Rake

Rake

rake

rake

            You say, “What possibly could be said about a rake?”  Well, let’s see what I can come up with.

            You must realize that there is a tremendous variety of rake designs.  Years ago my favorite was the bamboo rake.  It was light weight and the tines nicely flexible.  Years later I used a plastic rake to gather piles of leaves in the neighborhood streets for the “claw” to pick up.  It served its purpose well until I realized that raking the street ground down the tines until they no longer had hooks at the ends.  You may have seen the rake contraption that closes on the leaves so they can be picked up.  I haven’t tried that one yet because it looks too heavy to use for long periods of time.  As of late I have settled for a lightweight metal rake that I actually paid retail for at Davis Ace.  It’s one of the few tools that I didn’t get at a garage sale.  It seems every time I come across a metal rake at a garage sale, it is in really rugged condition.  This is probably because they last so long.  The metal rake works well in my yard and also the street.  I recently found that large leaves like magnolia leaves can be picked up when they get imbedded among plants by stabbing the tines through the leaves.

            While working at an iris garden recently, I was wishing I had brought along one of my old favorites—a hand rake.  Mine is 17 inches long with a tine spread of 5 inches.  I used to use it a lot when I was more OCD than I am now.  (At one point I was sucking up every last hackberry leaf with a vacuum cleaner—sick.)  If you have a situation where leaves get amongst your plants, and you tend toward OCD, consider purchasing a hand rake.

            Another unusual use for the hand rake is to assist you in removing aphids from plants when using a hose sprayer.  By supporting a branch from behind with the rake, the branch won’t bend away from you and practically all the aphids will be blasted away.

 Hand rakes are a common item at nurseries and are quite cheap at Amazon.

You know, it’s OK if you are OCD if it makes you happy.

                                                                                                         Stan, The Tool Man

Soil Scoop

Soil Scoop

Soil Scoop

Soil Scoop

            Here is the perfect tool for potting plants.  You are probably using a small bucket or can to fill a new pot for transplanting. Try this tool instead. The comfortable grip of the soil scoop gives you good leverage and the concave shape allows you to quickly transfer soil from a bag or bin.  You may wish to use this tool to form furrows in your garden and the serrated edges can also perform cutting action when roots are encountered.  The metal scoop is stainless steel so your tool will maintain a like new appearance.  The soil scoop is produced by Garden Works and can be purchased for less than $16 on Amazon Prime.

Happy scooping,

Stan, The Tool Man

Planting Auger

Planting Auger

Auger

Auger

            Even if you will never plant a bulb for the rest of your life, you may find a planting auger a useful tool.  It is basically a drill bit that will drill large holes into the ground.  It comes in a wide variety of lengths and widths, so you can pick the size that best fits your needs. For instance LaVille says that she likes to place daffodil bulbs in a hole that is 6-8” deep, with a little extra depth to mix in bone meal.  Recently we were able to plant 56 bulbs in about 40 minutes.

            A more general use for a planting auger is simply to loosen soil.  If you are trying to plant in an area of your garden that has really hard soil, you can use an auger to drill several holes over a small area just so you can manage digging.  Where you may have turned to using a pick axe, it will be much easier to use the power of a drill to fight through the spoil.

            Another use for the auger is to aide you in removing a plant from large pots.  A great number of large pots are constructed to be narrower at the top.  If a plant becomes literally pot-bound, you can use an auger to drill holes around the edge of the pot until the plant and soil can be removed.  That is a better option than simply breaking the pot to save a valued plant.

            It really is amazing to discover how fast these augers work.  But since they use a lot of energy, you may need a corded drill if you have a great number of holes to drill.

            You can order a planting auger by googling that term.  Amazon has a wide variety of augers at a wide range of prices.

Happy drilling!

Stan, The Tool Man

Helping Hand

Helping Hand

Helping Hand

Helping Hand

            If you have no roses, berry plants, bougainvilleas, or flowering quince, you may want to skip this article.  The tool of the month is a device that allows you to prune without touching the plant with your hands.  It will sever a branch and grasp it at the same time.  There are several models that will reach out different lengths, I found one that has a length of 2 feet.  To quote the ad:  “Ultimate rose harvester, fruit and vegetable picking, pruning, dead heading, reaching into flower beds without compacting the soil.  Eliminates the ladder.”  Well the syntax sucks and my ladders are not going to be eliminated, but if you like to show off to your neighbors, this may be the tool for you.  You can find a large selection of cut and hold pruners on Amazon for as little as $28 for a Corona.

Garden Timer

Garden Timer

Garden Timer

Garden Timer

I know you have run a sprinkler or hose in the garden and expected to remember to turn it off in a certain time.  If you remembered 90% of the time, that would be remarkable.  It’s the 10% when you forget and waste all that precious water when you have fought so hard to save every drop.  The tool that will remove this frustration is the garden timer.  So, you’ve never heard of a garden timer?  A garden timer is a device otherwise known as a kitchen timer, but when you are in the garden, it’s a garden timer.  I used to carry one of those timers that you twist to set a certain number of minutes.  It took a large sweatshirt pocket to house this device.  Then I saw the very small digital timer sold in the kitchen gadget section of Target.  For about $7, you too can own your own tiny timing device.  Perhaps you would be more comfortable calling his tool a “personal timer” because there are some many instances in your daily routines that require reminders.

            Now I know most of you have a smart phone, and it is easy to tell it to set an alarm, but I think it is easier to use this tool to make you a more responsible person in your garden and in your personal life.

            Trying to reduce your regretful moments,

            Stan, The Tool Man