Unconventional Gardening Hacks to Save Time and Money from Expert Simon Akeroyd
Gardening enthusiasts seeking innovative ways to cultivate their plots can now turn to the wisdom of Simon Akeroyd, a renowned gardener, author, and social media influencer with over 2.4 million followers. Akeroyd, who has penned more than 30 gardening books, recently released Way To Grow, a guide packed with hacks designed to save both time and money while offering simple, inspirational growing techniques.
"Nature doesn't really have any rules, so I just do things my way by experimenting," says Akeroyd, an RHS-trained expert based in Devon. He believes that gardening is often made overly complex, with numerous methods available, and advocates for a more flexible, experimental approach.
Seven Ingenious Gardening Hacks
Here, Akeroyd shares seven unique hacks to transform your gardening experience, focusing on efficiency and cost-effectiveness.
- Nurture Beds with Keyhole Gardening: Instead of maintaining a separate compost heap, pile composting materials into the centre of a round raised bed. This allows nutrients to leach into the surrounding soil, feeding plants directly. The design resembles a keyhole from above, with a notch for access. Use materials like bricks or rubble to build the bed. This method reduces watering needs and benefits vegetables such as lettuces, cabbages, courgettes, and pumpkins. No turning is required, and excess compost can be spread as mulch.
- Make a Feather and Potato Bird-Scarer: Create a simple bird deterrent by inserting feathers into an old potato, threading a string through a skewer hole, and suspending it over crops. The movement in the wind scares birds away effectively.
- Liquid Feed with Bindweed: Transform pernicious bindweed into a nutrient-rich liquid feed. Dig up the roots, submerge them in water to rot for several weeks until they turn black and squishy. This high-nitrogen and potassium feed recycles a common weed, but avoid adding it to compost heaps to prevent regrowth.
- Deter Slugs: Use a plank of wood leaned against a raised bed's shady side to create a shelter for slugs and snails. Water it in the evening to attract them, then remove the plank in the morning to collect pests. Alternatively, place sheep's wool around plant bases, as slugs avoid it; collect wool from fences or trees for this purpose.
- Make a Cactus from Dragon Fruit: Grow a dramatic houseplant by extracting black seeds from a dragon fruit, drying them on a plate, and sprinkling over compost. This yields a mass of cactus-like plants that can be grown collectively or individually, offering an architectural addition to windowsills at no cost.
- Build a Mesh Potato Tower: Save space and avoid digging by constructing a potato tower with posts and chicken wire in a cylinder shape. Layer compost and potatoes, starting with maincrops at the bottom and progressing to first earlies at the top. Harvest gradually as potatoes ripen from the top down.
- Put White Stones Under Fruit Trees: Inspired by vineyards in France and Spain, use white pebbles under fruit trees to reflect light into the canopy, aiding ripening for tomatoes, aubergines, peppers, and other fruits. This technique enhances growth by maximizing light exposure.
Simon Akeroyd's Way To Grow: Over 100 Hacks For Green-fingered Greatness is published by DK and available now for £16.99, offering a treasure trove of practical advice for gardeners of all levels.
