Reviews of gardening products of all kinds. If it’s used in the garden, we review it!
The Garden Thorn is an efficient, easy-to-install watering system that uses a regular garden hose and watering spikes (the “thorns”) that puncture the hose and allow water to flow through the spikes into the ground around plant roots. It does a good job of watering new or established plants in areas that are easily accessible by faucet or a hose connection. Continue Reading
This powerful lopper can cut through up to 2” of live wood. The bumper and padded handles provide support, and the lever and long handles ensure a clean cut. Continue Reading
This gasoline-powered cultivator offers superior performance, and refined fit and finish. The powerful, lightweight unit is very easy to maneuver, uses a 4-cycle engine (so there’s no need to pre-mix gas and oil), and has handles for easy transportation. Starting it can be a little awkward so you may want to also buy the optional JumpStart engine starter. Continue Reading
The cultivator has a lot going for it, including a powerful (43cc, 2-cycle) engine that tears through soil with ease, adjustable handles, replacement blades and easy operation. However, assembly is a challenge and it vibrates a lot which makes it difficult to control and, in our tests, loosened knobs, popped off sparkplug connectors and bent the wheel connector. Continue Reading
The Redback 40V 4.0 Li-Ion Chainsaw (106068) has all the necessary power to cut through anything from small brush to 10.5” logs, making it comparable to a consumer-grade, gasoline-powered chainsaw. It’s lightweight, easy to use, has a plethora of built-in safety features and is sturdy enough to tackle just about anything. I recommend it without any reservations – it’s simply the best cordless chainsaw I’ve tested to date. Continue Reading
This is one heck of a cultivator! Lightweight, strong as an ox, easy to use, relatively quiet and best of all, no gasoline. This is the first propane-powered tiller cultivator on the market and it’s a winner. If I had to choose just one from all the cultivators I’ve tested, this would be it. Continue Reading
I am pleasantly surprised how much I like this hose and I would absolutely purchase it for my garden use. It really is kink free, lightweight but very durable, and easy to coil or store away. Plus, unlike other expandable hoses, it stretches to a full-size 5/8 inch diameter and 50 feet in length. With a 5-year warranty and no signs of wear after almost a year of extensive use in the garden, it’s clearly Continue Reading
The relatively light weight, coupled with long arms and sturdy bumpers on this hedge shear allow you to work for extended periods without a lot of fatigue. The wavy-edged, chrome plated blades grip branches firmly for easy cutting. And while the $69 price tag is higher than most, this tool features a lifetime warranty and is built to last. Highly recommended. Continue Reading
This cordless, rechargeable pruner promises to make pruning easier for those with limited grip strength or arthritis, and those who do a lot of pruning. However, we found that those with larger hands thought it was comfortable to use, but gardeners with smaller hands and those with arthritis or little grip strength had trouble with it. It has limited utility as it won’t cut through anything thicker than ½ inch (and that’s only in softer Continue Reading
At only $9.97, the Melnor Talon bypass pruner is a perfect example of “you get what you pay for.” It works but it has some quality issues (burrs form on the cutting blade), it cuts through only ¾-inch branches (rather than the claimed 1 inch), and it pinches your hands with each cut. If you have large hands and a limited budget, this pruner may work for you. If you have small hands, give it Continue Reading
The Sun Joe 16 in cordless chainsaw is a powerful tool, well balanced, with important safety features. However, its one flaw is the amount of times it stops while cutting. Continue Reading
The Classic Soil Knife from A.M. Leonard is a quality tool with some nice improvements over the traditional hori hori. The contoured handle is easy to grip and keeps your hand firmly in place while using the knife. Plus, the bright orange color makes it easily visible. However, I’d upgrade to the Deluxe Soil Knife to take advantage of the better serrated edge and depth markings (they come in handy for planting small bulbs and Continue Reading
John Whitman is an excellent teacher, anticipating every question a gardener might have and providing just the information the reader needs to successfully grow a wide range of vegetables, berries and herbs in cold climates. Continue Reading
The Corona FlexDIAL with ComfortGEL¨ grips bypass pruner (BP4214) has a unique adjustment system (the FlexDIAL) that adjusts handle width (and cutting capacity) for those with different size hands. It initially made clean cuts through material up to ¾ inches while in the highest width setting (it will only cut ¼ inch stems while in the "small hands" position). However, the cutting blade quickly burred and developed a flat spot making it unusable. Its unclear whether this is Continue Reading
The A.M. Leonard GardenGlide is a nifty and unique item with almost limitless uses for transporting garden items. I was impressed with the loads it could handle, the ease at which it slid across a wide range of surfaces, and the abuse it withstood when pushing it to extremes. The one improvement I’d recommend is to make the handle sturdier – it was uncomfortable pulling heavy loads with a bent handle. Bottom line, I liked Continue Reading
