Danny Lipford

Spring Lawn and Garden Contest Winner

Thu, 22 May 2008 16:42:28 +0000

Our Spring ’Stravaganza Lawn and Garden Giveaway was a big hit with over 2,000 entries! The lucky winner of a cornucopia of lawn and garden gadgets was Angela Watson of North Richland Hills, Texas. Congratulations Angela! This month we’re going all out by giving away a Cub Cadet Riding Mower worth $2,699. Enter by June 15th 2008. Who knows, you could be our next big winner!

Portable Potting Bench / Garden Cart

Fri, 07 Dec 2007 20:51:52 +0000

If you spend a lot of time gardening, you know how handy a potting bench can be. Not only does it give you a convenient place to work with your plants, it also keeps the inevitable mess that goes with it confined to one spot.

Our potting bench has the added advantage of being portable. The wheels on the front and handles on the back allow you to move it outside when the weather is nice then store it out of the way in the garage when not in use.

For simplicity and durability, the bench was constructed entirely from 1” x 4” pressure treated pine. After cutting the sides of the top frame to length, a jigsaw was used to notch the end of the handles to make them easy to grip. The sides were then attached to the cross members with corrosion resistant screws to form a sturdy frame for the top.

A tray for gardening tools runs the width of the top while a five-gallon bucket mounted next to it can be used to store potting soil or fertilizer. A second frame was assembled to form the base, which also doubles as a storage area.

Once the two frames had been built, the legs were screwed to them. Boards were then screwed to the frames to form the top and storage rack, and a removable panel, held together from underneath by a brace, was installed in the top to cover the bucket.

After sanding off the rough edges and mounting the wheels to the base, our bench was ready for some serious gardening. You can build the potting bench from our plans (Top, Side, End).

Materials needed:

105 liner feet pressure treated 1” x 4” pine
2 – 8” wheels attached with axle or bolts
1 – 5 gallon plastic bucket
Assorted screws

Cutting List for Potting Bench

(All materials are 1”x4” pressure treated pine)

Top:
Top Frame Sides	2 – 59 ½”
Top Frame Cross Members	4 – 22 ½”
Top Frame End	1 – 24”
Tray Bottom	1 – 22 ½”
Top Slats (outer)	4 – 46”
Top Slats (middle, long)	2 – 33”
Top Slats (middle, bucket)	2 – 13”
Bucket Slat Brace	1 – 11”

Base:
Bottom Frame Side Rails	2 – 46”
Bottom Frame Cross Members	4 – 22 ½”
Bottom Tray Sides	2 – 44 ½”
Bottom Tray End	1 – 24”
Bottom Tray Slats	5 – 46”

Legs:
Legs (rear)	2 – 33 ¼”
Legs (front)	2 – 31 ¼”

Spending A Day in the Garden

Mon, 11 Jun 2007 17:00:25 +0000

It used to be that gardening was a hobby. It was a pleasant way to spend a lazy afternoon by enjoying the sunshine, fresh air and the self-proclamation of being a green thumb. Soon, gardening became a competition as you kept up with the Joneses vying for the coveted Yard of the Month sign. Today, it’s practically become survival of the fittest since much of the country is facing drought conditions and water rationing.

The good news is that you can take the stress of gardening back down to the hobby level with all the cool new tools designed specifically for today’s gardener. A lot of home and garden centers will have yard tools, but not all of them are going to make yard work simple. Here are some really cool tools that, not only do the job, but make your day in the garden a walk in the park.

You would think that gloves are a necessity, but not everyone like to wear gloves. Here’s a great alternative. Gardener’s Armor from the Duluth Trading Company is a specially-designed lotion that will protect your hands from bugs, poison ivy and other garden nasties. It forms a protective barrier on your skin to block the ill-effects of poison ivy, poison oak and sumac. It keeps insects from biting and it also prevents any garden chemicals from absorbing into your pores. Plus, the barrier it forms will make washing your hands easier. A 4 oz. bottle costs $12.50 and will provide about 100 applications.

Less is more when it comes to toting around garden tools. Here’s a really cool item I found from Ames True Temper. It’s called the 7-in-1 Planter’s Buddy and, as the name implies, it has seven functions in this single hand tool. It has a really heavy gauge stainless steel blade to be used as a trowel; a serrated edge for cutting bags of potting soil, mulch or fertilizer; the tip is notched for weeding with ease; the other edge is a sharpened blade for cutting sod; the same edge has a V-notch perfect for cutting twine; the handle end is a solid poly composition that can be used as a tamper to tamp down wood stakes, markers and fertilizer spikes; and, finally, the blade and handle are marked in one-inch increments for easy measuring of distance when putting in plants. It runs $14.99 and it’s available at Home Depot, Lowes and True Value.

Another new design is the CobraHead Weeder, again from Duluth Trading Company, with a unique design that slices through the toughest soil like a tractor pulling a cultivator. It’s sharpened and honed on both sides, zinc-coated steel and practically unbreakable. Really fun to use, too. Only costs $24.50.

Keeping with the idea of making work easier, here’s a comfortable way to work in the yard without all the strain on your lower back and knees. This is the Comfort Garden Kneeler I picked up at The Home Depot (www.homedepot.com) for only $39.00. It has an adjustable height padded seat, soft cushioned kneeling pads, folds up for quick storage and is very lightweight. The nice thing is that I don’t use this just in the garden. It’s perfect for camping trips, too!

Every gardener has a pump-up sprayer. Those are pretty simple to use, but here’s something even simpler. Ryobi has long been known for their cordless power tools. Well, they took the idea of a garden sprayer and attached one of their battery packs to create this cordless motorized sprayer, so you don’t even have to pump it up any more. It will spray chemicals, cleaning agents and stains, so it’s perfect for the garden. You can pick it up at Home Depot for just under $30.

If you’re doing a lot of gardening, you have to have a garden cart. What makes this one unique is how easy it is to dump a load of topsoil or fertilizer. This is a dumping cart from Vigoro and it’s a smaller version of a cart they already made, so it’s perfect for home use. This is also a Home Depot item and it costs just $59.99.

Two more items that you should put on your gardener’s wish list is this portable garden center from Backyard Gear. Not only is it a convenient tool caddy, but it includes a fold away sink for cleaning tools, vegetables, hands, etc. It even has a paper towel holder. You have to order this on the Internet, but you can find it on Home Depot’s site and it costs $140.00. The sink, by the way, operates by hooking it directly to your water hose. Once you’re done gardening for the day, the garden center rolls out of the way for quick and easy storage. The next item will get the hose out of the way without you having to roll it up yourself.

The Reel Smart will automatically rewind your garden hose using nothing more than water pressure. There are a lot of hose reels on the market, but this new design means the size is only about one-fifth the size of others. You can pick one up at the Home Depot for only $69.90.

Watch the segment on CBS The Early Show’s website.

Potting Wheel

Fri, 02 Feb 2007 20:12:33 +0000

A lazy susan comes in handy when potting or trimming a plant. Partially fill the pot with soil and set it on the lazy susan. Position your plants and slowly spin the lazy susan as you finish topping off the soil. When trimming plants, you can easily cut with one hand while carefully turning with the other. This technique would also work when decorating or painting pots.

Golf Bag Tool Caddy

Thu, 19 Oct 2006 18:14:08 +0000

If you waste time and energy running back and forth from the garden to the shed for tools and garden supplies, use an old golf bag and cart to “caddy” both long- and short-handled garden tools. Putting the long-handled tools in the various slots keeps the tools separated for easy access. The zipper compartments are great for small tools and supplies, such as pruning shears, string and cutting tools.

Screed Board

Wed, 12 Jul 2006 17:27:58 +0000

Whether you’re creating a brick landing for a new set of steps or forming a small brick path, the trick is to get a nice sub surface to support the bricks. You’ll need a nice smooth surface but also one with a consistent depth, otherwise some bricks may be higher or lower than others creating a tripping hazard. To create a smooth surface create a screed (the same tool concrete finishers use to smooth out concrete). We used a section of 1×4 with a small strip of wood screwed to the back. The distance from the bottom of the strip of wood to the bottom of the screed is the thickness of the brick less about a 1/4″. Your strip of wood should be long enough to extend over the edges of your form while the 1×4 should be short enough to fit inside the form. Run your screed board over the crushed stone/sand along the formwork edges to smooth the surface.

Tree Circles

Sat, 01 Jul 2006 18:21:25 +0000

For a professional finish around trees planted in the lawn, loop a rope around the tree trunk and the shaft of a spade. Adjust the length so that the spade reaches to the drip line of the tree. Scribe the outline of a circle, then remove the rope and retrace the circle, sinking the spade vertically to make a neat, clean edge. Remove the turf under the tree and cover the area with mulch. You’ll need to neaten the edge every year or so.

Tool Clean

Fri, 02 Jun 2006 18:06:25 +0000

Maintaining your metal garden tools is important. Tools that have become rusty probably haven’t been cleaned at the end of the day. Brush off all dirt and debris and make sure the surfaces of the tools are dry before you store them. By simply adding a little lubricant to the edges and surfaces of your loppers, trowels and shovels and then wiping them with a soft cloth you can help prevent the surfaces from rusting. To further prevent your gardening tools from rusting prepare a bucket of sand and then add a small amount of oil (motor oil) so that the sand changes slightly in color. Storing your metal tools in the sand mixture will keep them from rusting.

Posthole Depth Marker

Tue, 30 May 2006 16:24:07 +0000

A simple, easy way to measure postholes as you dig them is to mark 6-inch graduations up the handle of your posthole diggers (a permanent marker is ideal for the job). A similar approach works well for a shovel handle; only here you can measure from the handle end instead of the blade end so you can invert the tool to measure as you go.

Bare Root Tree

Thu, 25 May 2006 01:25:31 +0000

Certain times of the year nurseries will have bare root trees such as fruit trees and roses. Late winter and early spring are great times to find and purchase these. The nursery will typically have them in wood chips which need to be completely removed before planting so that they do not rob the tree of nutrients. Simply dig the necessary hole, create a mound of dirt and place the bare root tree on the mound of dirt so that it has a place to sit. Mix soil with compost and fill in. The tree will need to be level with the existing ground and then staked to keep standing up.