I have found that balcony gardening required me to use a couple of things I didn't use when growing in the ground.
A spray bottle for watering moss so I can keep the surface misted without drowning the plants in the pots.
A turkey baster to syphon off excess water from the trays under the pots to avoid rotting roots. (The planters and trays are affixed to the railing with plastic ties to keep them from blowing off in a storm)
An inexpensive cat litter box makes a great potting table for mixing soils and moistening it.
So, I am curious what you use in your arsenal of tools.
odd gardening tools?
Everything in my drawers and kitchen....and it drives my family nuts...LOL
Bob gave me a CD tower that holds 120 CD's but I use keep most of my CD's in carry along wallets. I keep wondering if he would be hurt if I used it as a trellis for a mini rose climber...
I like the CD tower idea. That is pretty clever. I tend to vacuum out my fish tank, then water my plants (free fertilizer!) with my Mom's 2-cup measuring cup. It drives her CRAZY! :)
And until I got a mini trowel, I was using the large soup spoons to pot new house-plants.
I do like the butter tubs for mixing dry fertilizers or scooping out soils. Fun uses for kitchen utensils!
I went out and bought a toilet bowl brush to clean the string algae from my little pond. and found that the tines of a fork will pull off a spiders egg sack stuck to a leaf without having to touch it :~)
Large serving spoons make great soil scoops, and sharp steak knives are good for cutting stems, small branches, string, bags, etc. Drives my DH nuts!
I have containers in my garden as well as all the stuff in the ground. Even though the yard isn't that big, when I get busy out there I don't want to have to go far looking for a digging tool.
I keep a couple tablespoons out there in various places, my little hand trowel and the claw tool and I have a butcher knife out there for cutting open bags of mulch and stuff. Yesterday I found a paint stir stick close by, used that to dig a hole and then I was pulling up flagstone stepping stones with the claw, broke the handle right off........what to replace it with?
One day will have to actually buy some new tools.. LOL
I find things in other people's trash that comes in handy. I have a roasting pan someone threw out and i use that to mix soil in. I also have a butcher knife for cutting purposes. I have also found old iron pots that you wouldnt use in cooking and have used them for inserting ulgier pots into. I also have an old pot for heating water in that i have used for the same thing. Robbie
kudos to you, Robbie, .....I'm a recycler, non-stop! I love the old, rusted and worn stuff.....and yes, the CD rack would make a lovely small trellis...If I can use old bedsprings, you can do anything!!!! Over the past yrs I have integrated the rusted railings as divisions in my gdns...Ask Liz, from the Canadian forum, I have one of her former railings....they also make great trellises for Clematis and annual vines...hpy gdning! Elaine, the collector!
Gosh, Elaine. I would have never considered using old bed springs. That is an intriguing idea. Thanks for sharing that idea with me/us. I will keep that in mind in the future. I will also share that with a friend of mine. She is planning on sending me some vining plants that i cannot remember their names but hope to get going. I love wisteria and have some seeds to plant but hadnt thought about something for them to run on but this is an idea. thanks. Robbie
When my precious children grew too old and large for their swing set{now 19 and 16}, I made it into an arbor. It is made of pipe and my husband had cemented it to the center of the earth. Two seasons ago, my daughter and I painted it green with Rustoleum. This season I found some wire trellises to put on the ladder ends to pretty it up a bit more. It comfortably holds large hanging baskets, wind chimes, bird feeders etc. and I can plant vines next to it. I tried a climbing rose last season, but the winter was extremely harsh and I don't know if it made it through. I am going to try again, if it didn't. Underneath, I have hosta, iris, daylilies, bleeding heart and others. It's been fun for the kids and now it's fun for me!
This message was edited Apr 18, 2004 10:22 AM
Anybody else use a dibbler?
gardenmart, that is a great way to recylcle an old swingset and not only a beauty out of an eyesore but also keeps youfrom having to dig out all that concrete.
Dear Zany,
That's sure not going to happen soon! LOL
A Dibbler?
Lol Zany, that is what I said. It is as much conversation piece as a tool. It is used to plant large seeds and looks kind of like something... it looks like a... well it is longer than it is tall and has a rounded end with a handle at the other. I was amazed to find that I actually do use it in the garden.
OH! You are talking about that pointy thingamajig with the dokicky handle that I poke into the ground to make holes to drop seeds into! I love that thing! It even has markings on it to show how deep your going. I guess I have been dibblering and not even known it :~)
See there! Ya learn something new everyday! You were an accomplished dibbler and didn't even know it.
Did you know that the sparks that come up from your campfire are called izzles?
I think I must have posted my question in the wrong place because when I was looking to find out what this is, I saw a picture of a dibble or dibbler, uh dribbler. Sheesh. How about this one, what do ya do with it?
It was free to me. Will it be useful to me? Other than as a prybar?
Molly
Prybar for weeds. Yep.
A fork will also do this job, esp. when one or two teeth gets broken! I have tried a brick and a coconut shell to mow a thin growth of grass at places where I did not want them to grow. Works well.
MollyMc, I could have used that when my son was growing up... he needed constant proding to get him up and moving in the mornings ;~)