PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Lots of gardeners worship the sun, but I learned to garden the smarter way from my mom – stay in the shade. The sun isn’t everywhere at once, so it just makes sense to stay out of its way. Even on the hottest days, it’s always cooler in the shade and you’ll find you can work a lot longer, get much more done, squint a lot less, and wind up much less sweaty.

Weeding – never a fun chore – is merciless under the heat of the sun. Instead, start in the part of your garden where the sun isn’t, and try to keep away from the sun as you work. You can go without a hat in the shade because your head isn’t on fire, and you won’t need to slather on so much sunscreen if you spend most of your time in the shade wearing long pants and a light, long-sleeved shirt like my mom does.

And if you’re lucky enough to celebrate lots of birthdays, as time goes by you’ll have a lot fewer wrinkles too, if you just follow my mom’s gardening example and follow the shade instead of the sun.

Reported By Phran Novelli, KYW Newsradio