Gardening can be a great way to reduce food costs and landscaping can be a great way to improve the value of your home. Unfortunately, not everyone is born with a green thumb. So if you’re interested in setting up a garden or doing a bit of landscaping, but are struggling to make sense of labels such as full sun, partial sun, partial shade, and full shade, then you might be interested in cool little gadget called SunCalc.

Simply stake it into the ground first thing in the morning and then check back 12 hours later. One of four indicators will light up letting you know what sort of light that area is receiving. At first the $30 price tag sounds a bit pricey. However, when you consider the startup costs associated with gardening and/or landscaping (especially when you’re dealing with perennials), it might be worth it to be sure that you get the most from your investment.

Alternatively, you can just keep an eye on your surroundings… The SunCalc is simply recording the amount of time that it receives direct sunlight during that 12 hour period and then categorizing as follows:

Full Sun: 6+ hours
Partial Sun: Less than 6 and more than 4 hours
Partial Shade: Less than 4 and more than 1 1/2 hours
Full Shade: Less than 1 1/2 hours

Given that a lot of people don’t have time to sit around all day and keep an eye on the sun, it seems like this could be useful for some. And no, I’m not affiliated with the makers of SunCalc in any way — I just thought that it looked cool.