Divide and Conquer!

The best way to keep your perennials in check is by dividing ’em. This will keep overgrown plants from taking over your whole backyard, reduce overcrowding, and eliminate any old or weak growth. And guess what? Early fall is the best season for dividing! So get started as soon as possible, using the 6-step to-do list below:

1. Cut all the top growth back by half, and dig up the roots.
2. Gently tease or break clumps of the plants apart, or cut them with a sharp knife or spade. Make sure each new piece has at least one bud or stem and some roots.
3. Treat each divided perennial to our Transplant Tonic: In a 5-gallon bucket, mix 1 can of beer, ¼ cup of instant tea granules, 2 tbsp. of dishwashing liquid, and 2 gallons of water. Let the plants soak in the mix for about 10 minutes or so.
4. Have a perennial exchange with your neighbors, where you can trade your divisions for a bounty of fresh new plants! (Or, skip to Step 6.)
5. Plant your perennials in their new location using compost-enriched soil. Give ’em a good watering, then dribble any leftover Transplant Tonic around each plant for an extra boost. By next spring, they’ll be growin’ strong!

For even more garden grow-how, check out our bestselling book, Terrific Garden Tonics! It’s filled with hundreds of Jerry's world-famous solutions to give you the lush lawn, beautiful blooms, and gorgeous garden of your dreams. And you can try it FREE for 21 days with our Free Preview!

Give an Ant Army the Boot

Are you up to your elbows in ants? If the little buggers seem to be everywhere lately—from your pantry to your garage to your garden—here’s what you can do to say "bug off!" and avoid future invasions:

A soapy solution. When anthills make a mess of your lawn, mix ¼ cup of liquid hand soap with 1 gallon of water in a bucket, and pour it over the mounds. Repeat the procedure about an hour later.

Bait ‘em with honey. Mix 1/2 cup of honey, 3/8 cup of baker’s yeast, and 3/8 cup of sugar in a bowl. Spread the mix on bottle caps or pieces of plastic or cardboard, and set the traps in the ants’ pathways.

Call in the cukes. Ants aren’t fans of cucumbers. So lay cucumber peels in their pathways to keep them from invading.

Chalk it up. If ants are all over your trees, shrubs, or flowerbeds, sprinkle powdered chalk on the ground around the trunk or the whole planting bed. If it’s your shed or garage they won’t stay out of, sprinkle the chalk around the door and window frames.

Fortify the front line. Ants won’t cross a line of talcum powder. So use it at the entrance to your pantry, your front and back doors, and anywhere else you don’t want them to go.

Offer some refresh-mint. Keep ants out of your house by laying sprigs of fresh mint in front of your doors, windows, and any cracks or holes that the ants could sneak through.

For more bug battling, pest-repelling quick-tricks, check out our bestselling book, Critter Control & Pest Prevention. You can even try it FREE for 21 days with our Free Preview!

Follow us on Facebook for even more Jerry Baker solutions!

4 Steps to Fabulous Flowers

What would you say if we told you there’s a no-sweat, no-dig way to have a fabulous perennial garden in less than one year? You’d better believe it, because it’s true! And here’s how:

1. In late summer (ahem, that’s right now!), stake out the site where you want your new bed, then cover the area with a 1-inch-thick layer of newspapers. 
2. Place a few rocks over the papers to hold them down, and soak the area thoroughly. Water again as needed over the next few weeks to keep the papers moist. 
3. Once fall has arrived, remove the rocks, then spread 6 to 8 inches of leaves over the area. Top that with 8 to 12 inches of good soil or compost.
4. All winter, sit back, and let the ingredients settle in. By the time the following spring has begun, you’ll have a loose, fluffy flower bed that’ll be a joy for you to plant in—and for your perennials to grow in! 

There are hundreds more terrific tips to get fancier flowers and brighter blooms in our bestselling book, Flower Garden Problem Solver. You can even try it FREE for 21 days with our Free Preview! Then, check out our Facebook page, and be sure to follow us!

Save Your Bottles

You know me—I’ll never throw anything away if there’s a way to reinvent it, especially if it can come in handy around the yard and garden. Whether it’s coffee cans, panty hose, paper clips, or old hoses, I just can’t seem to get rid of those things.

For instance, before you throw out that empty bottle of liquid laundry detergent, bleach, or fabric softener, STOP! Otherwise, you’d be tossing one of the handiest outdoor helpers you could ask for: a big, sturdy plastic bottle. Here’s how you can put ‘em to work in your yard and garden:

• Deep irrigation system. Poke small holes in the bottoms and sides of the bottles, bury them in the soil around your garden, and fill them with water. The moisture will flow out at a slow rate, directly to the plants’ roots, where it’s needed most. 
• Garden-tool caddy. Make a big hole in a giant bottle on the side opposite the handle. Then insert your trowel, pruning shears, and other small hand tools through the hole to carry them wherever they’re needed. 
• Plant labels. Cut the sides of white or yellow bottles into strips, write on them with an indelible marker, and shove the strips into the soil next to the appropriate plants. 
• Scoop. Cut diagonally across the bottom, screw the top back on, and use it to scoop up sand, fertilizer, compost, cat litter, or just about any other nonedible substance. 
• Watering can. Drill a dozen holes in the cap of a giant bottle. Fill the bottle with water, and screw the top back on. To water your plants, flip the bottle upside down, and let the H₂O flow! 

And, as unlikely as it might seem, a few potent laundry and cleaning products can actually help ease some of the most common—and uncomfortable—outdoor mishaps. Here’s a quick-cure rundown:

• Bee stings. After scraping out the stinger, dab a few drops of bluing onto the spot, and—bingo!—instant relief! 
• Fire-ant bites. Douse the flames by dabbing the area with a half-and-half solution of bleach and water. If it’s applied within 15 minutes of the bite, it’ll ease the pain and swelling. (But if the pain is severe, or spreads beyond the bitten spot, hightail it to the closest doctor.) 
• Mosquito bites. Nix the itch and swelling by dabbing the spot with a few drops of ammonia. Act fast, though, before you start scratching. If you apply ammonia to broken skin, the sting will feel a whole lot worse than the skeeter’s bite! 
• Poison ivy. Relieve the pain and itch by patting the nasty red blotches with a solution consisting of a teaspoon or so of bleach per quart of water. 
• Rash. Grab a can of spray starch, and spritz that itch goodbye! 

Some folks may think I’m a little crazy when I tell them my best outdoor tips use supermarket “stuff” like detergent bottles, bleach, aspirin, hot pepper sauce, or even beer. But they stop shakin’ their heads and really start believing when they see the remarkable results!

Best yet, you’ll get ‘em all when you check out my blockbuster, bestselling book Supermarket Super Gardens. And it’s yours—FREE—for a Special 21-Day Preview!

Easy Egg Problem Solvers

Did you know that eggs and eggshells can help you grow lusher lawns and greener gardens? Just see our tips below! They may sound funny, but just wait ‘til you see what they can do!

• Make your soil more alkaline with ground eggshells! This allows plants to absorb its nutrients more easily.
• Boost your compost pile by tossing in nitrogen-rich eggshells.
• Fend off blossom-end rot that attacks your squash, tomatoes, peppers, or watermelon crops: First, give them a dose of organic mulch, and then, each time you water, press a handful of ground eggshells into the soil around each plant.
• End your fly frustrations by beating 1 egg yolk with 1 tablespoon of molasses and a pinch of black pepper. Pour the mixture into jar lids or shallow cans, and set them around your house. The flies will fly in, and they won’t take off again.
• Teach dilly-dallying deer to leave your trees and shrubs alone: Puree 2 tbsp. of ground cayenne pepper, 2 tbsp. of hot pepper sauce, 2 eggs, and 2 cloves of garlic, and 2 cups of water in a blender. Let it sit for two days. Then pour it around your plants, or apply it with a handheld sprayer.

Empty egg cartons also come in handy! Check out these nifty tricks:

• Start seeds: Fill an egg carton with starter mix, and plant your seeds according to the packet directions. At transplant time, cut the carton sections apart and put ‘em in the ground.
• Start your spuds indoors, where they are more likely to sprout. Empty paper egg cartons make the perfect starter pots.
• Cool your sunburn: Separate the top and bottom halves of a plastic egg carton and pour milk into each compartment. Pop the sections into the freezer, and whenever you need relief from sunburn, pull out a “milksicle” and rub it over the affected skin.

Check out our bestselling book, Supermarket Super Gardens, for more helpful garden hints. You can even try it FREE with our 21-Day Free Preview!

Foil Garden Pests

You may think aluminum foil is just a handy kitchen product. But it's actually one of the best outdoor tools against pesky pests, as well! Here’s how to put it to work:

Keep out cats. Fill empty 2-liter bottles halfway with water. Add a tiny bit of bleach to prevent algae from growing, and drop 3 long strips of foil into each one. Set the bottles around any areas of your yard you want to protect from unwanted visitors.
Repel birds, rabbits, and raccoons with a flashing fence. Pound stakes into the soil at 3- to 4-foot intervals all around your garden, and run twine between them. Cut aluminum foil into strips that are about 1 inch wide and about 5 inches long, and tape the strips to the twine, spaced out from each other by a foot or so.
Fend off cutworms, which commonly attack young plants, by wrapping foil loosely around the stems of any delicate seedlings. The foil should extend about 2 inches below the ground and 3 inches above. When the stems of your plants reach about ½ inch in diameter and are too thick for cutworms to damage, remove the foil.
Deter flying insects by placing several pieces of aluminum foil on the soil around any plants you want to protect. The reflecting light will confuse the bugs so that they can’t land. Just make sure to poke a few holes in the foil so that water can still reach your plants’ roots.
Stop snails and slugs. These troublemakers will snack on just about any kind of plant under the sun! To keep 'em from munching, simply wrap the base of each plant that you want to protect in a 1-inch piece (or larger, if you’d like) of foil. They'll keep right on movin'.

For more critter-busting quick-tricks, check out our bestselling book, Critter Control & Pest Prevention. You can even try it out FREE for a full 21 days with our Free Preview!

Dandelions are Delicious

You might think that dandelions are nothing but pesky weeds. But having a patch of those flowers growing in your yard is like having a goldmine right on your doorstep! In fact, as long as your lawn isn’t chemically treated*, you can eat every part of a dandelion plant—and it can be especially effective against indigestion, kidney, and liver problems. Try tossing young dandelion leaves in salads, steam them, or whip up one of these tasty beverages:

Dandelion Tea. Boil 2 teaspoons of fresh, chopped dandelion roots and leaves with ½ cup of spring water in a pan. Remove the pan from the heat, let the liquid steep for 15 minutes, and strain before drinking. Make a cup two or three times a day.

Dandy Dandelion Wine. Mix the juice and rinds of 4 lemons and 4 oranges with a gallon bucketful of dandelion blooms (no stems) and 2 gallons of water. Bring the mixture to a boil, and continue boiling for 30 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat, and let it sit for 24 hours. Then strain the mixture into a large glass jar, and stir in eight cups of sugar and 1 package of baker’s yeast. Cover the container, and leave it in a cool, dark place for two weeks. Then strain again before serving.

For more delicious, dandy recipes to boost your health and well-being, check out our bestselling book, Grow Younger, Live Longer! You can even try it out for 21 days with our Free Preview.

*Be sure to only use dandelions from unsprayed lawns. Always rinse dandelion plants before consuming or adding to any recipes.

An Afternoon Snack for Your Yard

Your kitchen is full of green thumb magic that’s just waiting to be unleashed! For starters, check out these fast food fixes that will help get your garden in tip-top shape: 

Apple juice. If your lawn is looking spotty or lighter in color, pay attention—it’s begging for food! So give it a hearty meal of this down-home fertilizer, then stand back and watch it grow: In a large bucket, mix 1 can of beer, 1 can of cola (not diet), 1 cup of apple juice, 1 cup of lemon-scented dishwashing liquid, 1 cup of ammonia, and 1 cup of all-purpose plant food (15-30-15 is good). Pour 1 quart of the mix into a 20 gallon hose-end sprayer, and apply it to everything in your yard to the point of runoff. Repeat every three weeks during the growing season, and you’ll see fantastic results! 

Muffin cups. After you’ve used paper muffin cups for their intended purpose of baking, you can still put them to work in your garden. Just toss ‘em into the compost bin or bury them in the soil, muffin crumbs and all. In no time, they will decompose into plant-pleasing snacks.

Peanut butter. You’ll love making these treats—and your fine-feathered friends will love eating them! Simply mix peanut butter with enough whole-wheat flour to form a dough. Shape the dough into baseball-sized mounds, and freeze them. When you're ready to hang one in the yard, cut a section from a mesh produce bag, and wrap it around the frozen sphere. Tie the bag closed, and hang it from a sturdy tree branch. You'll have a blast watching the birds flock to your yard!

For more fun tips and tricks using common kitchen products, check out our bestselling book, Supermarket Super Gardens. You can even try it out for a full 21 days with our Free Preview!

Potted Plants on the Job

Container gardening is becoming more and more popular every year. And did you know that some plants actually perform better when planted that way? It's true! Plus, here are five more great reasons to give plants in pots a shot:

The Right Soil. You can amend the potting mix to suit the needs of any potted plant—which is not always possible to do in your outdoor garden.

Protection. Plants in containers are safe from most of the soil-borne pests and diseases that thrive in open ground.

Boundaries. Some plants can take over an entire garden in a single season when planted in the ground. Pots or planter boxes will help to restrict their growth safely.

Weather. Containers enable you to grow plants that could never survive in your in-ground garden. When the weather turns too hot or too cold, all you need to do is whisk both plant and pot indoors.

Visual Appeal. No matter how well you tend to your garden, you will be faced with empty spots now and then. When your garden starts to look sparse, just liven up your scene with potted annuals or bulbs!

For more great garden grow-how, check out our bestselling book, Green Thumb Magic. You can even try it out for FREE for a full 21 days with our exclusive Free Preview!

Happy Earth Day!

This coming Sunday is Earth Day. So go ahead and get the ball rolling in your own backyard by starting a compost pile! Whether you decide to use it as a mulch or mix it into your  soil, you can never have too much compost for the garden. Here’s a few helpful hints and tricks to keep your pile really cookin’:

• Never use meat, fish scraps, or cooking fats in your compost pile. They’ll attract varmints and insects, cause bad odors, and slow down decomposition of the pile. 
• Whether it comes from a human or any other kind of animal, hair is full of iron, manganese, and sulfur—all good stuff for your garden. Work it into the soil or toss it onto the compost pile, and watch your plants eat it up! 
• Give your compost pile the air it needs for speedy decomposition—without having to turn the pile with a pitchfork every few weeks! Just drill holes along the length of a large PVC pipe, place the pipe upright in the center of the pile, and add your compost materials around it.
• If you don’t have the time or space to for a full-scale compost pile, try this trick instead: Save your non-meat table scraps—citrus rinds, potato peelings, eggshells, coffee grounds, and so on. Every few days, liquefy the scraps in a blender along with enough water to cover them and a tablespoon of Epsom salts. Pour the resulting cocktail onto the soil in your garden, lightly hoe it in, and your plants will jump for joy! 

For more garden grow how’s, check out our bestselling book, Green Thumb Magic! You can even try it out for FREE for a full 21 days with our Free Preview!

Wake Up Your Lawn!

Now that spring has sprung, it’s the right time to get your lawn off on the right foot—er, root. And there’s no better way to do it than to apply our Spring Wake-Up Mix. Here’s how:

Mix 50 pounds of pelletized gypsum, 50 pounds of pelletized lime, 5 pounds of bonemeal, and 2 pounds of Epsom salts in a wheelbarrow. Apply the mixture to your lawn with a broadcast spreader no more than two weeks before your first fertilizing. This will help aerate the lawn, while giving it something to munch on until you start your regular feeding program.

Spring is also a super time to aerate your lawn. For best results, aerate the morning after you water the grass or after a heavy rain because the soil will be easier to penetrate then. First, poke holes in your soil easily with our Aerating Lawn Sandals. Then, put some sifted peat moss, dried manure, or compost in a broadcast spreader, and apply a layer about ¼ inch thick to the whole area.

For more spring lawn tips, check out our bestselling book, All-American Lawns. This amazing book is full of super solutions to help your turf rise, shine, and grow into the most gorgeous green grass you’ve ever seen! You can even try it out for FREE for a full 21 days with our Free Preview!

Give Your Lawn a Spring Spruce!

It was Opening Day last week for all your favorite Major League baseball teams! But how’s the turf at your home field looking? If your lawn is in desperate need of a spring cleaning, take some time between innings this weekend to get out there and give it a spruce: 

1. Rake up the remains of last fall’s leaves and grass clippings.
2. Overseed your lawn to repair any damaged areas.
3. Follow with our sensational Spot Seed Tonic: Combine 1 cup of beer, 1 cup of baby shampoo, and 4 tablespoons of instant tea granules in a 20 Gallon Hose-End Sprayer, and lightly apply the mixture to the mulch covering your newly seeded areas.
4. Remove thatch from cool-season lawns. Then spread screened compost over the dethatched turf.
5. Follow the compost with a dose of our Kick-in-the-Grass Tonic: Mix 1 can of beer; ½ cup of Epsom salts; and 1 cup each of antiseptic mouthwash, dishwashing liquid, and ammonia in a large bucket. Pour the solution into a 20 Gallon Hose-End Sprayer, and apply the tonic to the point of run-off. After 2 weeks, administer another dose.
6. Sharpen your mower blade, or replace it with a new one, so you’ll be all set for the first cut of the season.

For more ways to grow, repair, and maintain the best lawn in the league, check out our bestselling book, All-American Lawns. You can even try it out FREE for a full 21 days with our Free Preview!

Spring Shed Cleaning

It’s official—spring has sprung! That means it’s also time for the annual rite of spring cleaning. So make a plan to get organized this weekend. And since gardening season is upon us, why not start outside with your shed?

Begin by sorting through all of the stuff you’ve accumulated. Then decide what items should stay, keeping in mind that your shed should be home to tools and equipment you use for the lawn and garden. Relocate any items that don’t fit into that category.

The last step in your de-cluttering mission is to store everything so it’s easy to find and is protected from dirt, dampness, and pests. But before you rush out to buy storage supplies, check out the list below. There are plenty of items you probably already own that you can repurpose to keep your shed organized. Consider these possibilities:

• Plastic sweater and shoe boxes—keep seed packets and gardening gloves clean and dry.
• A magnetic knife rack—perfect for holding trowels, hand rakes, dibbles, and other small metallic tools on a shed wall.
• Standing file holders—great for storing seed catalogs and garden magazines close at hand.
• A hanging shoe organizer—fill the pouches with twist ties, balls of twine, spray bottles, and other small stuff that can quickly turn into a cluttered mess.
• Ziplock plastic bags—stash seed packets, plant labels, and planting instructions in ‘em, then hang them with a binder clip on nails.

For more super secrets to clean up and declutter your whole house, check out our bestselling book, Can the Clutter! You can even try it FREE for a full 21 days with our Free Preview.

Songbird Season

Migrating songbirds are a big thrill in the spring, and a birdbath that’s brimming with water is one of the best ways to entice them to visit—especially if you add the sound of flowing water to it with a dripper!

You can buy a dripper, or drip tube, at a bird-supply store for about $35, or you can easily make your own for free using an empty plastic juice jug. Here’s how:

1. Thoroughly clean the jug, then using a straight pin, poke a pinhole in the bottom.
2. Poke another tiny hole near the top for airflow.
3. Fill the jug with water and replace the lid.
4. Use fishing line or small-gauge wire to suspend the jug from a sturdy branch above your birdbath. Now you’ve got everything birds need to sip, splash, and stay awhile!

For more terrific tips and tricks to help you treat your fine-feathered friends, check out our bestselling book, Backyard Birdscaping Bonanza. You can even try it out absolutely FREE for 21 days with our Free Preview!

Spring Shrub Shopping

January may kick off the new year for most folks, but March is really where it’s at if you’re a die-hard gardener. From under your feet to high above your head, blooms will soon be bursting out all over! And one of the best spring activities if you’ve got a green thumb is visiting your local garden center to pick up some new plants. It’s an especially great time to buy early-flowering shrubs because you can see exactly what color their flowers are. Here are some other points to ponder as you shop:

• Look for leaves that are healthy and free of dark spots or yellow patches.
• Check that the potting soil is firm and free of weeds.
• Avoid plants with visible pests, like aphids or scale.
• Make sure the pot has a readable plant tag, so you know exactly what you’re buying!

Once you’ve made your selections and placed your new shrubs in the yard, give ‘em a dose of this homemade elixir: Mix 1 tablespoon of baby shampoo, 1 teaspoon of hydrated lime, and 1 teaspoon of iron sulfate in a bucket with 1 gallon of water. Then spray the elixir on all of your flowering shrubs to the point of run-off. It’ll give them the energy them need to produce as many flowers as possible.

For more tips on getting your spring garden off to a great start, check out our bestselling book, Green Thumb Magic. You can even try it absolutely FREE for a full 21 days with our Free Preview!

Winter Lawn Prep

We know what you’re thinking…there’s still snow on the ground for many of you…the weather is cold and cloudy…and it’s way too early to think about lawn care, right? Wrong!

Even though it’s only February, it’s the perfect time to seed your lawn. That way, when the midwinter thaw comes, the soil softens enough to swallow the seed, and then freezes over once again—holding the seed in place until it’s ready to grow come spring.

First, fill a hand-held spreader with grass seed, and walk across your lawn, spreading the seed in front of you so that you are stepping on it as you go. As you force the seed down into the snow, it will pick up moisture and will swell. Anytime during the rest of the winter that the snow melts and your grass is visible, use that opportunity to tend to the grass along your walks and driveways. Remove any piles of soil and scraped up grass, then rake the areas clean, and rinse any salt away with your hose. Apply gypsum to salt-damaged patches of grass, and water it in well.

And voila—your lawn is ready for spring! For more all-year-round lawncare tips and tricks, check out our bestselling book, Green Grass Magic! You can even try it FREE for 21 days with our Free Preview. Thanks for reading!

Happy Holiday Houseplants

‘Tis the season for indoor gardening! So here are a few of our favorite tips, tricks, and (of course) trusty tonics that will keep your houseplants gorgeous, green, and growin’ all winter long:

Pretty up your plants. Never use water to clean the leaves of your houseplants. If your African violets, gloxinias, poinsettias, or other hairy-leaved plants are looking a little dusty, you can give them a gentle going-over with a soft baby’s hairbrush instead.

Get rid of the wrap. If you were lucky enough to receive a beautiful potted plant as a holiday gift, keep in mind that the colorful foil wrapping that covers the pot is just for display. It can actually be harmful if it’s left on too long, so make sure to remove it after a few days. Until that time, cut a small hole in the foil on the underside of the pot so excess water can still drain out.

Give poinsettias a boost. Keep them lush and lovely even after the holidays are gone with this power-packed potion: 1/4 cup of beer, 1/2 tbsp. of unflavored gelatin, 1/2 tbsp. of fish emulsion, 1/2 tbsp. of vitamin B1 plant starter, 1/2 tbsp. of ammonia, 1/2 tbsp. of instant tea granules, and 1 gal. of water. Mix it all up in a watering can, and use it every time your plants need a drink.

Spread the green. It’s easy to add to your plant collection—and you won’t even have to spend a dime! African violets, gloxinias, rex begonias, and peperomia are a few houseplants that root in a flash just from leaf cuttings. All you have to do is snip off a mature leaf with 2 or 3 inches of leafstalk attached, and insert the cutting into a new pot of soil. Make sure the leaf is standing straight up in the pot and that the cutting is planted deep enough that the leaf blades are touching the soil. As an added bonus, you might even get two or more new plants from a single leaf!

Feed your indoor garden. To keep your indoor herbs, veggies, and potted citrus trees happy and healthy all winter long (plus prevent pests!), mix up this terrific tonic in a handheld sprayer: 1 tbsp. of liquid kelp, 1/8 tsp. of dishwashing liquid, and 1 gal. of water. Then, just spray your plants every 2-3 weeks.

For more houseplant helpers and green growin’ secrets, check out our bestselling book, Green Thumb Magic. You can even try it out for FREE for a full 21 days with our Free Preview!

Flocking in a Winter Wonderland

Colorful berries on trees and shrubs are known for attracting winter birds. But that’s not all that our feathered friends love to flock to! Here’s how to turn your backyard into a winter wonderland—that’s literally for the birds:

Create a Feeding Station. Simply drill 1-inch holes into a thick branch, and hang it from a tree. Fill the holes with suet (heating it first to make it easier to pack), and you’re good to go. Just make sure to keep refill the suet every few days.

Fill a Winter Birdbath. A supply of fresh water for drinking and bathing is a must all year round, but it’s especially important in winter! Heat some water to lukewarm and pour it into your birdbath every morning. The birds will love their luxurious winter hot tub!

Whip up a fruity treat. Combine 4 parts black oil sunflower seeds, 1 part cracked corn, 1 part chopped dates, and 1 part chopped dried cherries, and stir to mix thoroughly. Serve it in an unroofed tray feeder so the birds can spot the sweet stuff as they’re flying by.

For even more terrific tips, tricks, and treats that’ll attract beautiful birds to your backyard, just check out our bestselling book, Backyard Birdscaping Bonanza. You can even try it out FREE for 21 days with our Free Preview!

Your Fall Yard To-Do List

Brrrr...the weather is starting to turn chilly! And your yard and garden are begging for a little TLC before winter arrives. So take care of this Fall To-Do List as soon as possible. Here’s what you need to get done:

• If Fall has been dry in your area, give your plants a nice, long drink so they don’t go into the winter with parched soil.
• Dig up tender bulbs, such as gladiolus and dahlias, and store them indoors for the winter.
• Remove all dead or dying foliage from your beds. Dispose of any woody stalks, diseased, or insect-ridden matter, and send the rest to the compost pile.
• After fall clean-up, spray all of your perennial beds with this mixture:  1 can of beer, 1 can of regular cola (not diet), and ½ cup of dishwashing liquid. Mix all of the ingredients in a bucket, then apply liberally with your 20 gallon hose-end sprayer.
• Once the ground freezes, mulch beds with chopped leaves, composted manure, salt hay, or pine needles.
• As soon as Jack Frost has visited your garden, remove all summer annuals to the compost pile. Sprinkle 1 pound of bonemeal and 1 pound of Epsom salts per 100 sq. ft. of flower bed. Let it set for a week, and then till the soil under.
• Mulch your roses with leaves, straw, and soil, or cover them with Styrofoam cones.

Once you’ve got your garden beds all settled in for their long winter’s nap, you can turn your attention to warmer thoughts—like lighting a fire in the fireplace, and curling up with a good book and a cup of tea! For some great reads this season, check out our selection of bestselling home, health, and garden books at www.JerryBaker.com!

Bees a bother?

Here’s one surefire way to tell it’s fall when you step outside—the bees and yellow jackets are everywhere! So how can you enjoy the last outings of the season with all the buzzin’ going on? Here are a few ideas that just might curb the little buggers’ enthusiasm:

Quick cuke trick. Lay plates of freshly sliced cucumber several feet away from where people will be eating. Bothersome bugs will be attracted to the cukes, and leave you (and your food) alone.

Fabric softener fix. Tie a fabric softener sheet to a belt loop or to the back of your ball cap. Bees and yellow jackets can’t stand the smell of the stuff.

Make a homemade trap. Cut a banana peel into strips and put them into an empty 2-liter bottle, along with 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup of vinegar. Pour water into the bottle until it’s about 3/4 full. Then, just set or hang the open bottle near where you’ve seen lots of stinging insects.

For more easy homemade solutions, check out our bestselling book, Supermarket Super Products. Check it out for a full 21 days (on us!) with our Free Preview.