have been urged that a common kitchen ingredient could be the key to enhancing their garden this summer. As summer approaches, across the country are spending hours cultivating and tending to their plants, lawns and vegetables.

But often even the most well-prepared and conscientious gardeners can find that their best efforts can easily go awry, with multiple factors often combining to ruin hours of hard work. For centuries, amateur and professional gardeners have experimented with countless from things such as pests, weather, and disease, but according to one gardening expert, the latter can be tackled with a pinch of one common spice. Farm Flavor has urged green-fingered enthusiasts to use cinnamon to prevent fungus and ward off disease.

They said: "You probably have a little cinnamon tucked in the cupboards for baking cookies, cakes and other baked treats.

"But did you know you can use it in the garden, too?

"In addition to helping root cuttings and deterring (some) pests, cinnamon also has anti-fungal properties that work in a pinch for preventing damping off disease in young seedlings.

"Some say you can even sprinkle it in potted plants that have started to grow mushrooms from overwatering."

The experts have a variety of strange but effective methods to help gardeners protect their produce at relatively low cost, including from unwittingly destroying plants.

They said: "Before you toss that box of unused plastic forks from last year's holiday gathering, consider using them in your garden.

"Placing forks in the soil around your plants will discourage animals like raccoons, cats, squirrels and deer from wandering into the garden and helping themselves to your crops."

In theory, it is believed that sharp-looking cutlery makes approaching pests think twice about getting too close, leading to them avoiding the area.

If that method fails, the experts have plenty more novel ideas for gardening lovers to try their hand at, such as fertilising plants with and using

They said: "Coffee grounds are a wonderful garden fertilizer, rich in phosphorus, potassium, nitrogen and magnesium. They can also serve as pest control against slugs and snails.

"Some even say they boast natural anti-fungal properties, which is a huge win for anyone hoping to grow healthy produce."