Does your neighbor’s garden put yours to shame? You might think that your neighbor has a secret formula to a lovely garden. Creating and maintaining a quality garden doesn’t require secret knowledge. All it takes is knowledge on how to take care of your plants properly. Begin your garden adventures by reading through this article to get some great horticulture advice.

Learn about plant varieties so you can choose the ones with the best yields. Many times, a cold-tolerant or disease-resistant hybrid can have a higher yield versus traditional ones.

Turn the handles of tools you have on hand into rulers to make measurements in your garden. Tools with long handles, such as shovels, hoes and rakes can be made into measuring sticks. Simply lay the handles out on the floor and run a measuring tape next to them. It’s a good idea to label distances with a permanent marker. Now when you go to work in the garden, you will have a ruler that is large at your fingertips!

Climbing plants make a strong addition to walls, fences or other free-standing structures. Climbing plants are extremely versatile, helping to hide an ugly fence or wall, often within one growing season. They can also grow through existing shrubs or trees, or be trained to cover an arbor. Some climbers you plant will have to be tied off and supported, but others have no problem attaching themselves to any surface using their tendrils or twining stems A few good choices are climbing roses, wisteria, jasmine, honeysuckle and clematis.

For the right results, get the right type of soil. You should choose your soil depending on the plants that you are going to plant. It is also possible to set aside a portion of your garden to include just one type of soil.

Plants need C02 for maximum growth. Most plants grow better in higher levels of CO2. A greenhouse can concentrate the levels of CO2. CO2 levels are usually kept high to get the best growing situation for your plants.

Always take the time to get the weeds out of your garden. Weeds can turn a beautiful garden into an eyesore. White vinegar can be used as a natural herbicide. Weeds can be killed by white vinegar! If you’re annoyed with pulling up weeds manually, douse them with a white vinegar solution.

Tempt your cat away from the plants he has been bothering by planting catnip or wheat grass near them. Additionally, use your cat’s keen sense of smell to your advantage. Citrus fruit peels and mothballs both smell horrible to cats, so put them on the soil near the plants your cat likes to eat.

Try “boiling” weeds to get rid of them. The safest herbicide that you can probably find is a cup of boiling water. Make sure to pour only on the weeds and to stay away from healthy vegetation. Boiling water will actually hurt the roots, and it will prevent the weeds from growing.

Peas have a better chance of survival when their seeds are started indoors as opposed to outside, exposed to the elements. Pea seeds tend to germinate much better when planted indoors, before being moved to an outside garden. Seedlings will grow stronger, and withstand attacks from pests and diseases a lot better. When your plants are sturdy, move them outdoors.

Plan your garden to provide some fall color. That doesn’t have to be it though. In the fall, the foliage displays every color of the rainbow. Maple, Beech and Dogwood trees are available in a number of fall colors, varying from bright yellow to rich crimson. There are practically as many types of shrubs chosen for their fall colors are there are gardeners! Barberry, hydrangea and cotoneaster are particularly popular choices.

Include your kids in growing an organic garden. Toiling together in the garden brings your family closer together and offers many different opportunities to learn new things and instill green values.

You must always take care of your knees when working in the garden. It’s difficult for most people to bend while standing, especially at the waist. You can kneel instead to help keep your back relaxed while tending to your plants. You can get a knee pad to place on the ground to kneel on so that you do not feel pain in your knees.

Use this simple tip to get your perennial garden ready in a flash. Use your spade in a slicing motion to cut a flap of turf. Carefully turn the flap over, then cover the area with a three-inch layer of untreated wood chips. Allow a few weeks to pass by before you dig down into the applied soil.

To get the most from your composting efforts, aim for a 1:1 ratio of dried materials and green plant products. Green plant material consists of spent flowers, veggie and fruit waste, leaves, weeds, and grass clippings. Dried plant material, however, can include items such as cardboard, sawdust and shredded paper. Diseased plants, meat and fire-waste like charcoal or ashes should not be placed in your compost pile.

While horticulture organically requires more work than gardening with the help of chemicals, the rewards are worth it. While chemical claims are wondrous, growing organically is a great reward to whomever eats your produce.

Overall, a layer of mulch is beneficial for the soil. Mulch will protect the soil it covers. It helps keep your soil cooler on warmer days, which protects the roots underneath. The layer of mulch will also minimize evaporation, reducing your need to water as frequently as you would a garden without mulch. Mulch is also excellent for keeping weeds at bay.

Now that you’ve reached the end of this article, you realize that the advice is not difficult to follow at all. All that is necessary is to apply some of the ideas presented here and monitor their effectiveness. Pay close attention to your plants and how they react to your methods. Experimenting with already existing plants will only lead to disaster. Be patient and eventually you’ll have a garden that your neighbors will envy.