Great hints, and you mention a few new ones for me. I can add one to your hint for not attracting bees - don't wear blue. My mother told me that bees are attracted to blue flowers, and I found out the hard way that they are also attracted to blue clothing. One day I was chased by a bee who seemed to be after my blue hairband. I had been cleaning a bed that contained a russian sage in full bloom that was covered with bees. I was ignoring them and they were ignoring me, until one became interested and followed me from the bed and eventually stung my hand. I probably had intruded upon his business, and the blue hairband had nothing to do with it. But, I'm a bit more cautious these days.

The one thing I own, that seems to always be left behind, is the kneeling pad, and I have numerous pairs of jeans with no knees to prove that. But, as I get older, it's becoming more important to me.

I would love to have a product that could contain all my needed tools, be small and easy to carry, and cute! Is that too much to ask???

Actually, I have a cute pocketed tool tote made out of canvas with a hummingbird embroidered on it. It was sent to me by The Nature Conservancy when I sent them a small donation. It really IS cute and very handy! However, the little Ames garden carts that you can find at Lowe's, Home Depot, etc. for about $30.00 carry your tools and you can sit on them and roll along. Otherwise, how about a bucket with one of those little pocketed sleeves you can slip on it? I have a garden cart that really is neat as it carries all sorts of things, including a place for long-handled tools to clip on the side. I'm 72 yrs. old and prefer NOT to make gardening a challenge but a pleasure. Love the kneeling pads, and another tool I would like to add to my collection is racheting pruners for those stems that are just a little too thick for my old artheritic hands to cut with regular pruners. Thanks for the "blue tip". I knew that Hummingbirds like red, bugs like yellow but did not know about blue! My Grandmother did not tell me about colors. HA.

Jeanie

I like an old mail box at my garden to keep wiping cloth, string, scissors, and small hand tools in. My larger tools are sealed and painted so I can leave them hanging in the garden (only the ones I use often). One of the handiest tools I one is much like the Ken Ho weeder, but much older.

I use "T" post in my garden, when rotating crops (like tomatoes) you can have the mail box attached to a piece of ! !/2" PVC which will drop down over the "T" post so moving your storage box is easy. In the off season it can be placed in the shed out of sight. I have two gardening areas and use the small tools more around the tomatoes.

Larry

Jeanie, I'm glad to know that there are cute tool caddies to be had. I'll have to keep my eyes open for them! Keeping a mail box in the garden for tool storage is a good idea, too. I'm forever trudging to the shed or garage for some tool or other that didn't get out with me!

I keep a pair of gloves at every door.

I also have the large black paint buckets spotted around my yard. THat way if I need to clip something or pick it up, I don't have far to go to throw it away.

Also when I am pruning roses or weeding, it works well for me to put the clippings in the paint bucket, then pour them into the large bag. They go in better for me that way.

I agree about the perfume. The kneeling pads or knee pads are great if much of your garden is mulched.

I agree about the good tools.I have a nice red digger thing with prongs on the end. It goes right through the mulch, penetrates the ground, and will release the root of those nuisance weeds.

This is a good thread that you started.

Sammy

I have a mailbox also but I use it for plastic bags so I can grab one when I start harvesting more than I can hold in my hands, but didn't know I was going to. My tool cabinets are just at the edge of the planting area, so they are always there.

My two favorite things are a small wagon and a rubbermaid stool that is a kneeling pad when turned upside down. It has handles on the sides for a lift when getting up, and a wide enough place to put my arm while I work with the other hand. Both are gifts from my daughter. As a way of explanation, my back doesn't bend and I have stainless steel down both sides of my back. If I lean forward, I fall on my face, so the arm rest makes it possible for me to work on the ground. The only problem is that it puts your knees a few inches above the ground, but at least I can work while on my knees by using the kneeling bench.

I like good tools and have a catalog in front of me right now where I plan to order some hand tools. I seem to go through a cheap set about every year, so I am going to upgrade a little and order from Lee Valley.

Wow! Such great hints! Gonna save us some useless trips back and forth to the house, garage or shed. You all are wonderful! Keep those hints coming. Nothing like neccessity and inventive minds! How about some recipes for NATURAl pest sprays?

Jeanie

Kitty litter bucket... perfect to haul your "need to have" tools and gloves and stuff with you in the yard.. unless you like baskets. :)

I use both... sometimes one, sometimes the other... but always bring a basket to bring in goodies.

Moni

I've got a thought to add! Wonder where to get a cheapo kneeling pad? Try a kindergarten nap mat. I love mine, and it's held up well over the past few years. Even doused in rain, it dried out perfectly fine. :)

Soonergrandmom, I have that stool & use it everywhere, inside & out. If I get down on the ground, I can't get up but when I kneel on that, the handles let me get up. I've used it for painting baseboards, spot cleaning carpets, etc. besides in the garden everywhere I go.

My hint would be that I use my big, rolling trash can with a trash bag in it when I am going to be doing some major trimming or pruning. Sticks go right into it & I can fill it up & roll it back into the garage. For small jobs, like weeding as I stroll, I have kitty litter buckets nearby, then empty into the trash can.

I LOVE my Ames cart!!! I've had it longer than I've been a transplanted City Girl. I love my Mo-He tool (Lee Valley purchase). I use an Atwoods bag, loaded with tieing material, my hand tools including pruners, grocery bags, etc., a coupla pairs of gloves and anything else that might seem important given the time of the season. That goes to the garage - to my Ames cart - to the garden and then back in the house with me when the day is done. I can also easily stash in that bag a kneeling pad bought at Lowes....and from the construction dept I also have rubber knee pads. Bought those a coupla years ago when we were remodeling the kitchen and I've used them much more for gardening than I did laying a new kitchen floor. Also, don't forget a few (or a small box) of Bounce Dryer sheets. Rub those on your arms and tuck it into your pocket. Instant protection from skeeters.

Great hints! I have one of those garden carts that you can sit on and roll along, and it's one of my favorite things. The top opens up and becomes a handle, so I can also pull it around the yard with me, and I can set heavy things on it (like a bag of potting soil) to move them around the yard.

I used to have trouble finding my tools when I laid them down when working until I learned this hint .... wrap a piece of brightly-colored duck tape around the handles. Duck tape can be found in lots of bright, fun colors now. Mine all have bright pink tape on them, and they're much easier to find in the grass or the flowerbed.

Suzie

Jeanie,

My favorite natural pest spray is about fifteen drops of Neem oil and three drops of tea tree oil emulsified with some natural veggie wash cleaner and water. I put that in a spray bottle and spray any nasty bugs I see eating my plants. Neem oil is great. It doesn't actually kill the bugs, it damages their brains and makes them forget to eat. In a few days, they starve to death and leave your plants alone. I spray the tea tree oil for its anti-bacterial, anti-microbial, and anti-fungal properties. You never know what type of diseases or mildews may attack tender young plants. It truly is great stuff.

Kelly

Thanks , Kelly, for the bug spray recipe. Kinda boggles my mind to think of an aphid, thrip, mite, etc. with a brain. HA. I need to pick up a bottle of Neem next time I go to Ace or Lowe's. I am not familiar with tea tree oil or vegetable wash cleaner. Can you find those in the chemical aisle, too? One good thing about early Spring is that the only bugs I'm seeing, so far, are butterflies and wasps.

Jeanie

Hi Jeanie,

You can actually find Neem oil, tea tree oil, and veggie wash at the health food store. I don't know if Ace or Lowes would carry them. I mix it up in an old spray bottle.

Kelly

Hi Kelly,
To the best of my knowledge, there are no health food stores in Garvin County. Probably, Norman would have one. I drive over there fairly frequently, so can see what I can find. Thank you, so much, for your "hint" and the info.

Jeanie

I just had a "duh" moment. Perhaps I need some hand tools?

I'm very interested in the bug spray recipe. Do the unscented dryer sheets work on the mosquitos too? I'm allergic to the scented ones.

If someone would like the oils from the health food store but can't get there, I could bring it to the swap. I visit the health food store every couple of months or so. (Their lentils are the best!)

I use hand tools (long trowel for planting bedding plants; cultivator to scratch and loosen soil "up close" and long weed gig for getting roots of weeds out, so they won't grow back) and, of course, good by-pass pruners for trimming, and as I said earlier, I want a racheting pruner for those extra thick stems.
Afraid we might need lots of bug spray this year because of dry, hot conditions! Gotta get over to Norman and seek out ingredients.
Don't know if unscented dryer sheets will repel mosquitos, or not. They have those little bracelets you can wear, now, but have no experience with those, either, but something tells me that they probably reek of citronella. Maybe, someone else knows.

Jeanie

I desperately want one of those large four-wheeled garden carts for hauling things around. Whenever I pick up compost from the city to spread on my lawn and plants I shovel it into the huge rubbermaid bins, and man those things are heavy. I've even started driving my car out back just so I didn't have to carry them from the garage. I have a cart on my wedding registry, so if no one buys one I'm definitely cashing in some gift cards! I have no idea where I'll put it in the garage, but it WILL be mine!

Good loppers are a lifesaver for pruning large shrubs and trees. I used to get blisters on my hands from pruning our photinias because all we had were the scissor-shaped pruning shears. After doing that a few times I gave up and bought some big loppers from Lowes and OMG what a difference. It's like slicing butter. You guys probably know that already, but when you figure these things out for the first time it's amazing, ha!

I want to show Carol that a pretty garden bucket organizer exists, so I've linked one like mine below.

For years I've used canvas bucket organizers that you tie or velcro around a 5-gallon bucket, but we have icky red clay and the canvas becomes stained and impossible to get clean. Red clay doesn't wash out of any fabric easily.

So, Santa Claus (actually, it was Santa Tim) brought me an oilcloth bucket organizer in a floral print for Christmas. I've linked one like it below. Being oilcloth it is tough and sturdy and wipes clean.

Over the years, I've found that just about every color of clothing attracts one garden pest or another, and some attract butterflies or hummingbirds. Yellow always attracts cucumber beetles, and when I wear a T-shirt I have that has a red poppy flower pattern all over it, hummingbirds are attracted to it. To get around attracting "something", I buy a packet of men's white T-shirts every spring and wear them when working in the garden. The white shirts attract fewer pests than anything else I wear and it doesn't matter how dirty and stained they get....I bleach them regularly to keep them as clean as possible, but by the end of the gardening season, they're fit only for the 'rag bag' in the garage. This has saved tons of wear and tear on my "normal" clothing.

Patty, it's nice to see you posting. I hope you're doing well.

Dawn

Here is a link that might be useful: Garden Tool Organizer at Gardener's Supply

I have a Duraworx 1200 4 wheeled dump wagon I like really well. It has 13" tires, a 5.5 cu. ft.plastic bed and has sideboard pockets molded into it. It also comes with a work tray that fits across the bed. The hand handle can be rotated 180 degrees to attach to a lawn mower. The only thing I have found wrong with it is the price, about $120.00 at Lowe's.

Larry

Love ALL these gardening hints! I did not know you could get the bucket "aprons" in bright, cheerful oil cloth now. The men's T-shirt idea is great, and they have that little pocket into which you could tuck the fabric softner sheet. Hand-carried tool totes are great; the carts are great and have the added advantage of being able to haul around those heavy bags of mulch, rock, bird baths, etc.
Larry, your Duraworx dump wagon sounds terrific, however, a bit pricey. HA. Would love to have one!
Methinks I made a boo-boo when naming my favorite long-handled tools. I've always called my hula-hoe a scuffle hoe. Don't know why. Some of my tools are quite ancient, but still useful. I DO know that some of those "cutsie" rolling cultivators and weed-popping tools are totally useless in my "concrete" soil!
Can't wait to see more practical gardening hints!

Dawn - thanks for the link, I love the idea, and I'm thinking I can make a caddy out of some fabric remnants that have followed me around for all of my moves. Kind of off-topic, but I used plastic tablecloth fabric, the kind with a flannel back, to make car seat covers for when we take the dogs with us. I'm thinking that would work for the bucket, and wipe clean easily, and comes in lots of fun patterns. Something to keep me occupied until the weather warms a bit.

I also like the t-shirt idea, and plan to invest in a pack for this summer.

Great ideas!

Carol,

With all the new spring merchandise arriving in stores, I bet you will be able to find some cute patterns for your sewing project.

The white shirts developed out of necessity because all my everyday clothing was becoming stained with clay, dirt, grass-stains and tomato juice, among other things. I had to find a way to stop ruining my clothing.

Don't tell my dogs about your car seat covers or they'll expect me to make car seat covers for our car so they can go for rides more frequently. They're only allowed to ride in the pick-up truck, which is old, old, old and all beat up, but not in the car which is pretty new.

Dawn

My three essential tools are my scuffle hoe, hand trowel, and pruners. I still would love to have Felco pruners, the cadillac of pruning tools, but have yet to set aside $60 to buy a pair. I like them because they are so durable, and if a part breaks, you can replace just that particular part.

I love my dual purpose garden bench that is a bench to sit on and when turned upside down, is a kneeling bench with handles. Not sure if that is what you all are talking about or not.

I keep a jar of Chlorox bleach/water on the porch that I use in between prunings to disinfect my pruning shears. I put the lid on it when I'm thru in the garden.

I keep a little box, basket, or bucket on the porch, too, with various sundries like scotch tape (never know), roll of jute/panty hose strips for tying plants, rooting hormone, rubber bands, blank labels and a permanent marker, outdoor scissors, packets of seeds for those I want to do successive plantings of, Q-tips & bottle of Alcohol for mealybugs if needed, just a mixed bag of things I occasionally use but not all the time. Saves running in and out of the house.

Susan

I can't afford Felco tools, but have a pair of Corona by-pass pruners for about half the price that have lasted me for years. My little canvas tool bag with pockets has some of the same same things in it you mentioned that you keep on the porch. Also have one of those folding pruning saws in it. Good to have a can of WD-40 which I spray on my pruners when needed. Love the idea of alcohol/water jug for sterilizing tools. A big roll of paper towels comes in handy, also box blade to slice open bags of mulch, potting soil, etc. As you said, just a mixed bag of handy gadgets.

Jeanie

Dawn - the tomato juice staining caught my attention. I'm forever wearing a nice - well, nice for me - shirt while cooking, and ending up with tomato stains from some sauce or other. Guess I need cooking as well as gardening shirts! I've found several instructions for making bucket organizers, and now just need to work out my own method. I've got the gist of it. I hit a couple of nurseries yesterday with my visiting sister, and had to just say no to all the cute stuff out there!

Susan - I've not used one of the garden benches that you talk about, but I know I've seen them; good to know it's handy. You sure are organized!

My garden kneeler is more like the 2nd one on this page. Mine doesn't fold up and is a little heavy, but very sturdy.

Here is a link that might be useful: Garden Kneeler

Carol, the first one shown is the one I have. Have they gone up that much in price? I got mine for $20 at Lowe's about 4 years ago.

I'll keep that brand in mind, Jeanie, for pruners when I look for some soon. Do y'all sharpen your own or take them in to the shop to be sharpened? If you do the work, what kind of sharpener do you use?

Susan

Susan, I sharpen all my tools except circle and recip saw blades, those you can buy much cheaper than sharpening them. To keep from investing a lot in files you can go to the auto or hardware store and buy a pack of high quality sand paper of different grits. For flat sharpening you can get paint stir paddles, for concave surfaces you can use dowels, broom handle or anything round. Glue or tape the sand paper to the contour you want.

Try to read up on what you are doing and be careful, you can do more damage than good. Change the angle right at the cutting edge to leave more surface and work the burr off from the back side keeping the paddle flat.

I have from 24 to 240 grit paper. The 240 is the one I use the most because I don't let my tools get dull. I will have to place a disclaimer here because you cant keep hoes or digging tools Sharp or you will wear them out sharpening them.

If you have the pinch/anvil cutters just sharpen both sides the same.

The only thing I have ever had sharpened was a chain for a chainsaw, and it was not done to suit me so I also sharpen them now.

Larry

Wow, thanks Larry! I just have bypass pruners. Hopefully, they won't be too difficult to sharpen. So I don't have to use a diamond file? I can save that for my nails? LOL!

Susan