Tools and Equipment

• Repair and paint window boxes, lawn furniture, and other items in preparation for outdoor gardening and recreational use.

• If you plan to plant a large number of tree seedlings, it may be easier to contract out the planting or rent a planting machine than to plant by hand. A mechanical, tree planter digs a furrow and fills it in automatically. Most machines require one or two persons to place seedlings while another drives.

• Repair and paint window boxes, lawn furniture, tools, and other items in preparation for outdoor gardening and recreational use.

• Make labels for your spring garden. Plastic milk jugs or bleach bottles cut in strips 1 inch by 6 or 7 inches work well. Use permanent ink markers to write on them.

• The common, inexpensive, alcohol thermometer often varies more than 3 degrees from the true temperature, resulting in wasted fuel or improper plant growth in greenhouses. To check the accuracy of a thermometer, immerse it in a container of crushed ice and water for 3 to 4 minutes. Any deviation from 32 degrees F can then be marked on the scale, or the tube may be moved up or down to match the 32 degree F reading.

• Start building up your supply of gardening aids, such as plastic milk jugs for hot caps and orange juice cans to make guards to stop cutworms.

"In joy or sadness, flowers are our constant friends." -- Kozuko Okakura

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