For the best tasting tomatoes, pour a cup of undiluted beer around the base of each plant after it blossoms. Repeat once a week until the tomatoes are ripe. Editor's note: All right, but don't let your tomatoes drive.

Sandra Pollock
Lexington, Kentucky

An easy way to grow frost-tender plants that have tubers or bulbs is to start them in pots, which can be set in the ground or placed in larger containers. Make sure they have drainage holes to prevent rot. The pots protect the plants from voles and are easy to take up in the fall and bring inside for winter storage.

Sherry Gibson
Mount Holly, North Carolina

To grow good cantaloupes, place each half-grown melon atop an empty 1-pound coffee can placed upside down on the ground. This keeps the melons away from dirt and slugs and makes them easy to find.

Anne Marie Holzhauer
Westport, New York

We have three wooden window boxes outside our breakfast area. In order to keep nice seasonal flowers in them, I have two sets of plastic liners. I plant the first set with pansies for early spring. Before they begin to decline, I plant the second set with geraniums. Nearing the end of summer, I replant the first set with chrysanthemums to replace the geraniums in fall. This keeps the boxes nice and full, and we really enjoy the changes.

Nancy Oglesby
Roebuck, South Carolina

Here's a good way to protect ripening ears of corn from the birds. Just put a clear plastic sandwich bag over each ear and secure it. These bags are inexpensive, last for years, and really do the trick.

Louis Kulpa
Wheeling, West Virginia

For years, squirrels decimated my outdoor potted plants. So I tried applying a few tablespoons of blood meal to the surface of the soil in the pots. The pots have been undisturbed ever since.

Justin J. Buckley
Fairfax, Virginia

Collards are the number one vegetable in our part of the state. But the worms like them better than we do. You can spray every day, and they still eat. An old farmer once told me that sifting flour onto the leaves would take care of the worms. I didn't have enough flour, so I tried sprinkling baby powder. Guess what? No worms!

Jean B. Pridgen
Rocky Mount, North Carolina

I make a drawing of all of my flowerbeds and mark on the drawings where I've planted bulbs. That way, I know exactly where the bulbs are whenever I turn over the soil.

Claire Newburg
Benton, Arkansas

My amaryllis bulbs failed to bloom outdoors for several years. I figured that unusually mild winters might be responsible. So I dug up the bulbs in the fall, placed them in the refrigerator for about six weeks, and then replanted them. It worked. They bloomed the next spring.

Janice C. Moffitt
Hilton Head ISland, South Carolina

I planted nandina bushes in my yard expecting to use the red berries in Christmas arrangements, but the birds seemed to think the berries were just for them. So last year, I hung jingle bells on the stems near the berries. Now the birds go elsewhere for food and I have beautiful berries.

Ellen DeMott
Ringgold, Virginia

I recycle aluminum piepans as saucers under my flowerpots to keep water off the floor. They are inexpensive, lightweight, and rustproof.

Carol W. Adams
Bowling Green, Kentucky

Whenever you boil eggs, let the water cool, and then use it to water your houseplants. The calcium in the water will make them healthy and strong.

Anna Victoria Reich
Albuquerque, New Mexico

Every March, I prune the tallest canes of my nandinas almost to the ground and trim off the leaves. The canes are woody and firm and make excellent supports for iris, gladioli, phlox, and mums. They last several seasons and cost nothing!

Mrs. J. Dan Lane
Decatur, Georgia

A piece of an old window blind makes an inexpensive plant label. Cut it to a point on one end, then add the plant's name.

Anna Victoria Reich
Albuquerque, New Mexico

To keep squirrels from digging in new bedding plants, I use plant supports with rings at the top to stake out the area and place black plastic netting over the rings. Then I use metal staples to fasten the netting to the ground. The squirrels can't get in, and the netting is almost invisible. The netting can be raised or removed altogether as the plants grow.

Dawn S. McCall
Fort Mill, South Carolina

Pipe cleaners, with their fuzzy, soft surfaces, make the best fasteners for securing plants and flowers to supports. They are easy to bend and won't bruise the tender stalks and stems.

Charlotte Bryant
Greensburg, Kentucky

Here's a way to keep grass from growing into your flowerbed without laying down a wooden or brick border. Just work up the soil a couple of inches deep along the edge, and stir in a little dry cement mix. Then when you water the garden, the dirt edge will harden, and grass will not grow through it.

Connie Honeycutt
Rocky Mount, North Carolina

I keep an old cutting board handy outside and use it for cutting the stems of fresh flowers to the desired length. This is much easier than trying to hold the flowers and cut the stems in my hands.

Charlotte Bryant
Greensburg, Kentucky

Here's a way to keep squirrels out of your bird feeder. Hang the feeder from a coat hanger that you've straightened out, leaving the hook to place over a tree limb and a curl at the other end to hold the feeder. Coat the wire with solid shortening. Hang the feeder at eye level, away from the trunk or nearby limbs. After some very funny attempts, squirrels will learn your feeder is for birds only.

Beverly White
Rockmart, Georgia

I have an arbor with climbing 'Don Juan' roses that I hated tying up with twine. So this year I took grapevines, stripped off the leaves, and wound them around the roses. They look beautiful and natural-much better than string or twine.

Janice Sauls
Tifton, Georgia

I drink herbal tea and save the bags. Once a week, I steep the old tea bags for several minutes in hot water, let it cool, and then water my potted plants with it. My plants are green and glossy, and they grow like mad.

Clara Null
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

I use a black felt-tip marker and a yardstick to mark the handles of my garden tools (trowels, weeders, hoes, shovels, etc.) in 6-inch increments. Now I can easily estimate depths and distances.

Doris J. Starling
Rockville, Maryland

Here's an idea to keep deer from devouring your shrubs. Drape chicken wire over the plants. Allow the foliage to grow through the holes. The deer will nibble down to the wire and stop. You won't have to prune anymore, as the deer will do it for you.

Judith Norman
Weslaco, Texas

I used a file to put a sharp edge on one side of my garden trowel. Now it does great double duty-either for digging or for chopping small roots and tough weeds.

Vern Dailey
Wills Point, Texas

To prevent peonies from being broken and destroyed by heavy rains, place a piece of chicken wire over the leaves and stems as soon as they emerge from the ground. The stems and foliage will grow through the wire and be supported against the weather.

Richard Stone
Amherst, Virginia

In fall when the temperature drops, I put my pepper plants in pots and bring them indoors to a sunny window. They keep producing, although slowly. The following spring, I put them back outdoors and get a head start on my next pepper crop.

Suzanne Brown
Goose Creek, South Carolina

Fill a yellow dishpan halfway with water, and set it in the garden. Aphids are attracted to yellow. They will land in the water and drown.

Anna Victoria Reich
Albuquerque, New Mexico

I grind citrus rinds in the blender, add water, and let this mixture soak overnight. Then I strain the water and spray it on my plants to get rid of caterpillars and other insects. This works great!

Suzan L. Wiener
Spring Hill, Florida

A plastic hanging plant basket with a hook and suspension wires makes a great container for harvesting vegetables and fruits that you pick while standing up, such as pole beans, cucumbers, and blackberries. Place the hook in your collar, and let the basket hang at the waist, so both of your hands are free to harvest.

Henry Pittman
Spartanburg, South Carolina

Instead of buying those clay pot feet to rest a large container on, I get really small (1- to 2-inch) clay pots and invert them. It works great. Three of these cost the same as one pot foot!

Pat Behrens
Columbia, Tennessee

One reason azaleas fail to thrive is that many people simply dig a hole and plop in the plant without first gently spreading out the roots. Years later, you can pull up the plant and see that the root ball is still in the shape of the nursery pot it came in!

Stephanie Bauman
Avon Lake, Ohio

To keep squirrels off the tops of those dome baffles that protect bird feeders, smear the baffles with a mixture of petroleum jelly and a few drops of hot sauce. It lasts for months.

Kay McKemie
Palmyra, Virginia

Those plastic stakes that are used for holding Christmas lights are great for supporting floppy annuals and perennials. The light stakes come in several different sizes and heights. Buying them after Christmas Day means that you can usually get them at half price, just in time for planning your spring garden.

Cherie F. Colburn
The Woodlands, Texas

You can recycle strings of burned-out Christmas lights to use in the garden. I cut the wires into sections and throw away the lights. Then I use the sections to tie climbing plants to their supports. The plastic coating on the wires is waterproof and gentle on plants.

Kelley Steinhorn
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

After purchasing a paper shredder, I found two ways to recycle the paper. One is to till it into the soil in our garden. The other is to add shredded paper to the soil used for planting trees and shrubs. In each case, it holds moisture and breaks down to enrich the soil.

Cynthia Dixon
Cary, North Carolina

Discarded ice cube trays make good seed starter containers. Make a drainage hole in each cube cup. Fill the tray with potting soil, and plant two or three seeds in each cup. When they sprout, thin them out, removing all but the strongest seedling in each cup. When the seedlings are ready for transplanting, the roots have usually filled the cup, so the root balls come out intact with little disturbance. Gently loosen the roots at the bottom and sides of each root ball before planting.

Kathy Nealey
Gilbertown, Alabama

When setting out tomato plants, sprinkle 1/2 cup of powdered milk in each hole you dig to give plants an extra boost of calcium.

Dorothy Osborne
Weber City, Virginia

Editor's note: Ground lime is cheaper to use if you have a lot of plants.

We have three wooden window boxes outside our breakfast area. In order to keep nice seasonal flowers in them, I have two sets of plastic liners. I plant the first set with pansies for early spring. Before they begin to decline, I plant the second set with geraniums. Nearing the end of summer, I replant the first set with chrysanthemums to replace the geraniums in fall. This keeps the boxes nice and full, and we really enjoy the changes.

Nancy Oglesby
Roebuck, South Carolina

Here's a good way to protect ripening ears of corn from the birds. Just put a clear plastic sandwich bag over each ear and secure it. These bags are inexpensive, last for years, and really do the trick.

Louis Kulpa
Wheeling, West Virginia

For years, squirrels decimated my outdoor potted plants. So I tried applying a few tablespoons of blood meal to the surface of the soil in the pots. The pots have been undisturbed ever since.

Justin J. Buckley
Fairfax, Virginia

Collards are the number one vegetable in our part of the state. But the worms like them better than we do. You can spray every day, and they still eat. An old farmer once told me that sifting flour onto the leaves would take care of the worms. I didn't have enough flour, so I tried sprinkling baby powder. Guess what? No worms!

Jean B. Pridgen
Rocky Mount, North Carolina

I make a drawing of all of my flowerbeds and mark on the drawings where I've planted bulbs. That way, I know exactly where the bulbs are whenever I turn over the soil.

Claire Newburg
Benton, Arkansas

My amaryllis bulbs failed to bloom outdoors for several years. I figured that unusually mild winters might be responsible. So I dug up the bulbs in the fall, placed them in the refrigerator for about six weeks, and then replanted them. It worked. They bloomed the next spring.

Janice C. Moffitt
Hilton Head ISland, South Carolina

I planted nandina bushes in my yard expecting to use the red berries in Christmas arrangements, but the birds seemed to think the berries were just for them. So last year, I hung jingle bells on the stems near the berries. Now the birds go elsewhere for food and I have beautiful berries.

Ellen DeMott
Ringgold, Virginia

I recycle aluminum piepans as saucers under my flowerpots to keep water off the floor. They are inexpensive, lightweight, and rustproof.

Carol W. Adams
Bowling Green, Kentucky

Whenever you boil eggs, let the water cool, and then use it to water your houseplants. The calcium in the water will make them healthy and strong.

Anna Victoria Reich
Albuquerque, New Mexico

Every March, I prune the tallest canes of my nandinas almost to the ground and trim off the leaves. The canes are woody and firm and make excellent supports for iris, gladioli, phlox, and mums. They last several seasons and cost nothing!

Mrs. J. Dan Lane
Decatur, Georgia

A piece of an old window blind makes an inexpensive plant label. Cut it to a point on one end, then add the plant's name.

Anna Victoria Reich
Albuquerque, New Mexico

To keep squirrels from digging in new bedding plants, I use plant supports with rings at the top to stake out the area and place black plastic netting over the rings. Then I use metal staples to fasten the netting to the ground. The squirrels can't get in, and the netting is almost invisible. The netting can be raised or removed altogether as the plants grow.

Dawn S. McCall
Fort Mill, South Carolina

Pipe cleaners, with their fuzzy, soft surfaces, make the best fasteners for securing plants and flowers to supports. They are easy to bend and won't bruise the tender stalks and stems.

Charlotte Bryant
Greensburg, Kentucky

Fill a yellow dishpan halfway with water, and set it in the garden. Aphids are attracted to yellow, so they will land in the water and drown. You'll have fewer insects on your plants.

Anna Victoria Reich
Albuquerque, New Mexico

Here's a way to keep grass from growing into your flowerbed without laying down a wooden or brick border. Just work up the soil a couple of inches deep along the edge, and stir in a little dry cement mix. Then when you water the garden, the dirt edge will harden, and grass will not grow through it.

Connie Honeycutt
Rocky Mount, North Carolina

I keep an old cutting board handy outside and use it for cutting the stems of fresh flowers to the desired length. This is much easier than trying to hold the flowers and cut the stems in my hands.

Charlotte Bryant
Greensburg, Kentucky

Here's a way to keep squirrels out of your bird feeder. Hang the feeder from a coat hanger that you've straightened out, leaving the hook to place over a tree limb and a curl at the other end to hold the feeder. Coat the wire with solid shortening. Hang the feeder at eye level, away from the trunk or nearby limbs. After some very funny attempts, squirrels will learn your feeder is for birds only.

Beverly White
Rockmart, Georgia

I have an arbor with climbing 'Don Juan' roses that I hated tying up with twine. So this year I took grapevines, stripped off the leaves, and wound them around the roses. They look beautiful and natural-much better than string or twine.

Janice Sauls
Tifton, Georgia

I drink herbal tea and save the bags. Once a week, I steep the old tea bags for several minutes in hot water, let it cool, and then water my potted plants with it. My plants are green and glossy, and they grow like mad.

Clara Null
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

I use a black felt-tip marker and a yardstick to mark the handles of my garden tools (trowels, weeders, hoes, shovels, etc.) in 6-inch increments. Now I can easily estimate depths and distances.

Doris J. Starling
Rockville, Maryland

Here's an idea to keep deer from devouring your shrubs. Drape chicken wire over the plants. Allow the foliage to grow through the holes. The deer will nibble down to the wire and stop. You won't have to prune anymore, as the deer will do it for you.

Judith Norman
Weslaco, Texas

I used a file to put a sharp edge on one side of my garden trowel. Now it does great double duty-either for digging or for chopping small roots and tough weeds.

Vern Dailey
Wills Point, Texas

To prevent peonies from being broken and destroyed by heavy rains, place a piece of chicken wire over the leaves and stems as soon as they emerge from the ground. The stems and foliage will grow through the wire and be supported against the weather.

Richard Stone
Amherst, Virginia

In fall when the temperature drops, I put my pepper plants in pots and bring them indoors to a sunny window. They keep producing, although slowly. The following spring, I put them back outdoors and get a head start on my next pepper crop.

Suzanne Brown
Goose Creek, South Carolina

Fill a yellow dishpan halfway with water, and set it in the garden. Aphids are attracted to yellow. They will land in the water and drown.

Anna Victoria Reich
Albuquerque, New Mexico

I grind citrus rinds in the blender, add water, and let this mixture soak overnight. Then I strain the water and spray it on my plants to get rid of caterpillars and other insects. This works great!

Suzan L. Wiener
Spring Hill, Florida

A plastic hanging plant basket with a hook and suspension wires makes a great container for harvesting vegetables and fruits that you pick while standing up, such as pole beans, cucumbers, and blackberries. Place the hook in your collar, and let the basket hang at the waist, so both of your hands are free to harvest.

Henry Pittman
Spartanburg, South Carolina

Instead of buying those clay pot feet to rest a large container on, I get really small (1- to 2-inch) clay pots and invert them. It works great. Three of these cost the same as one pot foot!

Pat Behrens
Columbia, Tennessee

One reason azaleas fail to thrive is that many people simply dig a hole and plop in the plant without first gently spreading out the roots. Years later, you can pull up the plant and see that the root ball is still in the shape of the nursery pot it came in!

Stephanie Bauman
Avon Lake, Ohio

To keep squirrels off the tops of those dome baffles that protect bird feeders, smear the baffles with a mixture of petroleum jelly and a few drops of hot sauce. It lasts for months.

Kay McKemie
Palmyra, Virginia

Those plastic stakes that are used for holding Christmas lights are great for supporting floppy annuals and perennials. The light stakes come in several different sizes and heights. Buying them after Christmas Day means that you can usually get them at half price, just in time for planning your spring garden.

Cherie F. Colburn
The Woodlands, Texas

You can recycle strings of burned-out Christmas lights to use in the garden. I cut the wires into sections and throw away the lights. Then I use the sections to tie climbing plants to their supports. The plastic coating on the wires is waterproof and gentle on plants.

Kelley Steinhorn
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

After purchasing a paper shredder, I found two ways to recycle the paper. One is to till it into the soil in our garden. The other is to add shredded paper to the soil used for planting trees and shrubs. In each case, it holds moisture and breaks down to enrich the soil.

Cynthia Dixon
Cary, North Carolina

Discarded ice cube trays make good seed starter containers. Make a drainage hole in each cube cup. Fill the tray with potting soil, and plant two or three seeds in each cup. When they sprout, thin them out, removing all but the strongest seedling in each cup. When the seedlings are ready for transplanting, the roots have usually filled the cup, so the root balls come out intact with little disturbance. Gently loosen the roots at the bottom and sides of each root ball before planting.

Kathy Nealey
Gilbertown, Alabama

When setting out tomato plants, sprinkle 1/2 cup of powdered milk in each hole you dig to give plants an extra boost of calcium.

Dorothy Osborne
Weber City, Virginia

Editor's note: Ground lime is cheaper to use if you have a lot of plants.

Use ice cubes to water hanging baskets. The melting cubes add water slowly without dripping down on the porch or floor.

Mrs. W. T. Kesler
Laurens, South Carolina

After I clean my coffeepot with vinegar, I go outside and pour the hot used vinegar on the expansion cracks in my driveway and sidewalk. It's a good weedkiller and doesn't stain concrete.