This is that lovely time of the year when gardeners start getting all sorts of catalogs in the mail.
Those of us who have an “online presence” also start getting emails and ads through social media. I guess all those companies out there that make and/or sell gardening items see us as easy prey. Those of us who have been around for a while can see through the hype and all the wonderful things said about a new gadget in an advertisement to determine for ourselves if something is actually worth a try.
We have all seen the ads. A new weeding tool that does not require bending over or pulling; just grasp the weed with the business end and twist. Well, maybe some of these things work and some don’t. Take time to look at the moving parts closely to see what will break. If they offer to send a second one for free, be suspicious. There have been a lot of other things that I just look at, shake my head and then move on, such as the spikes you can attach to your shoes to aerate the lawn by walking around.
But occasionally, we find something that looks pretty good. For example, I have three gas cans for my various power tools and they all come with pouring mechanisms that require a degree in mechanical engineering to operate. I have been known to simply remove the spout and use a funnel to gas up a lawn mower. Then I saw an ad for replacement spouts for gas cans that do not have all that safety/childproof equipment. It looked like it would work so I ordered one. By golly, it worked. I had to drill a hole in the top of my can to insert an air vent (supplied with the new spout) and it works as advertised. This may not be something everyone should do; child proof containers are needed around children so parents will still need to do it the hard way. Also, OSHA requires lawn and grounds care companies to only use containers with approved fuel spouts for their workers. But for me, it works just fine.
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I have seen ads for weeding knives. They are supposed to be good at getting deep roots. I have wondered why any gardener would use a Rambo-like blade to work in the garden. That was until I tried to plant some tulip bulbs near some trees. My hand-digging trowel would not cut through some of those roots, so I marched back to the shed and got my trusty mattock. But that Rambo blade would have been handy as I could have carried it along with the trowel for digging without any extra effort.
Someone gave me a gift once I wasn’t sure about. Once I tried it, I kept on using it and still use it today. It is a metal contraption that unfolds. One way to use it is as a padded kneeling place — sort of like a prie dieu. When planting a lot of annuals or bulbs, it makes life a lot easier on the knees. The other way to use it is as a bench. I haven’t used the bench setup but it looks like it would work well. It’s another good garden gadget that really works as advertised: a multifunctional garden kneeler and seat.
Gardeners who have several fruit trees should look around for some orchard bee or Mason bee hives. These things are basically a roll of various sized small tubes, usually bamboo, that you hang in or near fruit trees in the late winter or very early spring. The orchard bees will nest and lay eggs in the tubes while they are pollinating fruit trees. These bees only are around in the spring when the fruit trees are blooming, so timing is important. Leave the hives alone and maybe add a few more next year. It may take a year or two to build up a decent population of orchard bees, but it will eventually happen. I haven’t tried this yet but it has been researched by Virginia Tech and given very good reports.
Finally, I saw a way to keep small tools such as trowels and hand pruners near the garden if you want to keep them close by. It looks like a mailbox and it is rainproof so your tools, if maintained correctly, will not rust. I think any mailbox that keeps the rain out will serve this purpose well.
