Gardening Hacks

For a hobby gardener like me, this book is a treasure trove full of easy trips and tricks to make my gardening
experience that much better. I can't wait for spring to try out so many things from this book.

This was such a great mix of advice I have heard with more elaboration as well as tons of new great tips and ideas I'd never thought of!

One tip for succulents blew my mind! Can't wait to try it and many more from this book! I have a couple people in mind who would love it as well when it comes out.

I've always enjoyed gardening and with our countryside plot hopefully ready to start planting next Spring, I couldn't resist browsing Gardening Hacks to see if I would discover any new useful tricks along the way. There are definitely a lot of DIY projects as well as nifty advice on offer along the way, both suited to more seasoned gardeners and newbies. The book is divided into five different chapters, each focusing on a different aspect of gardening for easy browsing. You can also find an index in the back to hunt down those relevant gardening tips and projects faster. Very useful! Below what stood out for me in each chapter.

Chapter 1: Seeds, Seedlings, And Cuttings This chapter gives a lot of advice to help your seeds grow faster and more successful as well as offering quite a few DIY projects. I will most definitely try making those papier-mache cups in the future, although I also liked the idea of using lemon rinds as biological seed starters. I also didn't know soaking seeds during 24 hours before planting speeds up the growing process, as it softens the seed and breaks the tougher outer shell... And I'm definitely going to try and use honey to promote root growth in cuttings. I wish there would have been more information about how to grow cuttings successfully though, but that is just a personal thing I guess. The mention of growing your own popcorn made me remember I was planning to do exactly that next Spring!

Chapter 2: Container Gardening There were quite a few tricks to learn here... I like the idea of using old sponges in the bottom of a plant pot so you have to water it less as it absorbs and distributes excess water. And as I recently planted one of my lemon saplings in a big plant pot, the mention of making a dwarf fruit tree by aggressive pruning was useful! I also really like the idea of making a mini garden in a fallen tree trunk; I will definitely create one of those in the future. The mention of using egg shells as a cheap calcium supplement was also useful.

Chapter 3: Outdoor Gardening I somehow didn't find that many new tricks in this chapter, but what I didn't know was that you have to prune tomatoes aggresively to get bigger tomatoes. Guess who is going to try that next season!
Chapter 4: Indoor Gardening I don't have that much natural light indoors so this chapter wasn't as relevant for me... But I'm definitely going to plant a pineapple top to see if the plant will grow, and I hadn't heard of mayonnaise as plant polish before. I though milk did the trick, and I still wonder if the eggs in the mayonaisse would turn bad after a few days on those leaves...

Chapter 5: Tools, Pests, And Harvesting This chapter was particular interesting for me as somehow I've been having a lot of pests this year... I learned I can use baking soda to prevent fungal diseases, and cinnamon can be used both to prevent fungus as well as stimulating root grow. The natural insecticide with garlic I'm not too sure about; I made one before and the smell was so bad that it repelled insects AND humans. xD I was interesting to learn you can scatter eggshells to prevent slugs or even kill them with beer! Although I'm not sure if the hubby is going to be happy with me using beer that way. ;) This chapter also reminded me I really need to get an aloe vera plant.

In short, Gardening Hacks turned out to be an interesting book filled with nifty gardening advice as well as DIY projects that are (mostly) easy to put together in less than a day. Perfect for new and seasoned gardeners alike!

Gardening Hacks is filled with great tips and advice that a newbie gardener or old pro can use and appreciate. Love the section on winter sewing and recycling common objects to help my garden thrive!

I really enjoyed this book of Gardening hacks. There are hundreds of ideas to recycle and repurpose items around the house for growing seeds. This book couldn’t have come at a better time since we all are framing of our Spring gardens!

I found this book to be so helpful! Homesteading and becoming more self sustaining is a big interest of mine so I'll take what I learned from this book and it'll go a long way!

What a fantastic collection of tips and tricks for planting and gardening! I can't wait for it to get published so that I can buy it and have a copy of this very useful book on my shelf. Highly recommended!

Gardening Hacks: 300+ Time and Money Saving Hacks by Jon VanZile
Publisher: Adams Media
Genre: Home & Garden
Release Date: April 6, 2021

Gardening Hacks: 300+ Time and Money Saving Hacks by Jon VanZile is a great resource to make gardening easier (& cheaper)!

The book is broken up into 5 chapters: Seeds, seedling, and cuttings; Container gardening; Outdoor gardening; Indoor gardening; and Tools, pests and harvesting.

I found this to be easy to read and look forward to using the information from this book in improving my garden at home!

I'm so grateful to Jon VanZile, Adams Media, and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this ARC ebook in exchange for my honest review.

A nice collection of gardening tips and tricks. Chapter one talks about seeds, seeding and cuttings; chapter two talks about containers; the third chapter talks about outdoor gardening and the fourth chapter is about indoor gardening and the last chapter is about tools, pests and harvesting. I received a free digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review

Wow... usually you see a hundred pages or so but these hacks scanned over two hundred. Most of them use things we have laying around house so cost isn’t a factor.

What did I like? Some are really good ideas and some I’ve seen before. The most interesting hack I saw was how to test alkalinity in your soil with what I have in my kitchen. Interesting book and some great ideas.

Would I recommend or buy? If your looking for ways to save then this maybe for you. I’ve read quite a few gardening books but this is quite the collection of hacks. If I’d seen this on the shelf I would have bought it.

I received a complimentary copy to read and voluntarily left a review.

Gardening Hacks is a well written book with numerous great ideas on how to make gardening indoors and out-of-doors cheaper, easier and more enjoyable. I’ve been gardening for 35 years and while many of the hacks I know about, there are a great many I didn’t know. The book is well worth buying to gain a lot of gardening knowledge in a short period of time.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Adams Media for my copy of Gardening Hacks 300+ Time and Money Saving Hacks by Jon VanZile in exchange for an honest review. It publishes April 6, 2021.
First off, can we just mention how amazing the cover is? I know you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but this is so pleasing, I would happily display this on a coffee table. It would be a great conversation piece, or a gift!
Secondly, what a clever book! I've learned so many tips and tricks for my upcoming gardening season. I am so inspired! I will return to this time and again.

this is the perfect book for me and my students. I have learned so much from this book and now I’m anxious to teach it to my students. I do not have a green thumb. Facebook has so many details proceeds to plants. The proper soil and watering everything you need to know. Thank you Nead gallery for allowing me to read this

What a wealth of information for amateur and experienced gardeners alike. Gardening Hacks by Jon VanZile is filled with useful tips and tricks for all types of gardening.

There are several tips in here I already use and that I know work. There are several others I am super anxious to try come the beginning of growing season, which for me is not until late summer.

Such a wealth of information that I feel anyone can learn something from.

My only complaint is that I wish sometimes the tips and tricks had a little more information,

I received an eARC from Adams Media through NetGalley. All opinions are 100% my own.

With more than 300 simple hacks, this book is a great guide to less work and expense, and to express more creativity in your garden. The author also represents DIY projects that solve specific problems or offer new ways of doing old things.
The book contains chapters about:
- seeds, seedlings, and cuttings;
- container gardening;
- outdoor gardening;
- indoor gardening;
- tools, pests, and harvesting.

Very useful guide for hobby gardeners with garden outside or few plants inside which supports environmentally friendly gardening principles.
It encourages us to try new things and make gardening easier and less expensive.

This book is a must for all gardeners. I am an intermediate skilled gardener and love the many hacks in this book. The topics cover from looking for plants, how to make the best garden you can, how to make a hydroponic garden and even how to make your garden more visually appealing. With over 100 hacks, you will find ones that you’ve never thought of, ones that you wish you found long ago and ones you can’t live without. Each hack is a short read in very clear language.

I would like to thank NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this ebook.

Gardening Hacks by Jon VanZile is a hidden gem of a book. For black thumbs like myself, this book will make an amazing book. It is filled with easy-to-follow instructions regarding seed starting, fertilizing, weeding, propagating, mulching, DIY planters, greenhouses, and whatnot. Some of those tips made me go 'whoa!' and I cannot wait to try them out.

This book was so great to read. I spent many pages saying, "Oh, I've *got* to try that!" I liked how the author put things in a straightforward way without a lot of unnecessary fill. I read this book in one sitting from cover to cover and I will definitely be putting this on my shelf for easy reference when I want to try another "hack".

This book is amazing, it is beautifully written, starts with seeds and cuttings, then goes on to other plants like orchids, the best way to keep them and look after them. so many helpful hints, like creating water wicks to keep your plants watered when you are away, lots of instructions, and how too... easy to read and follow the guide, And then it goes onto outdoor gardening, and how to attract butterflies, the list is endless !! loved this book, and will keep it for a long time, so many hints to try out !! this would also make an amazing gift for any gardener !!

This is a comprehensive book full of appealing ideas for gardeners, both the novice and the more experienced. It also has pleasing illustrations. A very accessible and enjoyable read. 5 out of 5 stars and my thanks to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for a digital copy in exchange for my review.

Thank you to the author, illustrator, publisher, and NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for honest feedback. I enjoy gardening at a beginner level as a hobby, so I thought to check out this book. I'm approaching this read at a beginner/novice level, so I can attest for its usefulness in this regard.

The book offers chapters on Seeds/Cuttings, Container Gardening, Outdoor Gardening, Indoor Gardening, and Tools/Pests/Harvesting. As for the content, I think that the strength of this book's offerings is in the tips that are a bit unique or advanced. I learned a lot about alternative uses or "hacks" that I wouldn't have known or even thought of before. Also, there are some tips that relate to the modern things you may see on IG, like upside down planting or propagation. There's also some really useful stuff that is instrumental to gardening, like understanding root rot or troubleshooting other issues.

There are a lot of instructions for repurposing or recycling in relation to gardening utensils or tools. I really enjoyed the illustrations, they're cute little drawings.

A really useful book for gardeners. It's well set out and I have already implemented some of the tips - growing tomatoes from a slice of tomato (who knew?!), I've given my houseplants a shower (they seemed to like it), and have put some old sponges to use in some large pots. There's tons of different ideas for all different gardeners - container gardeners, veg gardeners, houseplant lovers etc... I will revert back to this book time after time.

Thank you to netgalley for the digital copy of this book in return for an honest review.

Gardening Hacks is a very well curated encyclopedic collections of tips and tricks (or "hacks" if you prefer) for gardening more easily and effectively, presented by Jon VanZile. Due out 6th April 2021 from Simon & Schuster on their Adams Media imprint, it's 256 pages and will be available in paperback, audio, and ebook formats.

This is a well written and accessible collection with a bit of something-for-everyone. I've been gardening the better part of 6 decades and I learned some new tricks. The tips are arranged thematically into chapters: seeds seedlings & cuttings, containers, outdoor gardening, indoor gardening, tools pests & harvesting.

The hacks are all numbered and arranged in easily understood short entries. There are no photos included, but the book is well illustrated with clear and restfully rendered simple line drawings and pictures to enhance the text. In fact, I really liked the sort of retro-vibe of the entire book's graphics with small drawings in the footers, nicely typeset chapter and section headings, and a calm friendly aesthetic throughout. There is a short cross-referenced index included, so specific information is easy to find as well as an abbreviated links and resources list for further reading.

This would make a good choice for library acquisition, gardening groups' lending libraries, makers and activity groups (all-ages), home library use, or for gifting to a gardening friend.

Four stars. Lots of good info here.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

I am of the notion that I am about to become an expert gardener thanks to this book. Huge thanks to the publisher for my ARC in exchange for an honest review. I absolutely loved this book and recommend it. I love how it was written, how it caters to beginner gardeners as well, and how it's easy to grasp. Highly recommend it!

Gardening Hacks: 300+ Time and Money Saving Hacks
by Jon VanZile

In a well-organized collection of tips and hacks, Master Gardener Jon VanZile offers hundreds of time- and cost-saving suggestions for the indoor and outdoor garden. Workable and effective non-toxic and natural shortcuts are a valuable commodity, and this knowledge is creatively and systematically shared, numerically and through a searchable index. VanZile covers germination of seeds and propagation by cuttings, container plants, containers, care of tools, pest control, and collecting the harvest. Among the more interesting tips: using honey as a rooting hormone, seed starting in an ice cream cone (not the sugary kind), cinnamon as an anti-fungal treatment to protect seedlings from wilt, powdered milk as a calcium booster for tomatoes, and the myriad uses of coffee grounds.
For some, the proposed outdoor decorations might go against personal aesthetics and allowable degree of whimsy in the garden—re-purposing broken and discarded objects into “funky displays” might not suit everyone’s style. But the wealth of advice presented is sound and safe, and the presentation style is readable and sincere. (Adams Media, paperback/ebook/audiobook, 256 pp., 6 April, 2021)

Loved this book! It's chock full of good tips for gardening and sorted by topics like planting seeds, so you can easily flip around depending on where you're at in your gardening process. I learned quite a few things I didn't already know and I think it's especially great for new gardeners or those who don't have a lot of money and want to look for money-saving shortcuts.

Really easy to read and simple explanation of garden ideas to do indoors and outdoors. Basic for a different variety of gardeners and plants and to start growing.

What a fabulous book. I enjoyed every moment and will buy them for the plant lovers in my life. Such great writing

I've been interested in taking up gardening for awhile and I'm glad I came across this. It's an insightful read that makes gardening far less daunting and has me excited about trying out all the tips and tricks VanZile has suggested. I've already highlighted and bookmarked quite a bit, and definitely plan on buying a copy for my Mom.

Love this book, just an honest book with heaps of information -no photos or fancy stuff, just information to save money in the garden with simple things.. Starting with seed, seedling and cutting and progressing through container gardens, indoor gardens, outdoor gardens and finally ending with tools, pests and harvesting.
Some of my favorite tips range from starting rose cuttings in a potatoes, adding perlite to potting mix to help drainage, and the best one, deter snails and slugs with copper. There are many other, but you will need to get the book.

Thank you @NetGalley and @adams_media for allowing me to preview the book, Gardening Hacks: 300+ Time
And Money Saving Hacks. This book caught my eye because I just can’t wait to get back outside and plant something. I am always thinking of ways to improve my outdoor garden space and my indoor plants. Gardening Hacks is for the gardener who likes to use every scrap available. There are so many great ideas for using recycled items and food that you have around your house. I really liked all the practical suggestions that you can do to fertilize your plants and keep pests away from your plants with simple things around the house.

This is a really cool book with lots of tips that I ended up noting along the way. It’s broken up into sections like seedlings, indoor, outdoor & container gardening as well as a section dedicated to helpful tools and ways to deal with pests.
This book would be a great resource for any beginner or experienced gardener and would make a fun gift idea.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an advanced review copy of this book.

Growing your own vegetables and landscaping your own yard or home is a necessity for some and a fun hobby for others. It doesn’t have to be expensive or complicated. I love finding books that give me ideas beyond what I’ve already learned about making my yard a lovely place to see and be, spend less and repurpose what I have, and get better results especially from my veggies and herbs.

Garden Hacks caught my attention as soon as I spotted the title. It shouts practical and do-able to me. The book is broken into five chapters: Chapter One Seeds Seedlings, and Cuttings, Chap Two Container Gardening, Chap Three Outdoor Gardening, Chap Four Indoor Gardening, and Chap Five Tools, Pests, and Harvesting. Followed by a thorough Index and helpful further Resource List.

The text of the book is straight up what the title says- a list of hacks sorted into the topics of the chapters. Some are just quick ideas for how to do something like a simple science experiment that determines the acidity or alkali of the soil or another might offer a how-to with illustration for building risers to make tiered growing stations. Sometimes its advice for how to keep tools from rusting or a quick suggestion for saving your 2-liter plastic bottles and plastic gallon milk jugs to further their use as garden aids.

The ideas and suggestions lived up to my expectations and my head is buzzing with excitement to go out and do so many of the ideas. Some are old tried and true methods that I’ve heard from other gardeners while others were new-to-me and welcome ways to use materials I already have or recipes from items in my pantry for pests or diseases that attack the plants. I admit to being skeptical about a few of the hacks whether it was the idea working or my ability to make it work. But, there are a plethora of suggestions. Even suggested ways to extend the life of a few different vegetables to keep producing. I definitely want to try growing a second head of Romaine leaf lettuce from the base of the one I just finished. And, I spotted some extra cinder blocks out behind the garage that are left over from one of my husband’s projects that I can repurpose into containers and raised bed borders. And, the list of hacks I want to try go on…

Oh yes, Gardening Hacks was a wonderful find. Not everything was new to me and probably won’t all be new to other gardeners, but it was easy to pour through the book and find several ideas that were. I can definitely recommend it as a practical resource for the beginner to moderate gardener’s shelf and especially those who are gardening on a budget or want to use up and reuse what you already have.

Last year, like many others at home during the beginning of the pandemic, I tried vegetable gardening for the first time. I did an "anything goes" approach along with methods I learned via google searches. This book would have come in handy! It offers lots of budget-friendly tips for new gardeners as well as seasoned growers. I look forward to trying many of the suggestions and saving money. It's an easy read thanks to the format of bite-sized pieces of information.

I am a library paraprofessional and received an advance reader copy. Opinions are my own.

I thought this was an informative book that had some great tips! Most of the tips are actually great hacks. Sometimes gardening "hack" books throw some pretty useless and random tips in there so I was pleasantly surprised that this one did not. There are many green friendly tips of how to reuse typical one use trash items that I especially enjoyed. The one thing I wasn't delighted about was the lack of pictures. The book looked polished throughout, but there were very few pictures. This made some of the how to's unclear to me since I'm a visual learner. I still really loved this book though and learned quite a few new hacks to try out in my garden!

I first want to thank the author and NetGalley for giving me an ARC of this wonderful book!

I have been gardening for 4 years now and I honestly wish I had this book when I first started. There is so many helpful tips and tricks to grow plants in a frugally way that is also sustainable. I will not lie, I thought this is how gardening should be, but once I got into it, I found that I had no idea what I was doing and there for it cost me A LOT of money and time wasted. I watched youtube, reached out to family and friends and picked up a few books on gardening. Nothing was a good as this book was.

There so many (over 300) hacks for gardening and not only that, but creative ways that help you recycle in the process. There was stuff in this book that I would have NEVER thought of doing but its such a great idea!! I was given an E-ARC but I will be buying a physical copy of this book because honestly it is a book that you could use every year to get new ideas.

If you like gardening, I highly recommend you picking this book up! I also think it would be a wonderful gift for anyone that enjoys plants and gardening. After looking into the author, I found that he also has a book just like this for indoor plants. I have over 20 of them but truly have no idea what I am doing so I think I will be picking this book up as well!

Gardening Hacks is a must-have book on your bookshelf if you have a green thumb. This non-fiction book provides tips to become a better gardener. It doesn't matter if you are a novice or an expert everyone will take away something from this book to improve their garden. I also liked the way that the author was eco-conscious, for example planting in used tires, making your own bird feeder from plastic bottles, using milk cans to protect the plans and cardboard as mulch are a few of the examples. The book also has illustrations so that a few concepts are clear. I also liked the organization of the book, the chapters cover various types of gardening, container, outdoor, indoor gardening, and how to deal with pests, etc. Start your Spring with the Gardening Hacks books for a livelier garden.

As a beginning gardener, I can only speak for those in my novice group but this book was exactly what I needed. I am a bit overloaded with information on the internet and this book was a great relief. The hacks are easily digestible and not overwhelming. Honestly, I was perfectly happy when I saw the section on container gardening but that is Chapter 2. If I jumped over Chapter 1 with it's plethora of tiny nuggets on Seeds, Seedlings and Cuttings, I would be missing out on so much. Seriously, eggshells and K-cups as a container for seeds? I love how there is a dual purpose for a lot of containers we usually just discard. Then there are the DIY ideas that take this book to another level. It's great! Glad I found it.

*Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is an easy to flip through book of gardening tips. It would be perfect for a beginner gardener, though we've been planting in containers and raised bed gardens for years and I have learned a few handy hacks.

The chapters cover both indoor and outdoor gardening, seeds/cuttings, container gardening, and tools/pests/harvesting. It's a great gardening guide without being too technical or wordy.

Absolutely love this little gardening hacks book. It's definitely great for all skill levels, which I appreciate as a beginner.

As a veteran gardener I am always looking for ideas to deal with pests, creating garden art with what I have around the house and ideas to make gardening easy and accessible. This book has it all! A great book to give to any gardener - beginning or seasoned because it contains tips for all gardening levels.

Wow lots of hints here in a very readable format. Easy to browse and the bits aren’t too wordy so the knowledge tends to stick a bit better (at least for me) kind of crib sheet style tips.

I have a black thumb and am hoping some of these tips work for me!

'Gardening Hacks' is a book that you will love from the very first page. The illustrations and the general outline of the book are really lovely. It's simple and a little bit vintage. Most of the ideas presented in the book are very practical and I must admit that this book clarified many of my gardening - related doubts. But not all of the ideas from the book are for everyone since some of them require special materials and tools. I really enjoyed reading it and borrow some ideas from the book. I do recommend for any gardening lover.

This is a book one should buy, I for one am buying it for my hubby who loves to Garden.

Such wonderful and easy to follow hacks. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC

A really good reference book for anyone who doesnt live next door to an experienced farmer. Just learning what to grow and when is a skill that requires some knowledge. Gardening Hacks gave me so many new ideas that will not break my budget. Ive already been sharing with my group of expert gardeners to be!!!!

~~~ I received a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review ~~~

I found Gardening Hacks: 300+ Time and Money Saving Hacks to be a great resource to help me improve my garden. It is well organized into 5 chapters: Seeds, Seedling, and Cuttings; Container Gardening; Outdoor Gardening; Indoor Gardening; and Tools, Pests and Harvesting. The format makes it easy to read. The tip/hacks are very useful to help gardeners be more successful and save money. This book is definitely something any gardener would be happy to peruse.