Three Helpful Garden Tools for Easy Gardening

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ILLUSTRATION: MOTHER EARTH NEWS STAFF
A hose guard, knee saver, and dibbles and cord. 

The Hose Guard 

Empty plastic containers have long served double duty in the garden . . . but here’s an idea you might not have tried: Cut the bottom out of a round, empty, one-quart plastic bottle (for instance, the kind of jug that fabric softener is often marketed in), and place the vessel over a row-marking stake. With a nail driven through its metal cap to act as a pivot, the round receptacle will be able to turn freely on the wooden marker as it guards your plants from the garden hose.

Dibbles and Cord 

To cobble up this multipurpose tool, sharpen one end of each of two 10″-12″ sections from the wooden handle of a discarded tool, and drill a hole 6″ from the non-pointed end of each truncheon. Use one of these “dibbles” to form seed furrows and to drill holes for onion sets or bulbs . . . or connect a pair of dibbles with a cord to make a row marker.

Save Your Knees 

  • Published on May 1, 1984
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