Water Right makes hoses in three diameters, each corresponding to a maximum gallons-per-minute flow rate, and in lengths from 25 to 100 feet. A 50-foot hose in the midrange diameter weighs just five pounds.
Knowing, rather than guessing, when your garden needs watering is facilitated by a simple rain gauge that can confirm if that downpour yesterday amounted to anything. Friends and family of mine have found their stockings stuffed over the years with the clear acrylic one from Johnny’s Selected Seeds (the Shock-Proof Rain Gauge, about $8), which can measure up to five and a half inches accurately to the nearest 10th of an inch.
Weather-obsessed? (Yes, I’m guilty.) A simple analog rain gauge isn’t winter-proof, and it won’t reveal each 100th of an inch as the rain is falling; it also won’t record humidity, wind speed or other weather metrics. That’s a job for a digital weather station — with its addictive indoor console displaying all the stats in real time, plus keeping cumulative records — like my Davis Vantage Vue.
Put the Tools Away Clean, and Up Off the Floor
Some recent mornings, there has been a bit of frost on the ground, and the gardening shovels have now been retired for the season, in favor of the snow-removal version.
How they’re retired matters. Tools should be hung up, not left touching the floor — even if it’s paved — or leaning against a wall, said Blake Schreck, who owns Garden Tool Company, in Kerrville, Texas, with his wife, Anne Schreck. Moisture is the enemy, and such contact points give its destructive tendencies an opening.
Before your implements go into hibernation — and after every use, if you adhere to best practices, Mr. Schreck said — remove any soil with a stiff brush, then rinse and dry the tool. He recommends oiling wood handles and metal parts, especially if they are not stainless steel. Use boiled linseed oil, not motor oil, letting it soak in for 15 minutes and then wiping off any excess. If the wood grain has raised uncomfortably on a handle, sand it with 80-grit sandpaper and then finish with 120-150 grit before oiling.
As for pruning tools, Mr. Schreck said, following every use you should “treat them like the silverware after supper.” With a nail brush or scrub pad, clean the blades at the sink, using soap and water, and let them dry well. If they have sap residue, remove it with mineral spirits.
