HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1983-04-27, Page 32Let's *say You' "r.+: planting boa can aaa a• -spa,
Your very first ower -:and shovel, butt it-isn``1
w=-
vegetable garden�.. What will ciente •
youneed in lea ndtools? Atioil it•
ing is the spadiiitg
A good way fr beginners g.�= o
to start•would be th goto a has fiat, '.r square tibq'
big hardware section and is espectaly good for leav
say,. . "Show ` a ieyour best clay soil. lion t. confuse 11
Aren tool = Then•w fl Me with a pitchfork which
�trhy they arcbotter � n# mull slender tines and is
egarden•
money ta• bay
tools.}Theere,a
t, if YAW doubt.
ie €orged t00ls
at fns• auctions
alight*,d;strong after
d desof harduse,
Fewer Mad
gardWen
rider Mad °gardeners,
You*, seen them," They
have .a power machine or
.gadget; for every job in the
garden.'
Now, some gardens are so
large 4that ,machines are
necessary. It's just that
beginning gardeners get the
wrong idea from watching
:them ling ., `top used to movestraw or. col*
q
uahtY tong handled spade, post. ..,
a triangular hoe and an iron. So' much force is exerted
rake. Then count,, ,your on spades and shovels that
money and see ifyou can of- they need to be vary strong,
ford a spading fork 'AS well. So buy.the best,
Last would come . a good Sizes And Shapes
hand trowel and a two -gallon • : Of Hoes
pump -type sprayer. Hoes have long or short
This beginning set of tools handles• and come m all
might cost $100 or more. But `weightsand shapes: square,
good tools will last from 10 to triangular, leer shaped, and
20
years. The steel will hold rectangular. Lift one of the
an edge and not bend. You heavy, square hoes and if
would really have to abuseyou guessed that similar
them to break the handles. hoes are used for chopping.:
You'll love good hand tools, a cotton, you'd be right. -
feeling you'll never have if There is no need for large,
you buy the shoddy, cheap heavy hoes in most gardens
stuff. unless you have to break up
Large Or Small clods of soil. So it comes
Tools down -to 'a choice of which
Large or small garden shape works best for
tools, which should you buy?
Young men usually start
out with the biggest garden
tools they can buy. At that
age they are strong and have
energy to burn. They want to
do everything in a hurry.
Older gardeners work
smarter. They use small
hand tools, designed for
older people and women who
are lacking in brute
strength.
You can turn over soil,
move it, cultivate, thin and
weed just as fast with the
small tools but you don't get
as tired.
So when you're buying
garden tools, pick the ones
that are the right size for
you. Big garden tools are
okay for big, strong people,
but if you are short on size or
energy choose small tools.
They're fun to work with.
Short Or Long
Handles
When buying garden tools
should you choose long or
short handles? Garden tools
are extensions of your body
for reaching, pulling,
pushing, throwing, shaping,
cutting, or for use as levers
when turning over the soil.
You use tools precisely when
weeding or thinning, or
grossly when you are mov-
ing soil.
So, the best length of tool
handle depends on your size
and strength, and whether
the tools will be used lightly
.and precisely, or roughly
with lots of force.
Spades and shovels need
heavy, reinforced handles,
because you use them as
levers. Big, square hoes for
chopping heavy soil need
heavy handles. Iron rakes
and the small hoes for
weeding need long, strong,
lightweight handles because
they are used for reaching
and precise • work.
Remember, always look for
top quality garden tools.
"Let's call a spade a
spade." The only problem is
that many new gardenrs
weeding. Many gardeners
prefer a lightweight, dual-
purpose hoe ..with a
triangular cutting head.
When you turnit over you
have a cultivating tool with
three tines.
Along the way you'll pro-
bably try hoes that you push
and pull, and all sorts of
bright, shiny inventions, but
chances are good that you'll
come back to the lightweight
triangular hoe that's as
useful as a Swiss Army Knife
and a lot cheaper.
The Perfect Rake
Iron rakes come in dif-
ferent widths and with long
or short teeth, straight or
curved. Teeth can be widely
or closely spaced. Rakes can
weight as little as three
pounds or as much as five
pounds.
The major use for iron
rakes in home gardens is for
pulverizing and leveling soil.
If you have a big garden, buy
a wide, heavy rake you can
turn over to push or pull the
soil, or use with the teeth
down for pulverizing the top
layer.
If you have a small
garden, buy a small rake
with sharp teeth. For heavy
clay or rocky soil, select a
rake with wide spaces
between the teeth to simplify
cleaning out clods and rocks.
Look for extra reinforce-
ment at the socket and for
straight -grained, dense
wood handles. Cheap rakes
have flimsy handles that will
pull out of the sockets under
heavy use. Buy the best.
Rolled Steel vs.
Forged
You can still buy forged
tools in specialty catalogs
and the best garden stores.
To forge a garden tool,
manufacturers heat a blank
of metal white hot. They
bang it into shape with
presses and hammers and
temper it for strength. It
takes an artist, a muscular
artist, to forge metal.
Forged tools are heavy
don't know a spade from a and durable. They have rein -
shovel. A shovel is built like forced sockets and strong
a small scoop. It's designed handles.
to move material from one Less expensive tools are
place to another. Most made of rolled steel chopped
shovels are not built for digg- into shape with a big cookie
ing. cutter and pressed into
Spades are for digging. forms. If the steel is thick
The blade is set at a and of high quality it can
straighter angle than a make a good garden tool.
shovel. You push a spade in- The only trouble is that most
to the soil with your foot, pull gardeners can't tell by look -
back on the handle like a ing. They buy a flimsy spade
lever and turn over the soL. and bend or break it the first
the power freaks.,. They go
out and buy big machines:to
work small.gard ns. Not un-
tfil they park mem in ..tbe;
garage do they realize what
a price they are .paying to
.Save . a small' amount of
labor.
There is much, to , recom-
mend doing most garden
work. by hand. it your soils,
so tough and hard that '‘you
need a big machine tobreak
it up, then you should add
organic matter to loosen the
soil enough to work by hand.
In small gardens you can
get the job done with hand
tools before you can feed a
machine, crank it up, clean
awl put it. away,. Take 'the .'stump' handy. ,toy give the_
moa Yeti save and use it to
grow abetter garden..
SharpenY1ur,
cotung'EA0e
Sharpen::, your.. cutting edge.
There's al:beautY to the -way
a sharp•garden tool works.
fixer watch a farmer :sw
sw-
ing a hay scythe's `Every' few
minutes hemill stop and take
the knicks out of'the blade
with a, sharpening stone.
Back at the barn he'll cra*.
up the big foot -pedal grin-
'ding wheel pard sharpen the
blade before he hangs it on
the wall.
Same way with hoes and
shovels. There is usually a
farmp�r u felt; ibase for e:
tool- ,a .�;sli . whil.: e•�.
s. s _:,t won! .,. hd .�+�::
sharpens d, Farmers have a
way of,boning the finished
edge with a..donate wipe off
the wire that .clings dike a
hangnail. •
1-loni tg stones aro about; a
foot long, reef round and
coarse. A file will worktokay,
but it doesn't leave that
slight sawtooth edge,
Never use a •power grinder
without a • bucket of water
handy to quench the blade
frequently:If you let the heat
build up you can draw the
temper out of the steel -
Your Annual
GARDEN
GALE DAR
Ontario
Ministry of
Agriculture
and Food
JANUARY
Inspect house plants for insects.
Check glads. and dahlias in storage
for insects & diseases.
Avoid salt use near plants.
Keep yourself informed — read
garden articles & take advantage of
courses.
Plan garden renovations.
Order flower & vegetable seeds.
FEBRUARY -
Commence feeding house plants.
Bring indoors - pots, bulbs for
forcing. .Prune
Propagate indoor plants by stem
cuttings.
Place mail orders for nursery, stock.
Prepare seed flats and containers for '
sowing seed.
•
MARCH
Plant flower and vegetable seeds
indoors.
fruit trees (and grape vines).
Start tuberous begonias in pots.
Check garden perennials and press
back into place, if they heaved.
Apply fruit tree dormant spray.
Prune back shade trees, over grown
hedges and shrubs.
Check for rodent damage.
Prune summer flowering shrubs.
APRIL•.
Fertilize lawns.
Remove mulch a little at a time.
Plant shrubs, trees and hedges.
Prune roses. •
Apply pre•emergence weed kitir'r to
control crabgrass.
Transplant biennials: viols, pansies,
foxglove, etc.
Repair lavdn damage with topsoil and
seed. •
Plant early vegetables such as peas,
radish and onions.
Sow seed of hardy annuals outdoors.
MAY
Construct lattice or twine supports
for vines.
Transfer beddrng• annuals to outdoor
cold, frame to harden. '
Check trees for tent caterpilters and
other insects.
Control pests with safe chemicals.
Plant tender flowers, petunias, etc. •
Water early flowering plants.
Remove faded flowerheads of tulips,
and daffodils
Prune shrubs and trees after flowering.
Kill lawn weeds with herbicides.
JUNE
Prune evergreens and hedges.
Add grass clippings and garden
wastes to compost pile
Use mulches .of grass clippings and
compost on gardens to conserve
moisture and control weeds.
Irrigate lawns and gardens.
Thin out . crowded annuals and
vegetables. ,.
Stake tall growing perennials.
Pinch backchrysanthemurrts.
Remove faded rose blooms.
JULY
Raise cutting height of' mower blade.
Thin out and cut back old raspberry
canes.
Fertilize annuals and vegetables.
Shallow hoe gardens regularly
Pinch back annuals.
Water gardens during dry spells.
.
t
AUGUST
Prune climbing roses.
Apply mildew control sprays.
Prune birch and maple. •
Order flowering bulbs.
Set out strawberry runners it new
planting was not started in early
spring.
,,,r
SEPTEMBER
Prepare and seed new lawns.
Divide perennials.
Plant evergreens.
Purchase flowering bulbs.
Last fertilizing of lawns for the year. •
Take cuttings of geraniums and
•coleus.
Air dry onions for storage.
Renovate perennial borders.
Harvest grapes after the first frost.
OCTOBER
Plant bulbs.
Transplant shrubsend"trees.
Dig and store dahlias, gladioius.
tuberous begonias.
Plant amaryllis for Christmas blooms
Improve garden soils for next season
Gather leaves and add to compost
pile.
NOVEMBER
Plow vegetable gardens.
Soak. soil around evergreens if ground
is dry.
Plant fruit trees.
Hill up roses.
Check supports for new planted
trees. • .
Mulch tender plants':
Plant hyacinth, amaryllis and other
bulbs for winter forcing.
s Protect trees and shrubs from mice
and rabbits..
Clean garden storage areas and all
tools.
DECEMBER
Get indoor lighting units in use.
Loosely 'wrap pyramidal evergreens
with burlap or plastic netting.
Carefully remove snow from shrubs
and spreading evergreens. -
Reduce the watering and fertilizing of .
indoor plants.
•. • . •
Note- Trmrng may vary across Onrarro.