Expert Advice for your Lawn & Garden TV Host of Today's Homeowner^® and home expert for The Weather Channel

Gardens require maintenance, there’s no getting around that fact. Most of us, however, don’t have very much time to dedicate to those chores, so we’re looking for ways to at least reduce the amount of maintenance our gardens require. One solution is to begin with good soil.

A good way to increase humidity around potted seedlings is to set a couple of seedling pots in a larger container of pebbles. The pebbles should be about fingernail size, and there should be just a small amount of water in the pebble container- enough to create humid conditions but not enough to touch the bottom of the pots.

Helping your plants make the transition from the pots or containers you buy them in to the garden is an important step to developing a healthy landscape. Begin by digging a hole large enough to accommodate the plant, its root ball and some additional material.

Making seed tapes can save future planting and thinning time. Cut newspaper into 1-inch wide strips and then glue your seeds to the paper. We used a paste of water and flour, about the consistency of thick gravy. Add a pinch of water-soluble fertilizer to each half cup of paste. Mark the appropriate seed spacing on the paper strip.

As a gardener, mulch can be one of your greatest allies. This often-neglected stuff maintains soil moisture and temperature while blocking the growth of weeds around plants you do not want.

If you’re looking for low maintenance plants for your garden you don’t need to look any further than your own backyard. Organic Landscaper Rachel DeToro tells us that native plants are a great addition to the landscape because they are readily available and they require little special care since they occur naturally in the wild.

One of the easiest mistakes homeowners can make in their lawn or garden is not anticipating the eventual size of a plant. Most of the plants you buy at the nursery will be labeled to tell you what their mature size will be.

To keep seedlings healthy and growing feed them gelatin. Any flavor is okay as long as it’s sweetened with sugar - not artificial sweeteners. The gelatin contains the nutrient nitrogen, which helps plants form green leaves. The sugar actually feeds beneficial microbes already in the soil that help young plants defend against disease causing organisms.

Roses love banana peels. They rot quickly, releasing minerals roses need such as calcium, sulfur, magnesium, and phosphates. Just cut them up and mix them in the soil at planting time or anytime you want to give your roses a boost. You can also make a banana peel tonic for use after the plants are established.

For an economic alternative to buying plants for the garden, consider raising annuals from seed. While many perennials take lots of time to mature, there are plenty of annuals that will come up quickly and give lots of color through the season.