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How Plants Communicate With Each Other

Plant communication is far more complex than you might expect. There are several unique ways that plants share information with one another — read on to discover the most captivating examples.

At first glance, it may appear as though plants have little to no means of communication. However, in recent decades, researchers have discovered that plant communication is far more complex than most people think. While plants can’t share information with the level of detail and nuance that humans can, they are able to express crucial messaging in certain scenarios.

For example, avoiding danger and the threat of being eaten by a predator is a vital goal for any living species. The acacia tree is particularly well-equipped to avoid such threats. When an animal begins eating an acacia tree, the tree will begin to produce a toxin called tannin, which makes its leaves unpleasant to eat and can even cause death if an animal ingests too much. However, the amazing nature of the acacia tree does not end there.

When an animal chews on the leaves of an acacia tree, the tree not only makes its own leaves inedible, it also warns other trees nearby. The acacia tree accomplishes this by giving off another chemical called ethylene that can alert other trees that animals are browsing nearby. In response to that warning, any acacia tree within about 150 feet can begin producing tannin to discourage animals from eating them.

Plant communication is most prevalent when multiple plants are growing near one another. In those conditions, plants may use their root systems to send messages to other plants. Interestingly, it is not the roots alone that transmit those messages. Instead, plant roots rely on special fungi species that grow in the soil. Those fungi work with the roots to transfer a message from one plant to another.

The messages plants send via their roots are often meant to support the other plants around them. For example, the information a plant sends underground could warn of a pest infestation, drought conditions, or other threats to a plant’s survival. At times, plants may also send messages meant to do nothing more than encourage one another to grow more quickly, thus showing the hidden collaborative nature of plants.

Above-ground communication can also take place for these plants. One of the most prominent examples of this is a phenomenon known as canopy shyness. When two plants grow large enough that their leaves begin to touch, they can start to change their growth habits to avoid too much competition for space and sunlight. Rather than continuing to expand into one another, plants that experience canopy shyness will begin to limit their spread so as not to interfere with a neighboring plant’s growth space.

Other instances of plant communication are a bit more aggressive. One of the best examples of this is the black walnut tree, which contains a toxic hormone called juglone. Black walnut trees typically release this hormone into the soil around their roots. Juglone is effective for keeping other plants out of a black walnut tree’s growing area. In many cases, juglone is powerful enough to kill any plant that attempts to compete too closely with a black walnut tree.

The idea of plant communication was illegitimate in the scientific community not too long ago. However, as research continues, we’re learning more about the fascinating ways that plants can communicate with each other. As the examples above show, plants are far more capable of sharing important information than most people assume. As time progresses, we may find more intriguing ways that plants communicate to ensure each other’s survival.

How Foxgloves Benefit Other Plants

Foxglove is a highly beneficial plant. It works with fungus, which is one of the reasons root crops grow so well near foxgloves. It also attracts animals, which helps nearby plants grow healthier.

Foxgloves help other plants grow more successfully by forming symbiotic relationships with fungus and animals.

Foxglove is a plant known for many things other than its exciting name, of which the origins are disputed. The scientific name Digitalis has originated from the observation that the blooms are thimble-shaped and sized to fit a finger.

Digitalis has been used to treat serious heart conditions, including heart failure, even though the plant itself is poisonous. Even touching the plant may cause skin irritation, and ingesting the plant in its natural form is toxic. The chemicals in foxgloves are extracted in a specific way to create a life-saving heart medication.

Not only is it a benefit for humans, but this plant also is known to be beneficial to other plants, specifically plants grown near foxgloves.

Foxgloves and Fungus

Foxgloves have a very beneficial, symbiotic relationship with a fungus. The specific fungus that foxgloves work with to not only benefit the growth of the foxglove but the growth of surrounding plants is from the phylum Glomeromycota.

This fungus will create hyphae to penetrate the roots of foxgloves. Hyphae is a long, fungal structure that grows in branches. When these hyphae penetrate the roots of foxgloves, the symbiotic relationship begins.

The fungus will share excess nutrients from the soil with the foxglove plant. The foxglove will, in turn, share its sugars with the fungus through this connection. Once the foxglove has supplied enough food to the fungus, it will spread throughout the soil in the surrounding area, benefitting any nearby plants.

Foxgloves and Animals

Animals that are beneficial to most plants are highly attracted to foxgloves. Most nectar-seeking animals will be drawn directly to this irresistible plant.

Butterflies and hummingbirds are strongly attracted to foxgloves’ nectar and recognize its bright flowers and sweet smell. These both help spread and pollinate the plants growing near foxgloves. But no living thing works better with foxgloves than bees.

Bees especially love foxglove plants. The blooms on these plants are full of both nectar and pollen. Bees will be taken in by the nectar and get a big dose of pollen at the same time.

Of course, because of this, more plants get pollinated in the area around foxglove plants, causing even more growth and spread of the surrounding plants.

Foxgloves and Surrounding Plants

This plant is known to be helpful to other plants growing nearby. Foxgloves have been specifically used to grow near root crops. Root crops that are grown near foxgloves store better and have a longer shelf life.

The foxglove plant’s symbiotic relationship with fungus is the reason behind the benefit to root crops. The fungus that works well with foxgloves is excellent for aiding in root growth for all plants.

Also, pine trees have been shown to have stimulated growth when foxgloves are planted nearby, even more so than other plants.

Green Plants Can Purify the Air in Your Home? Not So True…

Green plants are popular. They complement just the right interior design and make us feel good. Of course, besides using them as decorations, many people actually purchase green plants for a particular reason: it is believed that indoor plants are able to purify the air.

Can green plants really sterilize germs, purify dust, or absorb formaldehyde?

【A NASA report misled us】

The idea that “greenery can purify the air” came from a scientific research conducted in the late 1980s.

Bill Wolverton is a NASA scientist who studied the ability of common houseplants to clean the air of a type of pollutants called volatile organic compounds (VOCs), such as benzene and formaldehyde, which are often released by common household products such as paint, nail polish, and shampoo. They can cause itchy throat in mild cases or nasopharyngeal cancer in severe cases. Unlike air pollutants such as soot or dust particles, VOCs cannot be filtered by air purifiers. Therefore they can accumulate in confined spaces, such as spaceships, laboratories, and homes.

Bill Wolverton’s research delivered a pleasing answer. The report says that plants are “a promising and economical solution …… If people are to enter enclosed environments, whether on Earth or in space, they must bring nature’s life support systems with them.” It is this study that provides the scientific basis for the online content on plants and air pollution.

There is nothing inherently wrong with Wolverton’s study, but to take the report’s results at face value would be to significantly overstate the role of plants. Wolverton measured whether houseplants could remove VOCs from a confined laboratory environment. However, a home is usually not a completely sealed space – it has open doors and windows; there is air circulation, and lots of clutter.

【Want to purify the air in a room with green plants? You have to place 1,000 of them in the room】

Over the years, studies have shown that indoor plants may be able to cleanse the air of certain pollutants. However, most scientists now believe this to be false.

For plants to really improve air quality, you have to plant them densely even in a tiny room to make it work.

Recently, Michael Waring, a professor of environmental engineering at Drexel University, along with his colleagues re-analyzed 196 studies on the ability of indoor plants to filter air. They found that certain species of plants removed more VOCs than others; however, once the condition of a “larger room” was introduced, none of the plants worked.

“Assuming there’s a room that is 10 feet long, 10 feet wide and 8 feet high; you would have to grow 1,000 plants in there to achieve the purification capacity of one air change per hour – the air exchange rate of a typical office ventilation system,” Waring said. That means an average of 10 plants per square foot. Even if you choose the most effective plants to filter VOCs, you still need more than one plant for each square feet in your room.

【Green plants are not completely useless as long as they make you happy】

In fact, happiness, not the removal of a tiny bit of air pollution, is the real reason to grow houseplants. These things around you that are full of life and that you care about will truly bring you happiness — whether they make the indoor air cleaner or not.

7 Proven Tips to Rid Your Yard of Pesky Moles

Moles can cause more damage than most other garden pests. But there are several effective ways to get rid of them. Here are the seven best mole-removal methods.

If you notice moles in your yard, you’ll want to get rid of them as soon as you can — before they destroy your property. Signs such as raised ridges and mounds of soil are a sure sign that moles have arrived and may soon wreak havoc. Thankfully, there are numerous methods that will allow you to do so. Read on for seven of the best ways to get rid of moles in your yard.

1. Set Mole Traps

Setting mole traps is one of the most efficient ways to reduce the mole population in your yard. While some of traps will kill any mole that activates them, others will simply capture the mole so that you can release it back into the wild elsewhere.

Regardless of what type you use, you should place your mole traps where there is evidence of mole tunnels below the ground. Raised mounds of soil in your yard are among the surest signs there is a mole tunnel below.

2. Apply a Mole Repellent

Most mole-repellent products come in spray or granular forms. You can apply these repellents to broad areas of your yard as a quick and easy way to encourage moles to leave your property.

Most of these repellents work by creating a smell that is horrid to moles, which alone can be enough to get the moles to leave. Many repellents also work their way into the ground to contaminate a mole’s natural food sources. However, some of the more lethal mole repellents may have a harmful effect on your pets, which is why natural alternatives or non-lethal sprays may be a preferable option.

3. Leave Mole Bait in Your Yard

To use mole bait, you must first locate a mole tunnel in your yard. Once you find an active mole tunnel, you can poke a small hole through the soil’s surface. Then, place the mole bait into the hole so that it rests on the tunnel floor.

Next time the mole walks through that tunnel, it will mistake your bait for a viable food source. Little does the mole know that the bait contains poison that will kill it, often within 12 to 24 hours of ingestion.

4. Eliminate Common Mole Food Sources

One of the top reasons that a mole will choose to reside in your yard is that it can find a readily available supply of its favorite food. Of all the creatures you’ll find living in your soil, grubs are what moles enjoy eating most.

Reducing the supply of grubs in your soil makes your yard much less attractive to moles, and doing so is much easier than you might expect. Often, adding beneficial nematodes to your soil will reduce grub populations relatively quickly.

5. Grow Plants that Moles Despise

There are several plant species that you can add to your garden that moles hate to be around. Fortunately, many of these mole-repelling plants are also quite attractive. Here are some of the top plant species you can try for this purpose:

Each of those plants gives off scents that moles dislike enough to avoid entirely. Try growing these species to chase away any existing moles in your yard. You can also grow one or more of those plants around the edges of your yard to discourage new moles from arriving.

6. Dig a Trench

While this approach is one of the more labor-intensive options, it remains an incredibly effective method. Begin by digging a trench that is about a foot and a half to two feet deep. Ensure that the trench is continuous and goes around your entire property.

After completing your trench, you should fill it with some type of hard material such as gravel or stone. Once your trench is full, moles will be far less likely to burrow through them and enter your yard.

7. Make a Natural Mole Spray

Creating a homemade mole spray is an excellent choice for anyone who wishes to avoid the strong chemicals a store-bought mole repellent spray may contain. But to make your own mole spray, you need to understand how the commercial products work.

Castor oil is the active ingredient in nearly every mole repellent on the market, and you can buy it on its own. By mixing this oil with standard dish soap, you’ll have a natural mole repellent that you can spray on your yard without concern. All you need to do is soak tunnels you find in your yard, and soon your mole problem will be gone.

Conclusion

Finding moles in your yard is a legitimate cause for concern. However, if you know how to deal with this sort of infestation, you can make your property mole-free in no time. So, next time you notice signs of a mole in your yard, be sure to use one or more of these methods to get rid of them.

9 Helpful Ways to Add Water Sources to Your Garden

Water is one of the most critical parts of the garden. Learn how to add water sources to your garden to make watering the plants easier or attract birds and wildlife to your space.

High on the list of things your garden needs is water. It’s one of the essential resources for growing plants, but it also helps create biodiversity in your yard. Water can draw in beneficial pollinators, encourage an array of wildlife, and support predatory creatures that keep the population of nuisance insects and animals down.

If you’re looking for ways to add water to your garden, whether to make watering your plants easier or attract living creatures, you’ve come to the right place! These nine ideas are great ways to bring additional water sources to your space.

Rainwater Collection System

Instead of running up your utility bill by using municipal water for your garden, you could start collecting rainwater for irrigating. Catching water from your rooftop is the most common method, using downspouts to direct water into collection barrels. To make watering easier, install a spout at the bottom to either fill watering containers, or attach a hose for sprinklers or a wand.

A rainwater collection system can be built using wooden wine or whiskey barrels to add an aesthetic touch to your yard, or you can opt for simple, practical plastic containers. Raise the containers off the ground to create a gravity-fed system.

Water Using Drip Irrigation

Drip irrigation, or micro-irrigation, is an efficient method of watering plants drop by drop using a system of hoses or water lines, micro-irrigation tubing, and drip emitters. You can set up systems on automatic timers to run themselves, or you can manually turn them on. Either way, you save yourself a significant amount of time watering.

Watering your garden this way also improves water efficiency because much less water is lost to evaporation since it’s applied to the soil right about the root zone.

Increase Water Use Efficiency with a Soaker Hose

A soaker hose is another method of micro-irrigation, but it’s pretty different than drip irrigation. Soaker hoses look like regular garden hoses with small perforations or pores along the entire length where water seeps out to irrigate plants.

Soaker hoses can be attached to your outdoor faucet, or you can supply water from a rain barrel. Putting a timer on your soaker hose can make watering even more effortless, turning the water off and on when it’s time to irrigate the garden.

Install a Yard Hydrant

If your garden is quite a ways from the hose bib on the side of the house, it might be beneficial to install a frost-free yard hydrant closer to your plants. A yard hydrant taps into the main water supply line before entering the house, providing another outdoor water source.

Having a yard hydrant close to the garden keeps you from dragging long hose lengths all over or hauling buckets of water a long distance. You save time and expend less energy when watering.

Decorate with Japanese Water Bowls

An easy way to add a water source for birds and wildlife is to set out decorative Japanese water bowls in the garden. These low basins are frequently used in Japanese water gardens, made of metal or concrete. They catch rainwater or water from lawn sprinklers, providing a place for deer, rabbits, foxes, and birds to drink.

To help encourage animals to use the Japanese water bowls, plant ornamental grasses or other plants nearby to give them some cover, making them feel safe and secure.

Build a Rock-lined Waterfall and Stream

If you tackle it as a DIY weekend project or hire a professional to install one, a garden stream with a waterfall is a great way to add serenity to your garden while drawing in animals. To keep maintenance low, you can build it with a pump to move water from the bottom to the top and add a self-filtering rock basin to the very bottom of the stream.

You can customize these beautiful water features in size and shape to fit your space, taking advantage of the natural landscape.

Add a Solar Fountain

Solar-powered garden fountains are a fantastic way to add an eco-friendly water source to your yard. Relying on the sun’s rays to power a pump, they don’t need to connect to an electrical outlet, and they are low-maintenance sans the occasional cleaning.

Water cascading through the tiers of a solar fountain brings soothing tranquility to your garden while also encouraging wildlife and birds into the yard to use it for drinking. Fountains are available in stone, plastic, or composite materials made to look like stone making it easy to match your aesthetic and budget.

Give the Birds a Bird Bath

Setting a birdbath out in your garden is one of the easiest ways to encourage winged friends into your yard. A standing water source is used to keep their bodies cool, preen dust, debris, and loose feathers from their plumage, and for drinking.

Opt for a standard pedestal-style birdbath or create your own by setting a large terra cotta saucer on the ground. A bonus of attracting birds to your yard is they help control insects that may threaten your vegetables or fruit trees.

Create a Garden Pond

Adding a garden pond to your yard decreases the lawn and garden you need to water while supporting the birds and wildlife. A garden pond provides an ideal habitat for frogs and insects (you want things like dragonflies and bees in your yard) and refuge for deer, bats, raccoons, and squirrels.

Beyond this, it creates a calm, serene space in your yard and garden for you to enjoy.

There are many different ways to make watering your garden easier or draw wildlife and birds into your yard. Options range in simplicity from adding a soaker hose to building a garden stream complete with a rock waterfall. Regardless of your choice, this water “source” will be beneficial in one way or another and well worth the investment.

All-Natural Tips for Guarding Against Slugs and Snails

Slugs and snails can quickly wreak havoc on your garden and flowerbed, eating their way through the foliage, fruits, and vegetables. The following tips keep these garden raiders at bay without using chemical products.

Nobody likes to take an early morning garden stroll, cup of coffee in hand, to discover some night raider has made short work of their plants. Standing there, fuming at large holes in their tender, low-lying leaves, vegetables, ripening fruit, and soft herbs, they vow to wage war on the destructive snails and slugs.

If you’re battling slugs and snails in the garden, you’re not alone.

Unfortunately, gardens are prime spots for these tiny tormentors. They love dark, damp spaces filled with ample decomposing plant material and green foliage. Mainly active at night, they attack almost all garden plants and can be problematic during the day when the canopy closes and shades the soil.

The most productive control method is going to the garden about two hours after sunset and using a headlamp or flashlight to handpick slugs and snails from the soil and plants. If that doesn’t sound like a great way to spend your evening, you can choose to apply commercial pest products or opt for natural ways to keep them out of the garden and away from your plants.

Natural Remedies

Commercial products are appealing to many gardeners because they are effective. They don’t come without downfalls, though. These products are usually expensive, unnecessarily toxic, and they often harm beneficial insects and animals instead of targeting slugs and snails. If you’re looking for cheaper, non-toxic, and primarily non-lethal control methods, the following remedies can help keep your garden free of pesky, slimy intruders.

Water in the Morning

Slugs and snails are primarily active at night, and it is more difficult for them to move across dry soil. This is why watering in the morning is a great way to guard against them. When you water early in the day, the top layer of soil can dry out before nighttime, making it difficult for them to reach your plants.

Remove Daytime Habitat

If there isn’t a habitat close to your garden plants, snails and slugs don’t have a place to hang out during the day. Since they move so slowly, they may not have time at night to wriggle to your garden. Get rid of tall weeds, low-growing branches, or anything with its bottom close to the ground like boards, debris, and garden decor.

Apply Adhesive Copper Tape

Due to something in their slime, when snails and slugs touch anything copper, they receive an uncomfortable shock that encourages them to turn away quickly. You can purchase copper tape at garden centers, home improvement stores, or online. Simply adhere the tape along the edges of your garden or raised beds to deter the gastropods.

Plant Herbs as a Barrier

Herbs are pest deterrents because of their intense aroma and are often used to keep insect pests away from tender plants. If you were planning on planting mint, lavender, parsley, sage, rosemary, or creeping thyme this year, place them in a border around your garden. The heady aromas will ward off the midnight marauders.

Sway Them With Sacrificial Plants

Using the bait-and-switch method helps keep slugs and snails away from your plants too. Plant sacrificial plants, or trap plants, to attract the pests elsewhere. Lettuce is one of the best veggies to use. Snails like lettuce more than other plants, so they’ll dine there and typically leave your other plants alone.

Add Some Chickens

Most gardeners know chickens are remarkable for their garden. They provide manure, lay eggs, and turn the soil. They’re also really helpful at keeping unwanted pests and insects, including snails and slugs, under control. Chickens love to dine on these tasty treats and will keep your garden free of unwanted intruders. Purchase birds from a local feed store, or adopt some that are up for rescue in your area.

Sprinkle Diatomaceous Earth

Diatomaceous earth is an all-natural product consisting of crushed diatom fossils. When in a powdered form, silica shards cup up the tender bellies as slugs and snails crawl through it. Sprinkle a layer of DE around your plants in between waterings. This barrier is like a miniature electric fence designed to keep the bad guys out of the garden!

Crushed Eggshells

Sprinkling crushed eggshells around your plants is another great deterrent, and it’s a fantastic way to keep from throwing food waste in the garbage. (Eggshells also come free of charge if you buy chickens!) The sharp edges of the eggshells are painful to slither over. Eventually, they’ll also break down and add nutrients to the garden soil.

Coffee Grounds

Scientists have determined that caffeine is highly toxic to slugs and snails. Instead of throwing your used coffee grounds in the trash, sprinkle them around the base of your plants as a repellent. The grounds will also add an extra boost of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium to the soil.

Plant Marigolds Away From the Garden

Marigolds are a main player in natural pest control options and are often planted to keep bugs away. In this case, snails are attracted to them. So instead of planting them close to your garden, plant marigolds away from it to lure slugs and snails to a more desired food source.

Homemade Pest Repellent

To create a non-lethal deterrent, pour cold coffee into a spray bottle or mix water and garlic in one. Spray either liquid on and around your plants, letting the strong scent turn snails and slugs in the opposite direction. You can also spray coffee directly on them to kill them.

In-Ground Liquid Traps

In the case of a severe infestation, trapping may be the best solution, especially if your stomach doesn’t feel up to picking them off by hand after nightfall. One of the easiest trapping methods is to sink shallow containers — the bottom half of a beer can — filled with beer into the ground. The scent of the yeast lures in pests, and they fall into the liquid, unable to escape.

Conclusion

You don’t need to rely on chemicals to keep your garden free of snails and slugs and safeguard your plants from looking like Swiss cheese! Whether it be using aromatic herbs, buying yourself a couple of chickens, or sprinkling used coffee grounds on the soil, there are plenty of natural ways to deter them away from plants while protecting beneficial insects and animals.

5 Ways to Make Dividing Perennials Easier than Ever

Dividing perennials is a common garden task, but it’s easy to get wrong. To ensure success next time you divide your favorite perennial plants, use these five tips for guidance.

There are plenty of reasons why you might want to divide your perennials. No matter what your reason may be, you need to know how to get the job done the right way. This article will help you through the process by revealing the top five tips you need to know for dividing perennials.

1. Know the Ideal Time to Divide Your Perennials

One of the biggest issues gardeners face when dividing perennials is choosing the wrong time to do so. Dividing perennials at the wrong time can cause them to wilt and die. However, if you know what factors to consider when timing your perennial divisions, your plants will have a much better chance of survival.

What Time of Year for Dividing Perennials?

The best time of year to divide perennials depends on the type of perennial you have. For instance, while some perennial plants bloom in the spring and summer, others bloom in the fall.

Ideally, you should divide perennials when they are not in bloom. When your plant is not in bloom, it is better able to allocate its energy toward new growth and recovering from the shock of division.

If your perennial plants bloom in the spring or summer, try dividing them at the end of the growing season, a few weeks before the first frost arrives. If your perennials are fall bloomers, you should try dividing them in the spring.

What's the Best Weather for Dividing Perennials?

Believe it or not, the weather plays a role in the success of your perennial division. The best type of weather for this gardening chore is cloudy and relatively cool. Hot weather and unabated sun exposure can cause your perennials to dry out much more quickly and may cause them to die.

What's the Best Temperature for Dividing Perennials?

If you want to give your plants the greatest chance to thrive after division, you should also pay attention to the temperature. Generally, you should aim to divide your perennials when it is around 50 degrees Fahrenheit outside. That moderate temperature ensures your perennials will be neither too hot nor too cold during division.

2. Start Digging at the Drip Line

Another mistake gardeners make when dividing perennials is that they dig too close to the center of the plant while removing it from the ground. By digging in that incorrect location, those gardeners risk cutting their perennial’s roots, which lessens their odds of survival. Rather than making that error, you should always begin digging at your perennial’s drip line.

The drip line is directly below the edge of your plant’s outermost foliage. Many of your plant’s most important roots will be within the drip line, which is why that is an excellent place to start digging. While you may damage some roots when dividing your perennials, digging at the drip line is a great way to minimize the damage.

3. Choose the Best Way to Divide Your Perennials

Once your perennials are out of the ground, it is time to select the method you’ll use to divide them. Typically, there are three reliable ways to perform perennial division:

When deciding what method to use, consider the size of your perennial. While large perennial root masses may require you to use a shovel, smaller ones may allow you to use a smaller tool or your fingers.

4. Ensure Each Division Has Plenty of Healthy Roots

When dividing your perennials, make sure that each division has enough roots. Roots are crucial to a plant’s success as they are responsible for taking in nutrients and moisture from the soil. Without an adequate quantity of roots, most plants will quickly die.

Not only must you ensure that each division has a considerable root system, you must also match the roots to the amount of foliage the plant has. The size of the above-ground foliage and the below-ground root system should be similar as they share a crucial relationship that allows your plant to live.

5. Don't Allow Your Divisions to Dry Out

One of the biggest threats to your perennial divisions is a lack of moisture. In fact, anytime you remove a plant from its growing location, whether transplanting or dividing, you risk drying it out. Fortunately, if you are aware of this challenge, you can circumvent it in most instances.

Provide plenty of water for your plant throughout the division process. Doing so, along with choosing the ideal time for division, will help your plants maintain their vigor and display healthy growth more quickly.

Conclusion

Dividing perennials is not too difficult to do. But you do need to understand a few insights before you get started. Referring to the five tips above is a fantastic way to begin dividing your perennials the proper way.