Tips to help you in the garden

Home gardeners don't need many pieces of fancy equipment to help their gardens flourish — in fact, simple items can offer a variety of helpful hands if you know how to use them.

If you've put out tree seedlings that look a bit spindly, wrap the trunks in newspaper pages to protect them from the elements. Secure the newsprint sleeve with double-knotted dental floss or twine.

Lichens are the ruffled, fungus-like organisms that grow on stones, brick walls and tree trunks. Many gardeners love the natural look lichens lend to trees — but if you don't count yourself among them, here's a simple way to make lichens disappear. Scrub them with a stiff brush dipped in a solution of 30 millilitres (two tablespoons) of household bleach and one quart water. Just make sure none of the runoff comes into contact with your garden plants.

When trimming tree branches or shrubbery with a garden saw, run the blade through a bar of antibacterial soap. The soap will not only give the blade more glide, but will help reduce a branch's wound-threatening bacterium population as well.

Taking a saw or shears to tree branches usually leaves stubborn sap on the tool. Use a clean cloth to rub any of the following substances onto the blade(s), and say "so long" to sap:

• Nail polish remover
• Baby oil
• Aerosol cooking spray
• Suntan oil
• Peanut butter
• Vegetable shortening

Rubbing petroleum jelly or spraying a commercial multi-purpose lubricant on the pivot joint of your shears will have you snipping away at shrubs so smoothly you'll feel like a pruning pro.

These small but helpful tips using items from your home will have you out of the garden and doing other things in no time, but more importantly, they will contribute to the growth of a beautiful garden.