About 2 months ago I was asked by the producers at Canada AM to review some ‘different' gardening products, which I did. The results of which are listed below:

Weed Dragon ('garden blow torch')

Key points:

  • It's a great idea for fast results (having a wedding next weekend and need to clear your drive ?  great way to do it in a day…)
  • It's fun in a ‘guy/power equipment' kind of way.  My wife is afraid of it.
  • Downside: It's dangerous!  Can't use near anything combustible …wooden fence, vinyl siding, combustible clothing (which just about anything).
  • It takes time to get used to starting it.
  • This is a miniature fire cannon….. you could start a bbq with it in a minute!!

Grade: C plus

Aerating shoes

Key points:

  • It's a good idea in principal….provides a useful service to your lawn while walking over it.  They are lightweight and inexpensive.
  • Reality: they are awkward, hard on your lower back (what would Libby think?) and only work on wet soil/lawn.
  • As a gardener I want to use a ‘plug' aerator.   One that pulls plugs out the ground – otherwise I am just squeezing the soil as I push the spikes down to make a hole, which will fill in with the next rainfall or next time that I water.

Grade: D

Mushroom Stool

  • Great idea! 
  • I really like this one – easy on the back, extends the length of time that one can spend in a ‘crouch' position (which is very frequently in most gardens).
  • Must useful for weeding, pruning, thinning veggies like carrots and radishes, pruning/weeding/staking tomatoes.
  • After using this ‘tool' for a couple of hours in my veggie garden I realized that I could spend much more time doing ‘low' jobs with it than trying to do them in a crouch position……. I have better looking tomatoes for it!!

Grade: A

Premium knee pads

  • Good quality/comfy fit around the back of the knees (some others cut off your circulation as you bend your knees) however they need to 'hing' in the middle so that I don't fill them with dirt when I am diggin/weeding.
  • I would recommmend smaller with some flex in the middle to conform to the shape of your bent knee.

Grade: B

Heating pad (Gentle heat that speeds germination of seeds and early growth stage of new seedlings)

  • I like it and it works. I started tomaotes with it and some without and there was about a two week difference between them (heated germinating/growing that much faster).
  • Safe, low heat that comes on only when the air temp demands it.
  • Water proof.

Grade: A

Mark Cullen