WEED LIKE YOU TO KNOW To shred leaves without a shredder put about two armfuls of leaves into a small garbage can. Then set an electric string trimmer on top of the leaves. Pull the trigger and move the trimmer up and down for several seconds.

Label dormant dahlias with a permanent pen by writing the cultivar name and color on the tuber.

When preparing your yard for the winter, place a brush pile in your yard being sure to include thorny branches. Birds of all sorts perch on them during the winter and cats will not venture into the prickly pile.

To kill tree stumps, cover with black plastic trash bags. Use several of them as flat sheets and place them over the stump, being sure to cover completely the junction where the trunk meets the roots. Make sure that no light gets through. Secure the plastic with rocks. After a month, check the stump and remove any new shoots. Within six months the stumps will be dead.

Chrysanthemems are usually cut back to the crown after frost, but experiments show that plants which were not cut back survived the winter and grew back better than plants which were pruned.

To untangle roots of propagated plants, shake off the excess soil and place the cuttings in a bowl of water. Most of the tangled roots float apart.

Predicting the angle of the sun is difficult. Planting in full sun in April may turn into full shade by June. To anticipate the sun's pattern, go outside at midnight on the night of a full moon, noting where buildings and trees cast shadows in the moonlight. This is about where the sun's shadows will fall at noon six months later. If you check the full moon's shadow in December, you will have a good idea of where the shadow of noontime sun will fall in June.

To germinate hard-shelled seeds, put two or three seeds in each section of an ice cube tray, cover with water and slide the tray into the freezer. A day or two later plant the ice cubes.

Grass clippings are comprised of approximately 80 percent water, about 4 percent nitrogen, ½ to 1 percent phosphorus, 2 to 3 percent potassium, and other nutrients. If returned to the earth, they will work back into the soil, the equivalent of a 4-1-3 fertilizer

Cut back the leaves of bearded iris to two inches before digging and dividing crowded plants

Planting bulbs naturally in lawns or places other then the garden makes it look as if they sprung up “naturally.” Throw the bulbs on the ground, planting them where they fall.

A good substitute for peat moss is leaf mold, pine needles, ground bark, sawdust, or compost

When storing dahlia bulbs, allow the soil to cling to the clumps to prevent excessive drying in storage.

Premature color change of tree foliage may indicate root, trunk, or branch injury.

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