GuideReviews Index

Ups-A-Daisy - Plant Container Insert
Ups-A-Daisy is a false bottom for overly large planters. It will save on soil and keep containers from becoming unduly heavy. However it doesn’t fit all planter sizes and sometimes you actually need the extra soil, even if it means you can’t lift the pot.

SunStick - Sunlight Gauge for Garden Plants
The SunStick is a new tool for gardeners to measure the sun exposure of various parts of their garden. It's meant to take the guesswork out of determining whether your garden is sunny, partly shady or shady.

Foxgloves - Flexibility and Performance in Garden Gloves
Gardening gloves need to be durable and flexible. Too many gardeners start the day with garden gloves and end the day without because gardening requires dexterity. Foxgloves garden gloves are deceptively attractive for such a rugged product.

Waterproof Gardening Gloves
Gardening gloves are a very personal choice. Some gardeners can't work with them, others have several favorite pairs for different garden jobs. Here'a pair of gardening gloves that bridge the season, protecting your hands from the cold as well as some of the rougher jobs in the garden.

UltraGrow Plant Container Insert
Gardeners put all sorts of things at the bottom of their plant containers to help water drain through and keep bugs out. Here's an elegant little product that takes the place of playing with stones, broken pots and screening and you can use it over and over again.

Messenger - A Plant Health Activator
The plant health activator, Messenger, is neither a pesticide nor a fertilizer, although it has many advantages of both. Messenger fools a plant into thinking it is being attacked by a fungus, triggering the plant's defense mechanisms. It is environmentally friendly and non-toxic. Messenger shows great promise in helping gardeners to grow better plants and in cutting down on the need for fertilizers and pesticides.

PlantWatcher - Automatic Potted Plant Watering System
The PlantWatcher is an easy to use tool for one of the most forgettable gardening tasks - watering your houseplants. It takes a little thought to get started, but once you get it right, you can forget about it for 3 weeks. If your houseplants are begging you for more attention, the PlantWatcher is a low-tech automatic watering system you should look into.

Square Foot Gardening Success Kit
This truly is square foot gardening and for someone with a small terrace or patio who wants to experiment with a few plants, it’s a good idea. The kit comes with everything you’ll need to get started growing, except a plant. They leave that choice up to you.

Backyard Giants - The Quest to Grow the Biggest Pumpkin Ever
Growing pumpkins is a delight for children of all ages and really brings the joy of the harvest season home. Growing giant pumpkins is for the serious pumpkin enthusiast and Backyard Giants follows the giant pumpkin growing season from seed to weigh-in. Think you have what it takes to grow the largest pumpkin ever? Giant Pumpkins is full of pumpkin growing thrills and wisdom.

Container Garden Book - Container Gardening for Canada
Container gardening allows you to experiment with plants and to grow plants in small areas and problem sites. This handbook on container gardening gives tips for making the most of potted plants, combining containers and choosing plants for color and interest.

JIG-A-LOO Lubricant and Tool Cleaner
Keeping garden tools clean and in working order takes effort. Here's a tip to help you do both jobs at once, without a lot of time or effort. This 'lubripellent' can be sprayed on all your garden tools and even used throughout the house.

Organic Potting Soil
Do you need organic potting soil in your containers? Maybe not. But if you have the choice, wouldn't you rather have healthy, living soil rather than a growing 'medium' that requires tons of fertilizer to make it through the season? Here are some pros and cons of using an organic potting mix.

Insect Repellent Patch
There's a lot of controversy surrounding the safety of insect repellents, but sometimes you're safer using one than not. The "Don't Bug Me" insect repellent patch is very safe, but is it effective. Here are some pros and cons.

Plant Food That's Convenient - Dynamite Controlled- Release Fertilizer
Dynamite is a timed-release plant fertilizer that's new to the consumer market. It used to be sold just to professional growers under the name Nutricote. Dynamite slow release fertilizer is available in 3 formulas: warm, mild and cool climates. All Dynamite formulas contain both the macro and micro nutrients plants need. It's a convenient way to feed your plants once and then forget about it. Here are the pluses and minuses of using Dynamite plant fertilizer.

Garden Book - Did You Know...? Wise Words & Advice for Gardeners
"Did You Know...? Wise Words & Advice for Gardeners & Floral Designers" is a wonderful book chock full of ideas that will leave you thinking, "Of course! Why didn't I think of that?" Gardeing advice from the basics of soil and water, through growing and displaying. All practical, easy to do and garden friendly.

Book - The Beaded Garden
When you can't garden but you still want flowers, you can turn your love of flowers into an exquisite beaded garden with the help of "The Beaded Garden", by Diane Fitzgerald.

Heart Hoe and The Ripper: Removing Weeds and Sod from Difficult Places
Weeding is not one of the most popular gardening tasks, but it sure beats removing sod. The Disc-Hoe company has come out with an innovative set of interchangeable tools designed to make this unpleasant, but necessary gardening chore easier. There’s a heart shaped hoe for edging and removing sod, a ripper for weeds and the wonderful Crack ‘R’ Jack to get you into tight spots. Full garden tool review follows.

Book Review - The Gardener's Palette
Combining color in the garden is half the fun of gardening. Designing with color is a gardening art form. In Sydney Eddison's The Gardener's Palette seeks to make the skill of combining flower colors within the grasp of every avid gardener.

Garden Book - Wonders of the Winter Landscape, by Vincent A. Simeone
Winter interest in Northern gardens is often left to evergreens. However there are many trees and shrubs that offer fascinating structure, bark and berries, to add a subtle interest through all four seasons. Wonders of the Winter Landscape explores the many choices available as winter garden treats, if you know where to look.

100 Heirloom Tomatoes for the American Garden
Tomatoes are responsible for the initial interest in heirloom vegetables and the book 100 Heirloom Tomatoes is written by an expert who has tried them all. If you lament tomatoes not tasting as good as you remember, this book will help you choose varieties to grow that will have everyone discovering new faorites.

Garden Book - A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants
The American Hort. Society’s A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants is a definitive reference on over 20,000 plants grown around the world. This book deserves a spot in every gardening library, since it can answer almost every growing question a gardener asks about their plants.

Gardening for Dummies
The book “Gardening for Dummies” lives up to its subtitle “A reference for the rest of us.” While novice gardeners will pick up enough knowledge to feel reasonably confident in starting a garden, experienced gardeners will find plenty to refer to, especially in the sections on fighting pest, pruning and propagating.

Book Review - The Well-Tended Perennial Garden
The Well-Tended Perennial Garden, by Tracy DiSabato-Aust, became an instant gardening classic. Novice and Experienced gardeners will all find themselves referring back to it again and again for its comprehensive coverage of perennial plants, their selection, care and maintenance.

Garden Book Review - Armitage's Garden Perennials
Allan Armitage is one of the best known and respected authorities writing about gardening. With all the books already out there about gardening and using perennials, does Dr. Armitage really have something more to add? Yes