Home Garden Companion

Ilona's Garden Journal




garden chores

Garden Logistics

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Spring season is always a matter of logistics when you live in a cold climate. In temperate Ohio we go from cold-can’t-do-anything conditions to hot-don’t-want-to-do-anything weather with only a fleeting spring in between. We can count on two months to get soil prepared and everything planted. Some years there may be some earlier breaks and if we don’t mind working very early in the mornings and watering a lot we can plant later; but two months is what a gardener can count on.

Logistics comprise anything from balancing between open weather conditions to time schedules, to physical energy resources. I always seem to complicate that mix of factors (which is more than enough to make a very busy workload) with tromping off on trips hither and yon. (Mostly Atlanta, to visit my kids and grandchildren).

Needless to say, it is a crush of demands to get the garden going for the year.

The earlier you can get a handle on it, the better.

2 of my Weeding Rules

(1)

Weeding is mandatory in the early part of the growing season. Once roots have grasped hold, it is a much harder row to hoe, as the old adage would word it.

I like to approach weeding with a bit by bit, day by day method if I am given opportunity (vacations and trips out of town wield chaos into that plan). But when regular weeding is done, the accumulated labor yields control over the garden. Conversely I can attest to the sad fact that once weeds gain the upper hand, they will make you very sorry you didn’t get them easily while you could.

Weed early and consistently. Or renovate to your remorse.

Each of us has our own set of bugaboos in the garden. Mine are

  • grass
  • poison ivy
  • burdock
  • Canadian thistle
  • honeysuckle shrubs
  • wild Hemlock
  • ground ivy
  • bindweed

Those are just the worst- I don’t even much care about dandelions.

(2)

The right tool for the right job is one part of this rule, and the other part is to minimize areas that need weeding. So I guess that means ,besides learning which tools best handle your weed, is to customize the yard to your efforts (more of that in the next section of this post). Another way to say that is that by controlling our conditions, we increase our ability to manage our problems.

In the garden there are so many ways this works. When we choose between plants that require pruning and those which do not, for example, we control the amount of work as well as the long term effect on the design of the garden.

When creating flower beds that are easy to mow around by shape and by edging, the amount of work is reduced.

Using materials that last for pathways and arbors, giving more space to permanent plantings, less to those which need replacement or constant care…. these are all ways we control the conditions and enable our maintenance chores to become far more manageable.

Tools for the task?

  • If you have long rooted dandelions or Canadian thistle you should use a long tool with a forked end. Large areas can also be forked up to loosen the roothold and plants then pulled.
  • Burdock and others with a root crown can be dug by a shovel at the crown- no need to get the whole root.
  • Grass weeds can be loosened and removed with a claw type of tool.
  • Most weeds can be dug out with a Cape Cod Weeder, which is most useful in tight places where other tools can’t go.

Of course, you might try to “make-do” with one or two tools. I did, for years. The drawback is how much more labor you will expend and how hard on your body that can be.

Here’s my review of my favorite “Cape Cod Weeder“.

How Do Logistics Need To Change?

Gardening for those who stay close to home is different from that for people who travel. Busy day schedules at work? That may mean weekend-only gardening. Life changes, the garden changes, and we must change.

It is hard to reduce gardening efforts, just like any downsizing, but the goal is to make it not just fit into life, and thus remain/return to being one of the joys of life.

I Was A One Man Band

Once I accomplished the entire amount of work in my garden. As the garden and my family grew, members of the family were pressed into service. Now, I’m no longer capable of handling that type of gardening effort and my “work force” dwindled to almost nil. What to do?

Consider These Solutions
  1. Begin removing plants and gardens. Especially those which require more care than you can give them.
  2. Hire help. Easier said than done for many of us.
  3. Change the style of garden.
  4. Acquire more power tools: hedge trimmers, zero-turn mowers, etc.
  5. Neaten things up with more hardscaping. This might require both hiring others and a bigger budget.

Or you can always move. I hate that last idea, but it may be necessary at some point.

Raised Gardens

raised garden bedI have more raised beds now, but they are sometimes troublesome. Weeding removes soils, which have to be topped up. Pathways have been a problem to maintain.

For me, the jury is out on whether they are worth the time and work -but my husband loves building them, if not working in them.

Summing It Up

After all these years I believe that gardening is a matter of loving both the work and beauty of it and adjusting it to one’s own lifestyle. People tend to give up on those things that don’t fit well with the way they live life.

It is a pity to give up on the health benefits of gardening just because one has become too busy for it. Slowing down one’s pace ( another way to say reducing stress), harvesting and eating freshly grown fruits and vegetables, spending time in close contact with the earth, are all part of the gain to be had.

My own garden logistics plan is to realize that my reach had stretched too far to be maintained. What are your plans for the landscape surrounding your home?

A Basic Guide To Essential Garden Tools For Beginners

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What, When, How To Use Garden Tools

Just starting out as a new homeowner? Get the garden tools you need. Tips on which essentials a newbie gardener should buy.

Hint: if it decorates a wall, you aren't using it.
Hint: if it decorates a wall, you aren’t using it. |

What Essential Tools Do I Need to Garden?

There are an array of tools in every garden center and hardware store, and some look like they were dreamed up after eating too late at night.

Every garden magazine touts the merits of the newest and “best” tools, but which ones do you really need? And how do you use the tools to get the best use out of them?

Even seasoned gardeners might still ask themselves these questions, but trial and error give you a sense of what sort of tool you need for your task, and which one you should invest in, first.

Make a list of your common garden tasks and the tools to best accomplish these chores. That is a great way to start figuring which implements to buy.

With an idea of which ones you most need, you can then visit yard sales and auctions, or get end-of-season bargains for a quality upgrade.

On This Page:

  • Read on for more ideas to get the most essential garden tools
  • Find out which tools are best for which job,
  • What to look for in top quality (and when you need top quality).
  • At the end of the page, helpful general gardening advice for beginners,
  • How-to video illustrating how I use a specific trowel for bulb planting.

Tasks And Tools

Common Types of Garden Chores

Digging Cutting Cultivating
Round Point Shovel Loppers Hoes
Nurseryman Shovel Pruning Saw Cape Cod Weeder
Trowel Hand Pruners Hand Claw
Hori Hori Pruning Knife Grass Rake

 

These Are the Basic Implements and the Jobs They Do

You can do most of your gardening with these basics

Trowel

You paid attention to getting a trowel, or making plans to replace that cheap one. Good. Now you are ready to garden in small areas.

Shovel

The next most important purchase you will need is a basic garden shovel.

Because using your leg and your back for digging is much better and more efficient than your hand and wrist… that is where your shovel or digging spade comes in handy.

These two tools were all I used at first, although a good pair of pruners comes close behind these two.

Border Spade?

What is the definition of a great garden spade?

Usually has a squared off blade, shorter D shaped handle, and is used for cutting into the earth and lifting dirt or plant material. It is also called a border spade.

An excellent investment is in a solid steel English border spade, but you don’t have to get anything like that in the beginning unless you really want it.

A decent quality shovel, round with a point is highly versatile. Moderately priced ones with solid hardwood handles, like those made of Ash*, are widely available.

I started with an Union Tools long handled shovel from the hardware store. I still use it, even though I now own one of those English border spades- which I do love.

Shovels move dirt, they dig holes big enough for shrubs and trees, they can cut through pesky, resistant roots if necessary.

Pruning Tools

Third on your list is a good quality pair of pruners, best to moderate quality – depending on whether you will be likely to lose them or leave them in the rain.

If you buy the best quality, like the Felco brand pruners, take care of them. Those secateurs (that is what English gardeners call them) will give you a good cut and last a long time. They will also be better for your hand.

If you lose them or forget them outside for long periods (don’t ask me how I thought about this point), it might be better to buy the moderately priced which you replace every so often.

Know thyself on this one.

I personally like the type that are called the “bypass” rather than the “anvil”. They need to be kept sharp. Bypass blades give a clean cut, while the anvil type crushes the stem.

Weeding Tool

I found the Cape Cod weeder to be very useful in many weeding situations.

These Garden helpers will give years of good service.

Look For: Full Tang

Full tang means the metal portion of the tool, or blade, extends into the full length of the handle.

 

Top is garden border spade; Right is garden rake, garden fork. Middle, Wellie boots and weeding fork. Left is a trowel, secateurs, and far left is nurseryman spade. |

The Most Important Tool

Get a top quality garden trowel. That is all. Not all you need, but the most important tool you need. If it is top quality it won’t break, it won’t annoy you with poor and painful design. It will be a joy to use.

A Top Quality Trowel Is Versatile

This is the one tool you really need. Period.

A great trowel like this one costs much more than the flimsy pressed metal ones at the discount stores, but I can’t stress enough how much a good trowel is worth in terms of comfort, longevity and good gardening experience.

A Trowel:

Preferably good solid forged steel with a strong connection with the handle. Go ahead and pay a bit extra for this one tool, you will not regret it.
This tool will be used for digging, planting, weeding. Those are the main activities in gardening.

If you can find an equal that has been used, good for you! It is the quality and not the age or price that is important.

Are You Happy With Your Trowel?

Do you use a trowel and are you happy with your brand?

See results

How I use my trowel when planting Crocus bulbs

Why Should I Have More Than One Type of Trowel Or Weeding Tool?

I use many styles of weeding tools, hoes, shovels, and trowels. I find each one has particular benefits because I garden so much. It is like those woodworkers who have lots of different shaped tools and saws or artists with numerous types and sizes of brushes.

What to Look for?

Sharpened around the entire blade to slice through dirt, high carbon steel with an ash handle. This is the description of a high quality trowel made by the DeWit company.

I use this one to plant bulbs

Garden Trowel - Stainless Steel 14" Long Works Perfectly for Every Hand Digging Situation. Indestructible. Made in Iowa. Includes a 6" Incised Depth Gauge. Lifetime Guarantee.
Garden Trowel – Stainless Steel 14″ Long Works Perfectly for Every Hand Digging Situation. Indestructible. Made in Iowa. Includes a 6″ Incised Depth Gauge. Lifetime Guarantee.

This is the best buy if you want the most economical choice.

It isn’t expensive, yet it is strong and multi-tasking.

It has sharp edges that can cut through soil or roots. It can weed, The handy depth gauge on the blade helps plant bulbs at the correct depth.

Easy to keep clean, and finally, the bright handle makes it easy to locate if you happen to drop it. I especially like the feature of a brightly colored handle.

 Buy Now

Why Stainless Steel?

Tools are commonly made from aluminum, sometimes from carbon steel, and sometimes from stainless steel. Steel is stronger and holds a good edge, stainless won’t be prone to rust and needs less care, such as oiling.

Buy For The Tasks You Will Need To Do

Leaf rake is imperative for a property with trees. A grass rake would catch the ground constantly and tire you out.

Leaf rake is imperative for a property with trees. A grass rake would catch the ground constantly and tire you out.

The Hori Hori

The Japanese hori hori or weeding knife is an excellent tool to have. The word “Hori” means “to dig”, and this garden knife can cut right through soil -useful for dividing tough perennial roots and transplanting.

The Best All-Purpose Tool To Buy

Japanese Hori Hori Garden Landscaping Digging Tool

Many experts recommend this as one of the best all around useful tools in their toolshed. I like that it can saw through tough roots or clods of soil with its serrated side.

  • Strong enough to leverage weeds out easily.
  • Divides perennials, opens mulch bags… this is one very practical purchase.
  • It can double as a trowel in many ways, although it doesn’t scoop soil.
  • It can replace any other weeder on your list, in a pinch.

Consider this choice before investing in a large number of different weeding tools.

Equipment For Chores

What about rakes, hoes, and water hoses?

Or wheel barrows, hedge clippers, loppers, edgers and things like that?

It depends on your space and your tasks, so let’s look over these circumstances.

Rakes

If you have grass clippings, fallen leaves in the autumn, and jobs like that a leaf rake is needed. Whether you want something heavy duty or lightweight is up to you. One tip: if kids are helping rake the leaves: get the heavy duty type.

Garden rakes have thick short steel tines, and are arranged straight across the bar, rather than fanned out like the leaf rake. They catch in the grass and are used to smooth out bare soil in the cultivated garden. That is what you do before you plant grass or vegetable seeds. Are you going to be trying to accomplish those tasks? Buy both kinds of rakes, they really aren’t interchangeable.

Hoes.

My goodness, there are a wide array of these. My favorite is a D shaped shuffle hoe, but if you are using one for breaking up soil in the vegetable garden then old fashioned garden hoe is useful. The shuffle hoe gets weeds right below the surface of the soil. Either one is useful but for weeding rows I like the shuffle hoe.

Water Hose

You do need at least one water hose, and a spray attachment , especially if you like to have planters filled with annuals on your patio or porch. A watering can is fine, but it can be very cumbersome to water a garden in a Midwestern drought, or on a hot day. I realize that many yards have irrigation systems, but I still think a hose is useful for most gardeners.

Weeding Tool

There are a myriad tools for this basic task and they are very useful. I like the Cape Cod Weeder and the “Yard Butler”. Many like the “Cobra Head”. There is the tried and true Asparagus knife. Each has its expertise in certain types of weeding, but if you get one or two that should suffice, and remember, even though it isn’t specialized for the task, the trusty trowel works just fine to remove weeds.

Garden Cart

I like a wheelbarrow, but you can also use a child’s wagon for double duty if you have one.

Loppers

A lopper is very useful, and I think the beginning gardener needs one. It keeps shrubs in order, and removes small branches from ornamental trees. Like a large pruner in use and shape. Pruners are always important to own, but a lopper will reach deeply into shrubbery, tree branches overhead, and cut down large diameter weeds (like pokeweed or Lonicera bushes).

Hedging Shears

Hedging shears are fine for shaping evergreens, etc. Not necessary probably, but I think they are pretty basic. You will want a pair of shears sooner or later for shaping up bushes and many perennials. If you have a large amount of hedge, invest in power hedge shears.

Edger

A shovel can be used to edge your flower beds and sidewalks, but an edger does the job more neatly and with less work.

After you have an arsenal of the most basic tools, take a look at many of things that make gardeners happy!

DeWit Makes My Favorite Weeder

 

 

The Most Important Tool To Have High Quality

The tool I think most needs to be of high quality:

See results

You Can Be Frugal

Frugal is good. I like to buy the more expensive tools at the end of the season when stores mark down their gardening supplies and equipment. Another way to save money is to frequent garage sales and estate sales for their used tools. Take care of your tools once you have bought them, oil them at the end of the season and hang them on a rack to keep them out of the way and organized. it’s not frugal if they rust and are lost in the yard. Consider a tool shed to safely store your investment.

Best Basic Pruning Tools

Pruners – what is the difference?

Of the two main types of pruning shears, one is an anvil and and the other is a bypass.

Which is for you?

Anvil pruners have one blade which closes onto a flat surface.

Bypass blades are like scissors, with two blades passing each other.

Experts consider the anvil type better for most homeowner chores.

I’ve used both types and either one is useful for smaller pruning jobs, I would use a different tool, the lopper, for larger branches.

The Most Useful, Best Secateurs

Serious gardeners will want to invest in a high quality pair of pruners. Most of the garden bloggers I know use Felco brand because it is well made and does the intended job with ease.

A well made pruning shear is easier on your hand and less tiring to use, additionally it will hold a good edge, and the working parts will last.

This is one of the most important tools in the gardeners collection. A pruning shear can trim small branches, cut rose and raspberry canes, and shape shrubs, or even  deadhead spent blooms, in a pinch.

Look For: Ergonomic

Ergonomic means the tool is “body friendly” and works with the way your body naturally works.

U. of Nebraska Garden Tool Advice

You could find the Yard Butler very useful – Decide which chores you will do, buy the tools for them

The type of tasks needed for a garden filled with shrubs and perennials differs from one filled with rows of annuals and seasonal vegetables. Shrubs need shaping with pruning tools, perennials need garden forks for divisions, and a vegetable garden may need one or more hoes.

The “Yard Butler” is a type of mattock, and very useful in my opinion. One side chops up ground like a hoe,  cuts off weeds at the surface, or you can pry them out of the ground. The alternate side is a “claw” type of weeder and is great for removing pesky grasses from the flower beds.

Hoeing action on one side with cultivating action on the other! This tool has some heft to it and makes quick work of tough roots. It can chop through stubborn taproots or turn soil over, pull up grass roots and loosen soil quickly.

If you have clay soil like I do, it’s usefulness is inestimable.

Good Beginner Books – for novice gardeners

Try the book, ‘Beginner’s Illustrated Guide to Gardening‘, to get started with a great garden and the necessary skills- begin building a resource library that you will refer to many times over the years.

With all the great internet information who needs books? You do, if you want something right at your fingertips. I get to know my books like old friends.

Your Buying Choices

Where do you buy your tools?

  • I buy new at the store.
  • I buy used, at garage sales and eBay
  • I buy new online
  • I borrow tools that others buy.

Gardening Tools 101

  • Garden Tools You Really Need
    Gardening tools, buying the tools you really need, from spade to rake and beyond.Garden tools list and consumer tips.

 

WHICH TOOL WILL YOU NEED? – DID YOU FIND ONE TOOL THE MOST USEFUL? TELL US ABOUT IT.

More for me than you, Garden Planning

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I haven’t surfed garden blogs in forever, it seems. But today was different and I garnered some great ideas that I hope to put to work for me this year. We’ll see. It all depends on both how diligent I am and how much traveling I need to do. (Since I am the sole gardener, traveling can really put a wrench into my gardening plans).

OK. Idea #1

Growing a blue garden phlox called ‘Moody Blues’. This and the next idea come from Sue’s Garden Journal.

blue phlox
I am not always super successful with this type of phlox, but I would love to see these blooms in my garden.

Next. Idea #2

Planting the ends of my vegetable beds with flowers. I already plant flowers along with my vegetables (I can’t help it, it is an obsession). The look of neat little ends is tempting to me. I snipped a picture of how it looks in her garden and a homemade graphic of how I envision mine.

Notes about Sue’s Garden

She’s a more ambitious and a neater gardener than I can be at this time of my life. I note from my own experience that the stone edging is pretty, but needs weeding attention. The whole reason I like this idea is that I often have to weed the perimeters of the raised beds. A problem made worse by chickens who like to scratch in the mulch ( an idea which originally was meant to reduce weeding).

Not sure what I would do about those chickens, but the edges facing the lawn (necessary because the septic system is underneath) and house would be laced with flowers. This would not only look pretty, but draw pollinators, and fill in vulnerable spaces with desirable plants. Any area filled with desirables is less space for the UNdesirables. I love the way her garden mixes flowers and vegetables.

My vision:

Vision of idea
Vision of idea

My vision is similar, but without the fieldstone. I think I will need something, but not sure what. old fence boards (cut to size) laid flat could work. I’ve used salvaged brick in other parts of the garden.

I like the the thought of the boards, but not totally convinced. The flowers I would most like to see in this picture are the little single Tagetes (Marigolds). They would serve double duty as nematode controls, hopefully.

If I am to gain control of this garden in the new season, weeding and preparation will have to be aggressive in the earliest part of the Spring that I can work the soil.

What I like about this idea is that it cooperates with the situation I already have:

  • raised beds
  • mulched paths
  • mown grass

I do admit that two of the raised beds on the side need to be recovered from weeds. One was mostly reprocessed this past fall, but the bed with strawberries is more of a challenge.

 

Idea #3

You may remember my front walk ‘lavender hedge‘? Well, after reading an ode to the fragrance of lavender plants, an idea was sparked for me.

I have a raised planting area along the back deck approach. Nothing grows there. Not mint, nothing. I think it is too dry for what I attempted to grow. So, this year I will try herbs which like dry feet, lavender to be precise; and maybe a rosemary just to see if it will survive.

Those are my humble ideas for the garden this spring.

New plans for a garden don’t have to be unique or cutting edge trendy. They may simply be a good solution for a particular problem, or inclusion so something that has proven pleasing elsewhere.

I remember reading an English garden writer years ago, it may have been Margery Fish or it may have not. The point was made that some flowers can be perfectly suited for planting even though they were spurned by the garden world cognoscente. Such blooms as lobelia, pelargoniums, alyssum, and petunias. It made a lot of sense to me: why should we be plant snobs?

Late Winter Is Time To Prune

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Best Time To Prune

Visualizing how to cut tree branches

If we get a break in the weather (which we will, eventually), it will be ideal time to get the pruning tools out and clean up winter damage, trim out fruit trees, and cut back many clematis vines.

Those that bloom on new wood are prime candidates for pruning, although those which are scrubby looking, like quince bushes or other shrubs benefit from some pruning. I know we are supposed to wait until after bloom on many of our shrubs, but I have had some problems with some of them, and when a tree or shrub is dormant is one of the best times to prune, no matter when the bloom time.

That is my opinion anyway. Then there are situations such as my Pyracantha. It blooms in the spring and berries in the fall, but its growth gets out of hand, so to keep it in bounds, I may have to lose one or the other, and I simply have to shape it.

February/March, when I am doing the work anyway (tools out, bucket of water with bleach, proper clothing, etc) seems to be as good a time as any.

What Tools To Use?

The Essentials

I always grab my bypass pruning shears, or secateurs as the British wisely call them (‘shears’ could be a number of tools). Usually, if trees or big shrubs are on the agenda, the loppers and a pruning saw is included.
I have learned the hard way to have a bucket of water with some bleach added for sterilizing between cuts… mostly between different plants, so not to spread disease.
I always use garden gloves, unlike in my youth. That way, I won’t be afraid to grab thorny stems, gather up lots of shrubs, or even the occasional poison ivy.
No worries about poison ivy in the dormant season, though, which is another reason to use this time to clean up the tree and shrub areas during these months.
A cart or wheel barrow to gather together the removed branches etc.

Nice Non-Essentials

Sometimes a garden tote is handy for keeping tools together.
Those are the basics… specialized instruments in the garden are part of an arsenal that a gardener eventually accumulates is often part of the later forays into the garden.
I use hedge shears, sometime’s garden snips, and one tool I have never used, but believe would be highly useful is a pruning knife. Might buy one this year.

How To Prune?

Someone once said certain activities are best described by viewing an example than by describing with words or illustrations. I think pruning is one of those. I might make my own video (just because there are some gizmos I can’t wait to try out), but today you can watch a few I dug up for you .

Pruning Videos

 

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Visit Ilona’s Garden Journal on facebook: Click here
© 2015 written for Ilona’s Garden Journal by Ilona E. An excellent blog.

Winter Arrived Early

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Blustery Day, Past Year’s Losses

Today is briefly warmer and blustery with high winds and rain, but it is more like a January thaw than the beige autumn Indian summer that we might normally expect.

I don’t know that there is a clear sense of “normal” in our gardens anymore. Still, the patterns of the seasons are not so far off that they would be unrecognizable.

 

Ignore those weeds…. I do

The winds have blown the dawdling leaves off the trees, so I asked my helpers (grown children) to rake up the yard again. The Red Oak still is loathe to let go of his leaves. Despite the fact that part of a gutter and a large branch from a Norway spruce was blown loose.

Nothing compared to the damage from past wind storms which emptied out the Arborvitae of many of its branches, or the bagworm infestation which destroyed a younger Arborvitae elsewhere in the yard. Then there was the peach which blew over this summer, and the Japanese maples which died, and the top part of the Hinoki cypress which was lost. It is still unsure whether this favorite dwarf evergreen will make it through this winter.

So many garden troubles in the past few years.

 

Oops, there goes the gutter pipe

There is still garden work to do if I can catch a break. Like trimming the pyracantha from the window, weeding and cleaning up the driveway beds- they look a mess! Still, the exchange between an organized life inside and a “Better Homes and Gardens” yard is worth it.
Actually, though, I wish I could manage it all.

“Maybe next year”, I say to myself once again.

Nasty Stinkbugs

One of the new normals in my area is the additions of stinkbugs to the previous years influx of Japanese beetles, and prior to that the invasion of Asian ladybugs, and we mustn’t forget the notorious Emerald borers. These are the norm for us now, and so I read up on how to control the Brown Marmorated Stinkbug.

Turns out I have the ideal environment for them. I grow tomatoes and some years have been less than tidy in how I leave my garden. That needs to change.

I also have apples, including a self seeded MacIntosh type that drops apples in the backyard. Now I will have to be assiduous about cleaning up the leavings of those, as well as messy landscape leaves around the foundation of the house. All those places are a drawing card for an infestation.

The bug I found on my lampshade? Carefully scooped onto a napkin, carried outside the door and unceremoniously squashed with the handle of the handy snow shovel.

Just as a warning for other lurkers looking to come into the house from that avenue.

We must adjust to new challenges all the time in life, and the garden is a powerful teacher of such lessons.

 Changing The Subject

I am transitioning to the celebration of the Christmas holidays. Way behind schedule, of course, but ahead of where I usually am by this time.
Still cleaning- I had hoped to be done by Thanksgiving, but that doesn’t look possible.
I brought out all the Christmas decor and am sorting through to decide what goes where. We stuck a few of the outside lights around the lantern, but I need to get something on the front porch. We usually wait until the weather is freezing and the tape won’t stick (sometime about the second week of December). I was really hoping to avoid that this year.
To get in the festive mood,  I wrote a little post on Christmas Greenery. Wanted to get out to the stores to snap some pictures of seasonal garlands and bunches of evergreens, but that will have to be added later. Still it turned out to be a nice page and did the trick: I am officially in the mood to decorate.
Also working on a Christmas projects page, but not nearly done with that yet.
No, I’m not rushing the season. A nice celebration takes preparation. My grandparents made Christmas fruitcakes for gifting in October. I think we forget how the past was full of preparations for the coming seasons.
I don’t make fruitcake- only my Dad and I ate it, and my hips aren’t lying when I say that I should not have any extra calories!
Well, that is enough chit-chat for now… if I want to write more of that stuff I should get a newsletter out!

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Visit Ilona’s Garden Journal on facebook: Click here
© 2014 written for Ilona’s Garden Journal by Ilona E. An excellent blog.

The Down And Dirty Weeding Tool List

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The Bare Essentials

Some essentials when brand new
I’ve done a lot of tweeting and writing about weeding this season. There are a couple of reasons for that including the unusually wonderful weather (from my perspective, anyway), and my desire to have my yard look like I actually garden, despite many trips to visit the children and grandchildren.
The weather: It has been a cool summer with plenty of rain. That means everything stayed in growth mode and I was able to continue working outside. When heat and humidity skyrocket I hide in my airconditioned room ( we have 1) and write.
The desire: For years I said I would declutter and renovate my gardens. This has been the year it is happening.
So I thought that would record in my blog the essential tools I drag around with me when doing a marathon of weeding. I have many, many specialized weeding tools, but there are a few that are the most useful for certain jobs.

Before The List

Weather conditions make a difference in how easy it is to tackle certain weeds. Some are best hoed out when the days are hot and dry, others pull easiest after a rain, some cling to clay soil that is damp. Take notes on times when weeding is easiest in your garden. Days been dry and sunny? Grass pulls out easier, small weeds are best scuffle hoed (cut just below the surface). Rain yesterday? Many roots are loosening and can more easily be pulled.

The List Of Best Weeding Tools

weeding tool
Cape Cod Weeder, for right handed people.
  1. Almost always, I want my Cape Cod Weeder . It is wonderful for tight spaces between plants or cracks in the walk, etc. sharp blade makes quick work of dislodging roots.
  2. Garden gloves are  more important to me than I ever realized. I have many pairs now, and can grab thistles, rose canes, and grub out hand pulled weeds better than I  possibly could if without them.
  3. I keep bypass pruners close by, and if I think I will have to grub out an overlooked Mulberry tree- I have loppers with me. but always haul along a cutting tool of some sort. Have poke weed? Cut the cane off at the ground level.
  4. Nurseryman spade. Admittedly I don’t always grab this particular tool, but if I don’t I usually end up going back to the shed for it. Any shovel will do, but a narrow Nurseryman spade will work better in perennial beds and get just the roots you wish to dislodge. This is best for removing Burdock, and other deeply rooted weeds. Simply scoop out the crown of the Burdock- no need to get all of the taproot.
  5. Dutch hoe is a hand hoe that works like the big one, but with more finesse and sharp tip can hack out stubborn weeds. When I don’t need the Cape Cod-der for tight spaces I often go for the Dutch hoe. (Seen in the beginning photo).
  6. Weeding Adze which is sometimes called other names, is the best for large areas of deeply entrenched weeds. The claw end pries, while the blade edge cuts. A most efficient combo.
  7. Dandelion Weeder  might seem specialized, but this narrow, strong tool with the little fork at the tip is a whiz at sliding down alongside taproots and levering them out without disturbing the neighbors.

For Clean-up

Garden Carts and Rakes

I try to keep the garden cart and a leaf rake nearby, so that when finished with the mad weeding I can tidy up right then and there. If put off, a pile of weeds can smother grass, and it delays the feeling of satisfaction from getting your flower beds all cleared away.

What I Did Today: Cleaned and Sharpened My Tools

Every once in awhile you need to take care of your tools to keep them in good working order, especially cutting tools.
After viewing some tutorials (yes, my Dad taught me how to sharpen tools, but I needed a refresher), I followed some of the advice. Today I got out the isopropyl alcohol to clean off the blades, and used a Bastard file to sharpen my loppers, pruners, and hedge shears.
The alcohol cleaned the surface and sterilized the edges, the file sharpened the edges quickly. I simply followed the manufacturers edge to know where to sharpen.
It made a world of difference in the pruning and trimming results.

Another thing that is new for my gardening this summer was a solution for my most hated garden task: watering during hot and dry periods. Sure, this is not the year which best tests my new found FAV garden tool, but I am ready for those years when the weather is more normal with late summer droughts. I loved it so much I couldn’t wait to write a review on it. Enough suspense…what is it? One of those “advertised on TV” garden hoses that are so light that even wimpy, aging me is able to water the containers and the borders with ease. I am so happy!

I had a review for the Flexable Pocket Garden Hose, but though I loved my first one, they proved to be short-lived . They aren’t very expensive, and the amount of grief and work it saves is worth it. How long do they last? I found that the first one lasted for two seasons, but the replacement only lasted a few weeks.

What does this have to do with weeding tools you ask? Well, consider this: when trying to pull out those unwanted plants from dry hard ground or soft moist earth… which is easier? Yes. You may wish to add the humble garden hose to your list of “weeding tools”.

Do you have tips to share? How do you handle pesky “garden thug” plants or what way do you sharpen your tools?

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© 2014 written for Ilona’s Garden Journal by Ilona E. An excellent blog.