7 great gardening tips

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Get the weeds

The gardeners try to use the least toxicity possible when controlling weeds. Organic herbicides (such as plant extracts plus acetic and citric acid) are tested for weed control in turf plots. For flowerbeds, the gardeners often use preemergent herbicides once the plants are established, and then they follow with mulch immediately.

"The key is mulch," says Barbara Stendahl, Master Gardener coordinator for the University of Minnesota Extension, Dakota County. The gardeners try all kinds -- from cocoa bean and cedar to shredded bark and wood chips. Wood chips (you can get them free from power companies and tree trimmers) are dominant in most beds and along garden paths. Even chips from diseased trees work if they aren't used around same-species trees.

But mulch doesn't work everywhere, Stendahl notes, pointing to a bed of 1,400 irises, which need their crowns above the surface. "We've managed to grow exhibition-size dandelions in there," she laughs. "We're still looking for the perfect solution."