7 Excellent Ideas for Using Eggshells in the Garden

7 Excellent Ideas for Using Eggshells in the Garden

Eggs are an inexpensive and most effective source of protein you eat, but do you know eggshells are useful too? Using eggshells in the garden is possible.

Egg shells are composed of more than 95% of minerals. Mainly calcium carbonate (37%), which is an essential element required for plant’s growth. For your surprise, eggshells also consists magnesium, potassium, iron and phosphorus in good quantity. To this, these are added with 3.3% protein and a trace element manganese. If all these reasons are not enough to satiate you from not throwing your egg shells, you should know that egg shells also deter some pests like slugs and snails away.

1. Composting

Whether raw shells resulting from omelet or the preparation of a delicious cake, or even shells cooked for boiled eggs, they can join your compost bin. But before dropping them off to your compost bin, finely crumble the shells. All their minerals then be find in your soil. In addition, the eggshells neutralize the pH level of the compost you made from them. One thing you should remember that eggshells do not make the soil alkaline but neutralize it.

2. Barrier against the pesky crawlersslug

Coarsely crumbled, egg shells form an effective barrier against soft bodied garden pests like snails and slugs that eat your plants. They do not risk through this sharp and uncomfortable jagged shells.

To do this, encircle roughly crushed layer of eggshells around the plants that are sensitive to such pests.

3. Seedlings Germination

This is one of the most popular ideas on eggshells you should try out immediately, using them to germinate seedlings. At the bottom of each half shell, do a small hole, for drainage. Fill it with meager amount of soil and sow seeds.

When the seedlings are big enough and require transplanting, simply crack the shells from beneath and plant them.

4. Disease Free Healthy Tomatoes

While planting tomatoes, place a handful of coarsely crumbled eggshells in the bottom. This will provide a good amount of minerals and trace elements to a tomato plant in all of its growing season slowly and steadily.

This will also help in healthy growth of tomato plant and develop its resistance to diseases, especially against blossom end rot occurs due to lack of calcium.

5. Natural Fertilizer

You can also use eggshells as mineral fertilizer directly. For this you will need to crumble or grind shells as thinly as possible, then spread this powder at the surface of your crop or ornamental plants and incorporate the soil by a light scratching.

Your plants will thank you for this natural mineral intake and it’ll also help them in recovering calcium deficiency. This fertilizer is also suitable for indoor plants. Eggshell fertilizer is good for olives, oleander, zucchini and tomatoes.

6. In Chives

This one is certainly recommendable, especially if you are growing chives in a pot. Drop handful of crushed eggshells around the roots, these will decompose gradually and provide calcium, which chives likes so much.

7. Eggshells for Mulching

Use eggshells for mulching, inexpensive and effective way to mulch the plants. One more advantage is that eggshells look like pebbles from far and add decorative element if you spread them on pots.

Pond in a Pot: Create a Container Water Garden

Pond in a Pot: Create a Container Water Garden

Do you want to add a water feature in your small garden? If yes, then create a pond in a pot. Learn how to make a container water garden full of water lilies and irises blooming, fountains bubbling and fishes swimming.

Pond in a pot is a combination of potted plants. It is easy to maintain and needs less care. You can arrange plants whenever and wherever you like.

Choose a container

Take as large as you can, a tub, bowl or container, whichever you can use. Ceramic and Plastic containers of 15-25 gallons are best or use your old wash tub, porcelain container, old wine box or whiskey barrel (check out its leakage). Choose Container painted with dark color from inside by this your pond will look more spacious and deep. If possible take container more than 16 inches wide and 10 inches deep.

Decide place for it

Your container water garden will provide a serene ambiance to garden so place it wisely after deciding, whether the source of water is near to it or not and it will receive sunshine of about six hours but shade in afternoon or not, then you will need to check its how it’s looking from different angles. It can become a beautiful focal point of your garden.

Plants you need

Choose three to five plants according to the size of your container, take different types of aquatic plants: Erect plants like ‘yellow flag iris’ and cattail, floating plants like water hyacinth and broad leaf plants like giant arrowhead or calla lily.

If your container’s size is more than the diameter of 16 inches and 10 inches deep (ideal size), then you can grow deep water plants like lotus and water-lily, too. These aquatic plants need at least 10 inches of water over their roots and some space to spread their foliage.

Setting up your water garden

Once you’re done with choosing container, placing it in suitable spot and picking plants, you’re ready to set up your pond in a pot. Just fill up the container with general tap water and dip the potted plants you’ve bought. All you need is to place them up in certain depths of container, for this use bricks to vary height to make a picturesque arrangement, see the diagram below for better insight. You can also install fountain and add fish in pond.

Maintenance

It is easier than planting in grounds: no need to worry about soil, over watering and weeds. Partial shade and moderate temperature is optimum for the growth of water plants. Restore water after every couple of days. Algae is the problem and to prevent this, paint dark color inside your container and occasionally drain the water when decomposed matter populate on the bottom.

Mosquitoes can be a problem too; to avoid their larvae to thrive install bubbler or fountain or add gold fishes.

Additional Tips

In colder parts to overwinter it, you have to keep it indoor.

Use plants in diversity but don’t overcrowd.

For fishes, you need to de-chlorinate water using chlorine removal tablets.