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Finds—What's New and Where To Get It
Plants & Gardens News Volume 20, Number 3 | Fall 2005/Winter 2006
by Greg and Pat Williams
The Pollinator Conservation Handbook
The Pollinator Conservation Handbook is designed to help gardeners, farmers, and land managers understand and protect native insect pollinators, which are threatened by habitat loss and widespread pesticide use. Published by the nonprofit Xerces Society, the book guides you through the steps for creating and improving pollinator habitat, including the selection and planting of flowers. The handbook is available for $22.45, including shipping and handling, from the Xerces Society store, or it can be purchased online from Amazon.
The Monarch Waystation Seed Kit features plant seeds and detailed instructions for creating monarch butterfly habitat in your garden. It will enable you to grow milkweeds for monarch larvae, nectar plants for adults, and vegetative cover for larvae, pupae, and adults. Designed by the education outreach program Monarch Watch, the kits cost $16 plus shipping and can be purchased online.
Monarch butterfly. Photo courtesy Mace Vaughan/www.xerces.org.
Anti-Pest-O natural insect repellent protects garden plants from pests without harming beneficial bugs. The product's active ingredients are garlic, hot pepper, and azadirachtin (derived from neem tree seeds), which combine to repel insects (including pests such as aphids, borers, cutworms, and weevils) from your plants rather than kill them, thus ensuring the survival of beneficial insects in the landscape. You can purchase Anti-Pest-O online at www.antipesto.biz; this site also lists local retailers that sell the repellent, which is distributed by Holy Terra Products, Inc., 115 Fox Street, Portland, ME 04101; 207-871-8822.
The Original Wheelbarrow Screener allows you to separate rocks and debris from soil, compost, mulch, and gravel in a standard-size garden wheelbarrow. It features a serrated steel screen mounted on a thick plastic plate that fits onto the top edges of the wheelbarrow. Sifted material falls into the wheelbarrow, leaving coarser material on top of the screen. The device costs $39.95 plus shipping from Evely Solar Products (4500 Higley, Rome, OH 44085; 440-474-4756; www.originalwheelbarrowscreener.com), a company that boasts a "completely solar-powered manufacturing facility."
The Cool Dirt Tool
The Cool Dirt Tool is actually several tools in one compact, portable package. It features snap-on attachments that serve double duty as a fork or rake, hoe or scraper, weeder or cultivator, and shovel or scraper. The tool is designed to help gardeners spend less time sorting and carrying tools back and forth from garage to garden-and more time gardening. It's available for $85 plus $15 shipping from Universal Garden Tool Inc., P.O. Box 1605, Kelseyville, CA 95451; 707-279-1456; www.universalgardentool.com.
The online Invasive Plant Atlas of New England (IPANE) is a database of invasive and potentially invasive plants in New England, continually updated by a network of professionals and trained volunteers. A joint project of the University of Connecticut, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the New England Wild Flower Society, IPANE will be an important tool in the early detection of, and rapid response to, new invasions. The project is looking for volunteers; sign-up forms can be downloaded from the website.
An Orcaboard planter
PostMate disks eliminate the need for trimming around posts. The 12- and 16-inch-wide disks are made from recycled tire rubber and can be ordered with cutouts at their centers shaped to fit snugly around a variety of standard posts. For a price list, visit www.trimlesssolutions.com or contact Trimless Solutions, Inc., 1516 N. Elmhurst Road, No. 132, Mount Prospect, IL 60056; 866-767-8628.
Orcaboard plastic lumber planters, raised-bed kits, benches, and picnic tables are nontoxic and maintenance-free, and they don't fall prey to rot and insects, according to the manufacturer. Made from recycled milk jugs, Orcaboard products come in a range of colors. To learn more, contact Durable Plastic Design, LLC, 17725 N.E. 65th Street, A-100, Redmond, WA 98052; 425-883-2570; www.orcaboard.com.
Stout's Backsaver Grip
Stout's Backsaver Grip is designed to make work with long-handled tools less of a strain on the back and shoulders. Originally developed in Alaska for use on fishing rods, the D-shaped grip attaches perpendicular to the shaft of a shovel or rake and can reduce the amount of bending needed to work the tool. It is available at some hardware stores and online at www.backsavergrip.com. An unlimited lifetime warranty is offered by the distributor, Mercantile Buyers Service, P.O. Box 09528, Milwaukee, WI 53209; 800-752-7874.
Rosa Gallica, a French newsletter devoted to old rose cultivars, is now available in an English-language edition containing translations of articles from previous French-language issues. To subscribe for a year (two issues) to the English edition, send a money order for ten euros to Rosa Gallica, Roseraie de la Cour de Commer, 53470 Commer, France. There is a website at http://rosagallica.free.fr.
Greg and Pat Williams run a farm in Gravel Switch, Kentucky, and edit the monthly gardening newsletter HortIdeas.