| News Channels |
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
| Quick Links |
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
| Entertainment |
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
| MAO Exclusives |
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| Weather |
| |
|
| |
| Post Your Ad at MAO |
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
| Well-Equipped Gardener | | By: Home & Garden |
| The gardener's inventory consists of more than just tools. A well-equipped gardener is also likely to have on hand all kinds of miscellaneous equipment and supplies, all of which can make gardening a lot easier, more convenient and even more fun. Here, in his own words, Gardening by the Yard host Paul James shares some of his favorites:
A tough canvas tote allows you to carry seeds, trowels, pruners and similar usable items as you work in the garden. Even better is my five-gallon tool bucket made of recycled plastic. It comes with a tool belt that slips right over the bucket, and it's loaded with pockets--10 in all--for storing gardening equipment and supplies. Also available are stackable organizer trays that are great for storing small items, and four trays can fit neatly into the bucket. What I like most about this bucket is that it serves double duty as a garden seat. If you've got a lot of weeding or harvesting to do, or if you're just plain tired and need a break, put the air-cushioned seat cover on top of the bucket, and you've got a comfortable resting spot. (Note: Fiskars Lawn and Garden makes a bucket tool caddy with a 19-pocket "tool belt.")
Speaking of weeding and harvesting, we gardeners spend a lot of time on our knees, which is why several products aimed at providing some much-needed knee relief have popped up on the market. The simplest of all is a foam kneeling pad, which could be the best $5 you ever spend if your knees aren't what they used to be. A bit more expensive are knee pads, most of which go on easily, are extremely comfortable and provide a good deal of protection. Another combination is the seat/kneeler. It's a seat, and flipped over, it's a kneeler.
I can't imagine not having at least three or four different sprayers. Small pump sprayers are great for small jobs such as spraying a row of corn with Bt to keep the corn earworms from attacking. They're also great for spraying a freshly brewed batch of compost tea or liquid seaweed on your plants as a foliar feed. For larger jobs, pressurized sprayers come in handy, which is why I keep two or three on hand at all times. On most models you can adjust the spray from fine mist to jet stream, and despite their size, these sprayers can build up quite a bit of pressure, enough to spray something 10 or 12 feet away. For larger jobs, it's hard to beat a tank sprayer. They're available in several sizes, and they too have adjustable nozzles. What's more, you can find spare parts for them at most nurseries and home-and-garden centers.
If you've got an entire yard or a large garden to spray, consider a hose-end sprayer, preferably one with a dial that lets you finely tune the dilution rate of whatever you put in it. For instance, I sprayed a specially formulated castor oil on my lawn to deter moles. The dilution rate was 1 tablespoon per gallon, so I turned the dial to the proper setting and sprayed away. When using one of these sprayers, no matter what you put in them, be sure to rinse them thoroughly after each use, pumping clean water through the nozzle as well. This is not only a safety measure but also a good way to keep them from clogging.
Every gardener should own a rain gauge. I have two: a small one in my vegetable garden so I can keep track of how much water my sprinkler delivers and a jumbo version mounted on a pole, which even a four-eyed gardener like me can read from more than 100 feet away.
Another weather-related goody I use all the time is a minimum-maximum thermometer, which records both the low and the high temperatures over a given period, depending on how often you reset it. I like knowing the overnight low temperature during the early-spring and late-fall growing seasons because rather than walk all the way out to the garden to see whether my plants survived a freeze, I can just check the low reading for the night and know they probably didn't.
Most of the time when I garden, I wear sandals or sneakers, which have a tendency to get dirt and mud all over them and then all over the house. To solve this problem, I bought a shoe sprayer: my model cleans the tops and sides of my shoes, and it drops the dirt and mud beneath it.
Occasionally I wear boots while working in the yard, especially when the dew is thick or the ground is really muddy, and although they're comfortable, finding a place to put them was always a challenge. I found a solution in the form of a simple wire boot rack, which neatly holds two pairs of boots upside down so the rain, leaves and bugs can't get in them. Speaking of footwear, aerator sandals come under the heading of just plain goofy, but after using them a few times, I admit that they do work. I must remind you that aerating your lawn routinely is one of the best things you can do for the grass. Of course, with a very large lawn, you might want to rent a power aerator.
Now let's look at a few odds and ends that no gardener should be without. First, bushel baskets and buckets. Bushel baskets are great for hauling garden scraps to the compost pile and compost to the garden. They're also perfect when it's time for harvesting and storing large crops such as potatoes. Buckets are terrific for blending potting mixes and fertilizers, and in a pinch they make a decent makeshift stool. When you don't feel like hauling water all over the place, watering cans, especially those equipped with rosettes that deliver a fine, gentle spray, are the next best thing. They're ideal for watering newly planted seed beds and container plants. Galvanized cans are expensive to replace, so make sure you don't leave them out during the winter with even the slightest bit of water in them because if the water freezes, it can cause a leak in the can. Also useful are plant tags for identifying what's what and twist ties, which are great for tying vines to trellises.
| |
|
|
|
|
|
