Our 8 Best Houseplant and Gardening Tips From the Past 25 Years

Whether your thumb is green or brown, we could all use some smart hacks and clever tricks to help keep our plant babies alive and thriving. We’ve gathered some of our all-time favorite piece of advice from the past 25 years of REAL SIMPLE to keep your garden growing beautifully and your indoor plants happy and healthy.

Water Just Enough

Pour in water until it starts to leak out of the drainage holes in the bottom. Then stop. (Too much water can cause root rot.) PS: The best time to water is in the morning or the evening, not in the middle of the day, when the air is warmer and more H20 will evaporate.

Use Old Newspaper to Protect Your Plants

Before mulching, lay down a thick layer of newspaper or cardboard around the plants in your garden. This will help smother weeds, hold moisture, and it will break down over time to enrich the soil. Make sure you wet the newspaper first so it stays in place while you mulch over it—and if you’re using cardboard, you should avoid anything glossy as it won’t break down as easily.

Give Your Plants Some Aspirin

It can do more than cure a headache! Dissolve three-quarters of a pill in a gallon of water and spray the solution on indoor or outdoor plants every two weeks to help ward off fungus. Many plants produce salicylic acid (aspirin’s active ingredient) to fight disease, and spraying them with it can boost this defense mechanism. 

Use Egg Shells to Start Seeds

No need to buy plastic starter containers for starting those seeds—they hold moisture well and give your baby plantlings a little calcium boost! Plus, since they’re biodegradable you can just plant the whole thing in a bigger pot when they get mature enough.

Dust Those Leaves

Tiny dust particles can block sunlight, interfering with a plant’s photosynthesis. But you don’t have to spring for plant-specific cleaners or leaf polish. Pop small plants in the sink for a gentle shower about once a season. For larger plants, wipe the leaves with a clean, damp rag whenever you notice a dusty accumulation. Alternatively, you can dust waxy plant leaves with the business side of a banana peel. 

Plant Rosemary to Repel Mosquitos

Want a more natural way to keep those pesky mosquitos away from your backyard? Plant a rosemary bush! The fragrance repels mosquitoes. Check out these 15 other plants that also help keep them at bay.

Create a Drip Line With an Old Hose

Installing drip irrigation is an expensive and timely endeavor, but a garden hose with some carefully added punctures can do the job perfectly. Use a 1/4-inch drill bit to make the holes—this is also a great way to repurpose a hose that already has a leak or hole in it. 

Mulch Your Plants in the Fall

Mulching your outdoor plants in the fall comes with a ton of benefits: it feeds your plants over the winter, helps to keep moisture around the root ball, which reduces the need to water as frequently, protects tender roots from frost, and provides a shelter for wildlife.