Gardening can sometimes cause a headache – a lot of people are unsure of where to start or what to do next. Here we give you some cool ideas to get creative in your garden again. Hopefully gardening shouldn’t seem as difficult.

You can make your flower beds brighter with biennials and annuals. By utilizing quick-growing biennials and annuals, not only will you be brightening up your flower bed, you can also alter its look each season and each year. You can use them between the gaps in shrubs and perennials where there is plenty of sun. There are plenty of varieties including petunia, marigold, cosmos, sunflower, hollyhock, and rudbeckia.

Plant bulbs in your garden if you want flowers through spring and summer. Most bulbs are extremely hearty and grow easily. They also come back year after year. Remember that different bulbs will bloom at all different times of the year, so if you are careful to choose the right bulbs, you will see blooms in the early spring, and have flowers all the way to late summer.

Vegetables in a garden need to have at least six hours of sun every day in order to thrive. Almost all vegetables need this much sunlight, so that they can grow correctly and in a shorter amount of time. This is true for flowers as well.

If you are introducing children to gardening, start them off with an herb garden. Herbs are easy to grow and you can start them in containers, which are easier for children to handle. When children see that the herbs they grow can be used in your cooking, they will be very proud of their accomplishment.

To cut down on the time you spend pruning and pulling weeds, make sure that all the tools you use are sharpened and cleaned. A dull or dirty tool will make basic gardening tasks much more challenging, and can significantly increase the work you have to put into your garden. Caring for your tools regularly is more than worth the effort it takes.

To make a dull plant look greener, bury match heads near the plant’s base. The primary reason for a plant looking dull or faded is sulfur deficiency. Putting match heads in the soil around the plant will allow the soil to absorb the sulfur and feed it back to the plant.

When you work out in the yard, it is important that you protect your skin. If you constantly work out in the sun without any protection, you can develop skin cancer, which is a life threatening disease. Keep your skin healthy and apply sun screen any time that you go outside.

To make a homemade watering can, use an old bottle of detergent! Simply drill holes in the lid of the cap and be sure the bottle has been cleaned thoroughly. The thickness of a detergent container will make this a very sturdy watering can and the handle will allow you to use it with ease.

Make sure to wear sun protection gear if you’ll be working in the garden in the sun. Sunglasses, a nice shady hat, and sunscreen are very helpful. If you shield your skin from the sun correctly, your risk of sunburn and cancers will go down.

Experiment with color pairings. Purple and yellow work very well together, and can be used to create either a warm or cool effect. For a warm effect, use more yellow flowers than purple, conversely, using mostly purple flowers will give you a cool, soothing effect. A mixture of tall purple delphiniums or penstemon, and lower growing yellow achillea gives a spectacular display.

Pick the right plants. Certain plants will have an easier time germinating than others, and will guarantee a better harvest for the beginning organic gardener. Good choices include hardy varieties of cabbage, cauliflower, and herbs, but of course, you have to choose those plants which are going to do well in your climate.

Try not to walk in your garden unless you absolutely have to in order to care for it. Work from a distance when you can. Walking across the soil compacts it, which makes it harder for roots to penetrate to needed nutrients. If your soil is already packed down, gently aerate it without damaging root structure.

To conserve water when you’re gardening, be sure to use three inches of organic mulch. The mulch will help your plants to absorb the water slowly over time, allowing you to use less water than you normally would. Many natural materials make great mulch, including pine needles and many types of leaves.

If you aren’t ready to devote your time and energy to a full organic garden or just don’t have the space for one, use a container instead. Look for plants that are small and well suited for containers. Whiskey barrels are great for container gardens because they have plenty of room for roots to grow and can be used for multiple varieties of plants.

Many horse farms will give you their horse manure for free if you ask. Some will even transport it to your door for a small fee. Horse manure is rich in vitamins and minerals that plants crave. Usually, the manure is blended with wood shavings to reduce the smell. For the serious organic, make sure that the shavings used are also organic.

While most novice gardeners mistakenly believe that any insect is a harmful insect, at least 98 percent of common insects found in the garden are perfectly acceptable, if not beneficial for most flowers, vegetables, and grasses. Beetles, spiders, praying mantises, ladybugs, and green lacewings should be welcomed in any garden as they devour the insects that harm your plants.

You never know what tips might come in handy when you’re outside gardening. The tips you learned here are great but you also want to remember to keep on expanding your information and to try and learn more about gardening. You want to keep learning new things so you can be as successful and have fun.