I can't claim this tip as my own - I picked it up on the hosta forum. Those round sleds are great for hauling stuff around. You can pull them behind you with tools or pots or anything on them. The lip on the sled keeps things from sliding off. The bump along over most terrain. They're great for hauling large plants. The fit into spaces where it's hard to get a wheelbarrow. When you're amending soil, they're good for putting the dug-up soil on for mixing with the amendments. They're great fun for sliding down driveways when it snows.

If you have to dig in hard clay, water it the day before. This makes it soft enough to dig but not too muddy.

If you want it to rain, wash your car :)

Mulch your plants with something organic (not rocks or ground up plastic) - the material breaks down over time (and must be replenished) but it adds to the health of the soil as well as keeping your plants cool in the summer and warm in the winter.

I am still amazed to see people that don't use mulch. It also helps keep some weed seeds from germinating. Plus it can improve the appearance of the overall area and be a unifying factor for the landscape.

One of the best tips I came up with myself is to water the tomato plants with viagra. That way you don't have to stake them.
Another good one is to put your buglight (no, not Bud Light) over your fish pond. That way you can zap the bugs and feed the fish at the same time.
And lastly, when in doubt always remember it's Green side up, Roots down.

Here is a link that might be useful: bittersweetgardens.com

You're a nut Eddie!

Never plant in the heat of the day. Do it early or late and water in well. Also don't collect cut flowers in the heat of the day.

What esh said goes for me double. Mulchmulchmulch, organic materials are the only way to go, hear hear!

Here's my tip: when buying perennials, the best long-term plants are not from the big-box stores. Less intuitively, I think they're not from the beautiful retail garden centers that fuss over their plants either. The best plants for my garden are from the out-of-the-way greenhouses and nurseries that do a lot of wholesale business and only a little retail, are understaffed and maybe neglect their plants a little, don't divide them in a timely fashion, don't prune them or fertilize that much... Ugly, tough survivor plants tend to be cheaper, too. Then when you take them home and divide them and give them a good pruning, they won't be prissy prima-donnas but used to the rough&tumble of life on the outside. Plus they're locally grown!

This wouldn't have been my tip last week even, but when handed lemons...

This drought will be followed by others. This is a good incentive and opportunity to figure out how to zone areas of the garden according to level of water needed, creating gardens that can survive future droughts gracefully and be a pleasure all the time. Favorite plants one wishes to keep through thick and thin, including any that need a fair amount of extra water, are clustered in their own areas. Maybe close to the house for easy viewing, strung out along a walk through the garden, spotted at favorite places to visit, or a mixture. Areas not that often visited, such as outlying bands of screening shrubberies and trees, get plants that can make it through a typical hot summer completely on their own once established. For areas between the two extremes, plants that can make it through a dry summer with a handful of waterings at most.

In my last garden, plants that could take at least some drought tended to fall into three general categories: Of course, true drought-lovers from dry climates that suffer with damp soil, but also temperate-climate plants that will still look pretty good through long periods of drought with little or no assistance and temperate-climate plants that may look awful when watering's cut way down but are tough enough to come back and look pretty again the next year. Many favorite garden shrubs and trees are in these latter categories.

It's not making lemondade, but if forced to choose, definitely let the lawn die and save the trees and large important shrubs first, then other shrubs second. Lawns are by far quicker, easier, and less expensive to replace. Whether sacrificed before or after lawns, flower beds are also good candidates for mulching over for later replanting in newly enriched soil.

Sign me, Been There, Done That. Although I had hoped my seven-year drought in Southern California was going to be my last. Best wishes.

Rather than killing all the grass for new beds (or extneding old ones), I just dig my planting holes, amend the soil in the hole, plant and then cover the rest of the area with wet newspaper, 5-10 sheets thick. I just guess, I don't count. More for bermuda than fescue. Then I dump compost and soil conditioner on top, spread it out and mulch. The worms work the ammedments in aftet the grass dies and the newspaper decomposes and I don't need to break my back.

Keep a journal. I am not good at keeping records of any kind but at least a few times per season I write down some of my observations. As Rosie said, it will help in planning for next year, especially if you have beds that you change with differdnt flowers each year. I have planted some this year that were unfamiliar to me and I can see how to better space and position them next time.

The newspaper idea is great; I have done that.

Find friends, neighbors, clubs, etc. who are willing to swap seeds and plants. You will get the best and hardiest plants for your area.

Heres another newspaper trick

When planting shrubs or plants.After you dig the hole get newspapper and lay in the hole before planting the shrub and backfilling.The newspapper will hold the moisture.Over time it will rot and give back to the soil.

I just stumbled on this thread from over on the Tips forum.Enjoy ;)

Here is a link that might be useful: What are your old fashioned tips?

Leave a large bucket under your air conditioning pipe outside that drips water (the dehumidifier) for free water. I let it fill up and water the plants that need deep root soaks every day, that's how much water seeps out in one day.

I had some drought tolerant plants rot several years ago (2?) when we had long, heavy spring rains. Still, I think they are the better way to go.

Don't start weeding a large area if you haven't bought the mulch. If you don't get to the store as quickly as you think you will, you're going to be weeding the same area again!

If you have a digital camera, use it to record your yard @ different times of the year. That way, you'll remember what color is where... bare spots, etc. You'll also have the date/time so you'll know when plants are in bloom.

Although we don't have quite the water shortage here on the coast as you folks up in the Atlanta area we are of course under the statewide odd/even ban. I do try to recycle water as much as possible and wish I had the nerve to go and tell some folks up the street that running their sprinkler seemingly 24/7 is verboten. Anyway, today I had a brainstorm-stuck a pot under the spout where the water comes out by the AC unit. The humidity down here is such that I have been collecting quite a bit and some of my thirstier plants are happier because of it.

Make labels for your plants or where you have planted seeds by cutting pieces out of metal "Venetian" blinds. Write the name of the plant with permanent marker. Cut an arrow at the end that goes into the ground. This is from my sister, and I have enjoyed it this year. (At my age, the memory starts to go.) I also use the tip listed above, that is making pictures to record each season. The one I made in April of dogwoods and azaleas is so pretty that I made a greeting card out of it. Nothing that pretty now in this drought.)