LifeStyle Magazine - Great Garden Gadgets

Great Garden Gadgets

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Written by Marisa Gillen

Part of the joy of gardening is the ability to purchase newer, better tools, such as the latest and greatest hose, trowel or ergonomically correct spade. Gardeners are inundated each year by dozens of items designed to help complete garden chores more quickly, with less effort and with flair. The following list is by no means complete. These are just a few of the items this garden writer has found helpful, fascinating or simply amusing. For those who would like a little vegetable garden but do not have a yard, AeroGarden has developed a portable hydroponic garden that fits easily on a kitchen counter. Mesclun salad greens can be grown in the kitchen in water and nutrient tablets. Lights remind you to add water and nutrients. Absolutely no gardening skills are needed, there is no mess or weeding involved and it really works. Each seed kit (sold separately) can be harvested for months. This item is truly fun and goof proof. AeroGarden currently sells seeds for salad greens, cherry tomatoes, chili peppers, gourmet herbs, international basil and cascading petunias. Visit www.aerogrow.com to learn more.

The Bionic Garden Glove is very different from the standard version. Created by a hand surgeon, Dr. Jim Kleinert, these are the only gloves endorsed by the Arthritis Foundation. “Every hand is a series of peaks and valleys in the palm,” said Vicki Boisseau, the company’s director of sales and marketing. “The doctor has created padding in the area where these valleys occur to make the hand a more even contact surface. When a motion is repeated over and over again, blisters or calluses can develop when tools bump up against the highest peak on the palm of the hand. The padding helps to prevent this.” General garden bionic gloves are made from washable sheepskin and rose gloves are made of goatskin. Bionic gloves can be purchased online at www.bionicgloves.com and at more than 900 retailers nationwide.

The Down Under Pot, designed by an Australian sculptor, takes ordinary hanging planters to new levels of art—designed so plants grow out the bottom of the pot. Down Under Pots are available in two sizes, glazed or unglazed in several colors. Certain types of plants work especially well with this unusual product. Michelle Kinsman of Kinsman Company in Point Pleasant, Pa. said she loves coleus for colorful leafy displays, and tuberous begonias and impatiens are good choices for flowering plants. Down Under Pots are available at www.kinsmangarden.com.

If you spray your garden, you’ve probably used a myriad of manual sprayers. Many are one season wonders with a tendency to clog and spurt, providing less than stellar results. Battery-powered sprayers, on the other hand, do not require pumping and provide a finer, more even distribution of chemicals. EZ Sprayer has developed a backpack sprayer for the average home garden. Costing less than $140, this sprayer runs for approximately 10 hours before it needs to be recharged. It does weigh in at 20 pounds unfilled, making it a heavy option. If you find this to be a problem, Robbie Tucker of Rosemania suggests use of a portable luggage carrier to wheel the sprayer around the garden. The EZ Sprayer is available at www.rosemania.com.

Marisa Gillen is a member of the Board of Directors of the Philadelphia Rose Society.

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