Easy Fixes for Garden Annoyances

Keep your garden looking beautiful with these simple home remedies of common garden issues.

Collect the leaves and put them to work

The best tool to collect leaves from lawns and paths is a rubber rake, but a spring-tined rake will also do the job, as will a leaf blower.

1. Rake the leaves into piles, and lift them away using a pair of plastic grabbers (which resemble extended hands) or even two pieces of thick cardboard. Pick off any that have accumulated on top of small plants by hand; this will help prevent fungal diseases from affecting the plants.
2. Place the leaves into garbage bags as you collect them, dampening them if dry. Perforate the bags with a garden fork and store them out of the way for at least one year. They'll rot down into leaf mold — a useful, and free, soil conditioner.

Wire it back into shape

Weather will turn a small crack in a flowerpot into a big fracture or break, and if you've spent a lot on a large terracotta container, you won't want to throw it away.

1. Empty the pot, clean it with water and allow to dry. Very gently pull open the crack and squirt in a little clear silicone sealant or epoxy resin glue.
2. Using a fine masonry drill bit attached to an electric drill, make a small hole on the upper lip of the pot.
3. Cut a length of fine galvanized wire just longer than the circumference of the pot at its widest part. Thread one end of the wire into the hole and twist it back on itself with a pair of pliers to secure it in position.
4. Wrap the wire tightly round the outside of the pot, and thread it back into the hole. Again, twist the wire to secure and tighten the loop. The wire collar will help to stabilize the pot and stop the crack from spreading further.

Use some oil to free the lock

If you are locked out of your shed by a corroded padlock, try spraying WD-40 into the shackles and keyhole. Wait a few minutes, then give the lock a couple of sharp taps with a hammer.