In most areas, early spring and early fall are ideal planting times for perennials. The best fall-planting conditions are a long, warm fall followed by a hard, freezing winter. But if your area tends to see a lot of freezing and thawing in winter, spring planting’s a much better bet for you—and your plants!

Can’t remember what to divide when? Try this simple rule of thumb: Divide spring-blooming plants in fall, and fall-blooming plants in spring. Of course, there are a few exceptions, like Oriental poppies and bearded irises, which are best off when divided in mid- to late-summer.

Clumps of perennials that start looking like doughnuts are prime candidates for division. The doughnut syndrome—where a ring of healthy growth surrounds a dead-looking center—starts because the center is filled with old, sickly, or woody growth. Fortunately, there’s an easy fix! Dig up the entire clump, and toss out any old growth from the middle. Cut the healthy growth into chunks, and replant.

Bluing can come to your aid outside the laundry room. Here’s a trio of examples:

· To check for a leak in your toilet’s flush tank, pour a tablespoon or so of bluing into it. If the water in the bowl turns blue, you know you’ve got a leak to repair!
· Prevent algae from building up in a humidifier by adding a tablespoon of bluing to the water each time you fill the reservoir.

· Next time you wash your chandelier’s crystals, add a few drops of bluing to the rinse water. It’ll repel dust particles and keep the glass clean for a longer time, which means less work for you.

These days, ticks aren’t just a minor annoyance. They can carry Lyme disease, a potentially dangerous ailment. So what do you do if you find a tick on your skin? Don’t try that old trick of holding a lit cigarette near it. The tick may just burrow more deeply into your skin, and then you’ve got more problems than you started with.

If the tick is crawling on your skin or clothing, don’t crush it with your fingers—you don’t want tick innards (which carry disease) on you. Rather, flick it away, and smash it between two rocks—then wash your hands. If it’s already attached itself to you, cover the tick with some oil—olive oil, motor oil, suntan oil, any kind will do. That’ll make the little pest loosen its grip. Then, carefully (with tweezers) remove the entire tick, and wash the bite area well.

Ready to start a new lawn from seed? Time your sow-to-grow day just before your chosen grass type’s season kicks in to its fastest growth spurt. For warm-season grasses—Bermuda grass, carpet grass, and Bahia grass—the season to sow is late spring, when the temperatures are consistently about 75° to 80°F during the day. In cool-season-grass country—home of Kentucky bluegrass, perennial ryegrass, creeping fescue, and the like—sow seeds during the late summer or early fall. In ANY area, the secret to getting grass seed off to a great start is giving it a good soaking with this tonic. It’ll guarantee close to 100 percent germination every time!

Here’s the how-to: Mix 1/4 cup of baby shampoo, 1 tablespoon of Epsom salts and 1 gallon of weak tea water (made by soaking a used tea bag and 1 teaspoon of dishwashing liquid in a gallon of warm water until the mix is light brown) in a large container. Drop in your grass seed, and put the whole shebang in the refrigerator. After 48 hours, take the seed outside and spread it out on a smooth, flat surface, such as a clean-swept area of your driveway. Once the seeds are dry, it’s time to sow.