by Stan Logan | Mar 19, 2020 | Garden tools
Getting rid of the leaves that are dropped from deciduous trees in the Fall can be an arduous task. You can use a leaf blower and rakes of various types to form piles. Transporting these piles to a compost bin or to the street for city pick up is generally fairly easy by using a wheelbarrow, utility cart, or simply a plastic garbage can. How do you get the leaves from pile to hauling container? Many of you probably use a pitch fork or snow shovel and these are fine if you have a large task. But for most of you, I have a better choice. This is a dust pan—a large dust pan. This 14” wide pan has a looped handle that gives you good leverage. Don’t buy a 16” heavy metal pan–it’s simply unnecessarily heavy and too large. Use this aluminum pan in conjunction with your rake. Slide your pan under the leaf pile with one hand. Position your rake handle in the crook of your neck and slide your other hand down the handle to the place where the rake tines attach. Raise the handle of the pan and pull the pan and rake together to trap a huge mass of leaves. Then lift the trapped debris to your transport container. When you move from leaf pile to leaf pile, simply toss the pan into your transport container, which is much easier than carrying a large tool like a shovel or fork.
There you have it—a small, light weight tool that makes garden clean up much easier. It can even be left out in the weather since it’s made of aluminum. The Quickie-Professional Metal Handheld Dustpan can be purchased at Lowes for $11.97. This tool would be the perfect Xmas gift, or I suppose you can save this surprise for a future birthday or anniversary gift. You could even write a romantic message in the pan so that your loved one would think of you whenever he or she cleans up the yard trash.
Have fun in the garden,
Stan, The Tool Man
dustpan
by Stan Logan | Mar 19, 2020 | Garden tools
Here is an innovation designed for the gardener who moves so much material that a wheelbarrow is required. You (the heavy duty gardener} have undoubtedly been faced with the awkward task of dumping your load (so to speak). You reach the desired dump location, raise the handles, but nothing spills out. You have to raise the handles to a vertical position, but your hands are on top of the handles when you lift. You have two choices–either lift with such force that the wheelbarrow flips forward, or allow the handle ends to pivot in the palms of your hands so that you are gripping the handles from beneath. The first method is sometimes exciting when the wheelbarrow either drags you over on top of it, or it flips back at you. The second method is scary because it can result in slivers in the palms of your hands if the wheelbarrow has been out in the weather for the last seventy years. (My wheelbarrow was old when my dad gave it to me.)
The solution to the problem, my hard working friend, is Pivoting Wheelbarrow Handles. These are handles that fit over the ends of your wheelbarrow handles. Since they pivot, you have control when lifting from above and as well as shoving from beneath when the handles move through a vertical position. You cannot believe the difference it makes in controlling your wheelbarrow through the entire dumping process.
“But I don’t own a wheelbarrow.” you say. Well, if you have grandkids or pets, imagine the fun you will have wheeling them around the yard and even the neighborhood. And then when you get tired, it is so easy to dump them in an appropriate spot like the swimming pool. I’m not going to suggest a particular wheelbarrow. I think you need to select it on the basis of the occupants.
I will, however, help you with the purchase of your pivoting wheelbarrow handles. Simply Dump it Wheelbarrow Handles SDI1001 can be purchased from Amazon for $18. Is that simple, or what?
Happy dumping!
Stan, The Tool Man
P.S. Actually, since I wrote about these handles years ago, they have come out with wheelbarrows with looped handles that deal with this dumping dilemma. So if you are going to buy a new wheelbarrow, this would be a good option.
by Stan Logan | Mar 19, 2020 | Garden tools
Now here’s a must tool for the iris lover. Irises have to be dug up or at least thinned about every three years. Crowded irises have few blooms. A spading fork is the preferred tool for this chore. It will lift the plant and leave much of the soil behind. I have found that there is an advantage to having a fork with only 2 tines. I can more easily maneuver between adjacent plants when just removing outer rhizomes. But the main advantage to having only 2 tines is that it is twice as easy to penetrate the soil. By cutting off the outside tines and leaving the horizontal bar that connected them, you still have a bar upon which to shove with your foot.
So how can I get a two tiner, you ask. Simply give me a call or e-mail. I will modify a fork you already have, or see if I can get one at a garage sale for you. If you have an angle grinder with a cutting disc, have at it yourself. Remember to remove sharp edges.
None of this appeal to you? Fine. Keep using that favorite shovel or fork that you’ve used for years. Often change is an uncomfortable experience. I understand.
Stan, The Tool Man
by Stan Logan | Mar 11, 2020 | Garden tools, Weeds
Torch |
Well, this tool is not for everyone. It is the propane torch. If the height of your weeds rivals that of your cultivated plants, this is not a tool for you. If your favorite weeding tool is a scythe, this is not a tool for you. No, this is a tool limited to the OCD. The propane torch is also generally best suited for urbanites. Do you have small weeds growing in the joints of your side walk? Perhaps weeds have found the cracks in the driveway. Are pavers a part of your landscape? Do the weeds love your gravel paths?
I can you hear you saying, “Ever hear of Round-Up?” Well, does Round-Up kill weed seeds? No. There is a particular thrill in hearing the popping of weed seeds as you apply the flame of your torch. I also don’t like to wait days to enjoy the sight of a defeated foe. This tool meets the high standards of an immediate reward society.
So what is a propane torch? It is simply a nozzle that screws onto a tank of propane. You can buy a nozzle for less than $15. But I want you to spend more. The extra cost will allow you to turn the flame on and off with the mere push and release of a button. This is an important safety feature in that the flame is not burning when you are not using it. You are able to move all over your garden (or neighborhood) and use a flame only when needed. This lets you use very little gas to eliminate thousands of weeds. I have been using the same tank of gas for 10 years. I finally stopped buying propane tanks at garage sales—the count stands at 9 tanks. Home Depot has the Benzomatic Sure Fire Torch Head for $34.97. Ace Hardware has its own Instant On-off Propane Torch Head for $37.99.
Now there are limitations to weeding with a propane torch. You cannot burn weeds growing near flammable material such as dead leaves, bark, fences, and spreader boards in concrete slabs. You cannot burn a weed growing next to a drip tube or soaker hose.
I do have to warn you of a potential danger. When you come to enjoy using this tool to the extent that your yard is devoid of weeds, you may find yourself searching for weeds in the sidewalks and driveways of your neighbors. If you suddenly look up and realize you’re lost, fear not. Like the proverbial trail of bread crumbs, simply follow the path of blackened annual rye and spurge back to your house.
In summary: What makes this garden tool so special? The propane torch eliminates weeds and viable weed seeds in seconds, particularly when the substrate cannot be penetrated by a conventional weeder. It is an environmentally friendly treatment. You are able to cover a lot of garden area without getting on your hands and knees. It’s strange that someone hasn’t developed a specialized rack for displaying this efficient weed killing weapon for the rear windows of gardeners’ pickups.
Happy burning,
Stan, The Tool Man |
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by Stan Logan | Mar 11, 2020 | Garden tools, Weeds
I hope you are not limited to thinking that only garden tools can be used in the garden. This 2 x 5 inch rectangular hand trowel that is generally used for working with mortar, thin set, and other pasty construction substances is a must for your garden tool collection. This inexpensive tool has many uses in the potting shed and garden. Having straight edges makes it useful for any scraping chore—for instance cleaning emptied terracotta pots, clearing a work surface, or removing unwanted accumulations from the bottom of your garden clogs. Black widow spiders and their nests are easily squished. In the garden this trowel can be used as a weeder. It will scrape the soil harboring small weeds that are right next to a threatened plant. It easily slips under a drip line or soaker hose. It slices easily through soil since its blade is so thin. Flat spreading weeds such as spurge and invasive baby tears can be lifted up with a small amount of soil while minute seeds are removed at the same time. Sharpening the edges of this tool makes it even more effective and I can do this for you. Sandpaper quickly removes excess rust for those of you who prefer to store tools scattered around the garden.
For less than $10 you can buy a 2”x 5” Margin Trowel for yourself and one for all of your family members and friends. They are available in both Home Depot and Lowes, and of course, Amazon.
Thinking outside the box,
Stan, The Tool Man
by Stan Logan | Mar 11, 2020 | Garden tools
Now here is a tool that you would probably never use—but I do, so there’s a slight chance you might. First of all, you have to have a lawn. I figure that would eliminate many of you who have done the responsible thing and eliminated your lawn. (Did you ever read my blog article explaining why I love my lawn?) Second, you have to enjoy working on your hands and knees. So, let’s say that there is a 10% chance that you are still interested in continuing. Finally, you have to possess a certain amount of OCD. So for the 2% of you who remain, here is why you need this tool:
Do you have a string lawn edger? I do. I got it as a garage sale. It is supposed to advance the string by bumping it on the ground. But it doesn’t do that. I have to turn it upside down and manually advance the string. Then sometimes the string breaks within the spool. So I have to take it apart to extract the string again. That’s a pain. Then when I do use the edger, the resulting edge is rather ragged—hardly OCD worthy. So, what I do is get on my hands and knees, take my linoleum knife, and draw it towards me along the inside of the mow strip. (Oh, I forget that is another requirement for needed this tool—you have to have a paver or concrete border for your lawn.) Now as I pull the knife towards me, it makes a straight cut through the grass creating the perfect edge to my lawn, which I then stand back and admire.
Now here is my last chance to interest you in this tool. Sooner or later you will likely need to patch an area of your lawn with sod. (I like the sod from Home Depot, but make sure it is fresh.) The sod is held together by a nylon mesh. You will find that this linoleum knife is the perfect tool to cut your sod into pieces that will fit the section you have carved out of your damaged lawn.
Keep the inside of the knife sharp by using a file. . . . . You don’t have a file? Well that was simply the last straw. Now . . Nobody is left to use this tool in the garden. . . . I’m so sad.
Stan, The Tool Man
Garden uses for linoleum knife
(Perhaps you should buy this model from Amazon for about $4. Can you imagine how impressive this would look in your tool collection. But hurry—there are only 4 left of this model as of this writing!)
