Tag Archive for: Gardening

Tools to be a Better Gardener

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Garden Tools

by Sandy Swegel Photo of the bbbseed $25 gift card.

Today I’ve been thinking about how the garden tools I use have made me a better gardener. I have spent a lot of money over the years on tools that break or tools that seemed clever but end up unused. I garden at least twenty hours a week for other people, so my tools need to be effective and efficient as well as durable. 

(Keep these in mind if you are trying to figure out a good holiday or birthday gift for a gardener friend or relative!  One of these and a great gift card for seeds is sure to be useful and welcome!)

My Must-Have Garden Tools include:


Good Hand Pruners naturally. Felco pruners are great if you can afford them. A sharp edge is the more important feature of hand pruners and you need a high-end pruner that does have cheapo soft metal that dulls the first time you use it. I like Felcos, but Corona and Fiskars both have high-end pruners that are good. For my use, I need a replaceable blade because no matter how much you sharpen, at some point you need a fresh blade. I have hand pruners in two sizes…a smaller pair for perennial maintenance because they are lighter weight and a larger pair for shrubs, roses and trees. Last year Costco had a great deal on a generic version of Felcos in a two-pack.

A Soil Knife. The original name of this tool was a hori-hori knife and my first one came right from Japan. Now I like the bright orange soil knife from AM Leonard. The plastic resin handle holds up better than wood and the bright orange is easier to find when I lose it. You have to be careful of the extremely sharp edges (one side serrated and one side flat) but this is my combo trowel, weed digger, shovel, a garden tool for dividing perennials, etc.
Fiskars Power Gear Bypass Lopper 15 or 18 inches. I love the Fiskars PowerGear line. They really do give you more power per effort than any other lopper. I use the smaller loppers the most because they are lightweight and because they fit more easily between dense branches.

Black and Decker cordless (18V) sweeper. They don’t call this a vac because it’s not strong enough for big piles of leaves…but it’s the perfect quick cleanup at the end of working in the garden whether you’re “sweeping” a path or blowing debris lightly off of rock mulch. I also use it to sweep my kitchen floor.

Milwaukee Sawzall pruning blade. This vicious jagged blade is one of the secret weapons that let me do the work of your average 20-year-old male landscaper. Perfect for cutting trees or cutting right in the soil through old roots.

Mini Shovel and Mini Mattock Pickaxe. OK, laugh if you want, my friends do….but then they go out and get these mini tools when they see how much work they let me do. They are the same tools the aforementioned 20-year olds use in full-sized versions, but lightweight enough for me to use without ruining my rotator cuff, a common gardening injury. I use both while kneeling in the soil up close and personal to my job. Don’t get a wimpy camping pick or a garden pick made of thin metal…get the real thing in the hardware store.

Those tools and a colorful TubTrug or two, (those bendable colorful garden buckets that are worth every nickel) and you’ll find yourself able to work faster and stronger in the garden without trying too hard.

Survive the Heat

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Help Your Plants Escape the Heat

by Sandy Swegel

It’s hot hot hot here in Colorado and to make it worse, smoke from the wildfires out of control has caused local authorities to issue “stay indoors” advisories.  We’re all suffering, plants especially since they can’t get up and come inside away from the heat and particulate pollution.  How can we help our plants survive the heat when they are stressed?

Don’t overwater.  A little extra water is good now, especially since air humidity is almost nonexistent, but you can easily kill your plants with overwatering.  Droopy leaves can also mean intense air heat, not just lack of water in the soil.  Put your finger in the soil to see if it is really dry before you water again.

Recognize Heat Stress.  The easiest way to recognize heat stress in plants is to wait until after it is cool in the evening.  If the plant perks up and stands tall again, you have confirmation that the plant was droopy because it was trying to conserve water loss to evaporation.

Make Some Shade.  It can easily be 15 degrees cooler in the shade.  You can make some temporary shade for your plants with shade cloth, row cover or burlap.  If you have coffee roasting companies near you, they usually have lots of free burlap coffee bags.  Last year my neighbor had enough row cover for one section of peas.  Those peas produced for another two weeks, while the uncovered peas just went to seed.

Mist mid-day.  Another neighbor has magnificent salad greens throughout much of the summer and says it’s because she waters/mists every day at 1 pm.  Just like in the grocery produce section, little misters come on for two minutes and cool everything down.  Scientifically, I know that humidity is gone quickly and misting should only work if you do it every hour, but her greens are pretty amazing.

Be More Vigilant for Pests.  Any stress such as heat on a plant makes them more susceptible to pests.  Keep an eye out for more pests than usual.  Hosing aphids off gives the plant and the gardener a little more humidity.

Mulch, if needed.  A couple inches straw or grass clippings will hold water in the soil and cool the roots.  If you didn’t mulch earlier, now is a good time to start.

Check containers to see if they needed to be watered twice a day.

Protect the gardener.  Drinks lots of water.  Getting dehydrated is easy and the gardener needs a clear head so he/she can take care of the garden. Wear hats and sunscreen.  And now in Colorado, wear a dust mask to prevent inhaling too much smoke from fires 90 miles away.