Monday, November 30, 2009

Battery-Operated Timer For Hoses and Gardens


This Nelson Battery-Operated Hose Timer is an interesting product and is grouped with a wide number of competing products, all of whom are of reasonable quality and durability - and whose timing has good reliability - when treated right. I stress the latter - "When treated right" - because we are speaking generally of using a plastic product attached to one of metal. And that is about the only caveat I would counsel using this amazingly great labor-saving device. These are honestly pretty fantastic things. What you have in this small unit is "Freedom", in the end. For those people who long to travel, yet feel the tug of all the effort they put into establishing their Summer gardens, this item - or ones like it - are a virtual dream come true. It is the same with lawns or anything which your hose can attach to and actually water on a regular basis. Labor-saving and security-enhancing, these small battery-powered timers are the next best thing to having a literal irrigation system. This Nelson is a product from a very reliable company whose business has always been irrigation.

For more on this product and for looks at similar ones, click here.

A History of The Shovel

From ancient times, shovels or some form of them have been utilized for grubbing for food to burying people. Interestingly, just about the only really noteworthy breakthrough in the history of the shovel itself was the move towards using metal in their construction. Actually, this was a major change and allowed for far deeper digging as opposed to using the older versions which were composed mainly of hardwood business ends.

An ancient mining discovery found by anthropologists in Turkey revealed an ancient, one piece, carved wooden shovel dating from approximately 2,000 B.C. It was about 12 inches wide at it's scooping end, 27" long and the handle was about 2.5 inches in diameter. Well-preserved owing, in part at least to the hardness of the wood, this shovel was obviously used manually in a mining operation.

Here's an interesting take on the Religious role of the shovel from Wikipedia. Beware the Shovel!:

"The shovel is worshiped in many religions today although it may not seem noticeable at first. The Buddhism god, Gishnu, an 8 armed elephant, wielded 8 shovels when the Buddhists fought the terrorists at the battle of El Alamein in ancient times. The elephant slaughtered thousands of foes and it was decided amongst the other gods that this elephant should not hold the 8 shovels of power. These shovels were spread all over the world in each of the 7 ancient wonders. One shovel is said to be amongst us, keeping guard of the long forgotten world of the shovels. These shovels all over the world remain dormant, hidden away in safe locations."

In the Northernmost areas of the world, Eskimo's utilized the bones of whales and and walruses to make themselves shovels they used for carving ice and building igloos, cutting through ice to fish and the numerous cold weather uses they would need. "Walrus Scapulae" were deemed perfect for this work.

In Great Britain, early man heated his place by burning peat, cut and sectioned out by shovel from the many resources of this interesting fuel.

Imagine making just about anything in the garden world without a shovel. It might be a crime!

There is little need to question the need for shovels. Particularly, when considering our ancient agricultural past, the shovel would have to be assumed to be a most common and among the very earliest essential tools. No doubt it is preceded - as always - by weaponry, yet it remains one of the quintessential tools raising us from the caves and bushes of our past into the most modern times.

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Garden Rake


This garden rake to me is pretty easy to advocate in nearly any form at all. While I would advise staying away from cheaper models owing to the strength of the steel or metals comprising the thing and the handle's composition, almost any mid range priced rake or above is pretty much just about perfect. Fiberglass or wood handles - either one - make excellent and long-lasting tools. A tiny caveat: The one personal preference I have developed for rake handles - on the issue of whether to go for the fiberglass ones or wood - deals with their girth. I always enjoyed the thinner wooden handles, myself. Particularly for longer hours spent at the end of one, a thinner handle always seemed somehow more Snedeker-ergonomic. ;-)

Click right here to find out a bit more on this tool and for some user reviews.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Digging Shovel


Some shovels are more "shovel" than others. This one is my choice for the perfect shovel for digging. The over-sized foot step allows for some real pressure being applied from the legs, opening soil easier and breaking roots and smaller impediments far easier. Now, as a professional, I need to issue a "caveat" and mention this shovel is a tad heavier than others of similar construction. It is because it is designed for a very principal function of excavating. Lighter shovels might be indicated for such things as loading wheelbarrows with soil or mulches simply owing to the amount of time spent on the tasks and the effect of heavier lifting over time. However, the overall framework of this industrial style shovel is far more amenable to digging and excavations in soil. For one thing, it will last longer. For another, it is designed for digging and penetrating harder and tougher soils. The welds on this are solid and the balance is a great asset, along with the near-"plate" for using the boots. This is your "excavating" shovel, par excellence.

For more product information and for user reviews of this tool, click here.

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Interesting Weed Tool


The Weed Hound is a more-than-interesting item that caught my interest more than once. The reason I speak of it now is that I have a rave review from a long-time maintenance friend who mows grass for a living and who has cast about for less-polluting means of dealing with such things as Dandelions. Yes, the Dandelion War is always-alive, even for the pro's. Well, he is delighted with this tool. That tells me what I need to know in terms of whether it passes the field test. I just about never recommend anything I have not used personally. However, I am siding with just about any item which lessens the usage of pesticides and herbicides in our world any more. This bad boy here removes the offending broad leaf at the source - the root - and it also contains that one super superior trait of allowing one to stand while working. I am recommending this item to any and all who might like the notion of taking drastic and final measures regarding Dandelions and broad leaf weeds in their lawn and garden. Besides, it's relatively cheap and it is much more durable than it might look - this I asked about.

For more product information and for user reviews, click here.

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Southern Living Big Big Book

A Very Big Book!

Like it's equally-informative twin the Western Living Garden Book, this great asset to any gardening library is rife with wonderful and detailed pictures and information about plants, landscaping, gardening - even irrigation - and exists as what is a virtual encyclopedia, appreciated by professionals and interested gardeners alike. Among its many features, it includes the newest American Horticultural Society Heat Zone Map and even plant ratings. It has 2,000 new plant entries, with more than 1,200 all-new, full-color plant illustrations. !,300 photographs of plants covers a massive area - pretty much everything - in the plant and tree world and it also includes nearly 70 pages of tips and techniques fit for real good gardening. This is somewhat of a must-have for anyone curious or even at the further stages of gardening and landscaping. It's a truly great resource, in short. If I can add, it is most definitely oriented towards the South but please don't let that deter you from purchasing it. Its relevance is world-wide, I assure you. The Western Living Book I commented on at the beginning is equally valuable and I use it still, while working in the South.

For more information about this great book and for rave user reviews, click here.

Saturday, November 7, 2009

A Small Shovel


This small shovel is not just so that your son can imitate Dad or Mom and dig on his own, although that is a super fine option and is always to be encouraged. It has a bundle of very practical uses, most of which revolve around either a shortage of space or a project that requires some digging while on one's knees. In fact, I scoffed at the idea of even what they called a "fireman's shovel" at one point until it became a foreman's very favorite shovel and one where he handled the workload every bit as well as the guys with the big headed shovels did. I have long since reconciled myself to the fact that many people listen to their own digging muse. But for stiffer soils requiring small holes, for example, this digs with far more "oomph" than a hand trowel or any other hand held instrument and it can still move a bunch of dirt. It also carries an interesting 3 year warranty, something unique among shovels and probably well worth investigating. I have used these for multiple purposes and I also love them. Oh - and, yeah, your child can operate with the big people and feel just as much the contributor with this guy.

For a bit of product information and for a user review, click here.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Gardening Tool Set


This Gardening Tool Set is actually something I would own as a landscaper. Ironically, some of the more attractive features to me - aside from the obvious pruners, weeders and durable tools - are the hose attachments and the spray nozzle. Fact is, even the knee pad is a pretty doggone handy item, especially for those of us over 20 years old. In the end, the variety is interesting and most of the tools are must-haves, especially for gardeners, much less for landscapers. With a reasonable price and a good solid choice of necessary tools and repair gadgetry, this little set rocks. I have purchased more than one of these in my day and always felt like hugging myself when I opened them up. I know - I'm easy.

For more product information and for some user reviews, click here.

Monday, November 2, 2009

Tool Rack For Storage


A very underestimated consideration in the long term care of tools is what to do with the suckers when one is finished. In landscaping, many times we just throw them in a pile somewhere and pick them back up off the ground in the morning. Or carry them around in the back of some truck in the elements, exposed and collecting water and ice. But we also plan on going through them - breaking them,losing or misplacing them at a rate which would drive a homeowner nuts but which is honestly often considered just a business expense for guys who use them daily. And having said all that, the truth is most landscapers have many 4-5 year old tools in spite of the abuse.

But a homeowner will find themselves with different concerns entirely. Since they don't use them on a daily basis, most homeowners could easily lose them for good, leaving them outside. The virtues of a sturdy tool rack, well placed in some garage or shed are many - they obviously protect the tools from the elements, foremost. Plus, they are easy to locate, simple to choose among and as secure as any locked building can make them. This item is a pretty good set-up for this sort of tool security and longevity. I recommend this - or something similar - for anyone who has more than 2 tools.

For product information and for user reviews, click here.