TIP! Your tool handles can double as measuring sticks. Large handled tools such as shovels, rakes, and hoes can be used as measuring sticks.

There is plenty to learn about gardening, but the knowledge will pay off in the long run. Read on to learn some helpful tips to help educate you on the subject of horticulture, allowing you to become a more proficient gardener.

TIP! Plant perennials that slugs and snails won’t be interested in eating. A particularly vulnerable plant can be killed by snails and slugs overnight.

To prevent your plants’ systems from becoming shocked, you need to gradually transition them from higher to lower temperatures. On the first day, place them in the sun outside for only an hour or so. Over a week, increase the time outside slowly. If you do this correctly, the plants should be able to make their final move at the end of a week’s time.

Clay Soil

TIP! Instead of leaving clumps of irises intact, divide them so that your flowers can grow in a more healthy manner. You can get more irises by dividing the overgrown clumps.

If you work with clay soil, you have probably found using a shovel very frustrating and exhausting. Take the hard work out of using a shovel in clay soil by rubbing a light coat of car or floor wax over the surface with a clean cloth and buff the surface. The wax will prevent any rusting, and the shovel will cut through the soil with great ease.

TIP! Avoid using broad-spectrum pesticides in your garden. Broad spectrum pesticides don’t only kill the offending pests, but the beneficial ones also.

A handy trick is to turn the handle on a tool that you use often into a makeshift ruler. Tools with long handles, such as a shovel or rake, are absolutely perfect for this job, and make your workload a little bit smaller. Lay the handles of said tools on the ground where it is flat and there is no interference, such as gravel, and stretch a measuring tape along one side. Then, transfer the measurements to the handle using a permanent marker. Next time you are working in the garden, you will have a large ruler at your fingertips!

TIP! Plant for fall color. It’s not necessary to think this way, however.

That isn’t too difficult, is it? Like anything else, gardening has a lot of information that can be learned and applied. It is easy to become overwhelmed. Sometimes, it helps to have a place to start! You should hopefully get what you can from these tips.