccoli - Green Sprouting Calabrese seeds.
Jen (NSW)
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Jen says: If birds keep stealing your strawberries before you can pick them, try placing a few small red-painted rocks around the plants before the berries ripen. Birds will peck at the rocks, thinking they're real fruit, then lose interest when nothing happens. It’s a simple way to protect your harvest without using nets or scare tactics.
