All gardeners urged to put orange peel in their gardens for three important boosts

Not only are oranges a great snack packed full of vitamin C, but they happen to have many users in and around your garden . It’s easy to overcomplicate gardening , but it turns out it can be pretty simple and cost-effective. Rather than throwing your orange peel away, why not give it a second life and, in turn, help your garden thrive throughout the spring and summer months? In fact, orange peels can act as a natural compost material, helping to enrich your soil.

Along with many other fruits and veg, oranges can be added to your soil and will aid your plants thanks to their nutrients. The fruit contains key nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, all useful in the development of your plants. It’s important that the oranges are organic, though, as you want to avoid any unwanted chemicals seeping into your garden soil.



For best use, dry out your orange peels and either grind them or finely chop them up, experts at Martha Stewart suggest. Then, you’re going to want to sprinkle this into your compost or even on the base of your plants, prior to watering them. Another use for leftover orange peel is to deter insects from your garden, as it acts as a natural ant repellent.

Thanks to their strong scent and d-limonene, ants tend to steer clear of your plants when orange peel is around. Similarly to their compost use, it’s vital that you chop up the peel and dry it out to create a powder that can be easily sprinkled across desired areas of your garden. With the powder being loose, you will want to repeat this several times, as you may find the repellent blows away in the wind.

An extra-handy trick is using leftover orange peel as a biodegradable seed starter. When you’re looking to grow plants from seedlings, orange peel works as a great starter pot because of its nitrogen and potassium content. This allows starter plants to have the nutrient boost they need to grow strong.

It’s best to cut the fruit in half, removing any of the actual fruit and seeds, and fill the two halves of peel with soil and seeds. As the seedlings develop, you can then rehome them into larger containers. According to gardening experts at Homes & Gardens , the citrus peels are most beneficial to the types of plants that love soil.

This includes hydrangeas, azaleas, and camellias, to name a few, but they advise that you research your plants pH preference beforehand..