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I wish I had had one of these when I was planting my own bulbs. It is slow going with a trowel in hard soil but this could have made all the difference. — Douglas
Last spring Mr. Much More Patient looked out the window at our still-gray landscape and asked why we didn’t have more daffodils. They are a good bulb to grow here because no critters will touch them. Still, I don’t want to add too many more to the gardens, as keeping them healthy requires leaving the foliage standing to die back naturally, and I don’t love that look in my garden. (In fact I often cut off the leaves before I should, knowing full well this will affect their life span.) But we do have a lot of wooded areas that are quite bright in spring and would look lovely with some color. And I’d never have to worry about the foliage looking tatty.
So I told Mr. Much More Patient we could have mass quantities of daffodils if he didn’t balk at the cost and would agree to help plant them.
And that’s how we ended up planting 400 daffodils this week.
This article had me lusting for many of the weeding hoes listed. Yikes there are some nice ones and I can imagine using any of them in my garden. I have one at the moment and it is my favorite weeding tool, but a few more wouldn’t hurt, Right?
Which one is your favorite? Check out the article and let me know! –Douglas
For the gardener in your life. Everyone who spends time in the garden needs a way of returning fertility to the soil whether they are growing food or flowers. A good composter is a great way to do just that.
We picked up this Yimby Tumbler Composter last June and, so far, it is holding up very well. It is showing no signs of wear and seems to be producing better compost more quickly than our more traditional bins. For us, having the bin above the ground, also helps to keep out any critters that might be looking for a tasty treat. Here is a video of us assembling the composter, which was fairly easy, if a bit time consuming.
Whether re-using existing cattle troughs or purchasing purpose-built troughs, this is a great way to create a raised bed garden that not only looks great, but also makes gardening accessible to those with mobility issues. I have also seen these trough placed on carts or wheels so that they can be easily moved or used as movable privacy fencing.
(See the end of this post for information on how to enter to win today)Get your garden started right this year with a Parrot Flower Power sensor!
Parrot has been very gracious and sent me Flower Power garden sensors to give away to 2 lucky readers/viewers of A Gardener’s Notebook. I have been using my own Flower Power to monitor plants in my garden and found it to be an amazing device.
Parrot Flower Power: An incredible sensor that assesses your plants’ needs and sends alerts to your smartphone
Flower Powercommunicates to your smartphone or tablet using Bluetooth and reports on:
Moisture levels
Fertilizer levels
Temperature
Sunlight
You can tell the Flower Power which specific plant you are monitoring and whether it is growing in your garden soil or in a container, and it will make intelligent recommendation and provide alerts when the conditions are not optimal. The built-in Plant Database contains thousands of plants to choose from.
Planters as sculpture: handmade clay vessels from Belgian-based Atelier Vierkant function as art for the garden.
In the US, the planters—which “explore the possibilities of organic minimalism in form and surface texture”— are available from Interieurs, the newly opened Avenue Road in New York, and at Outdoor Therapy in Coral Gables, Florida. To see the full range, go to Atelier Vierkant.
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