3 Tips for Easier Gardening

As Grandpa Wicka used to say while repairing the tractor at the family farm outside Wibaux, Montana: "Education Costs Money." And that includes your garden education, as well. Here are three tips that took awhile (and not a few dollars) for me to learn:

Buying a wheelbarrow?  Replace that inflatable tire with a foam filled tire. Yes, that foam-filled tire/wheel combination may set you back an extra $35-40, but you will never again have to worry about a flat tire. Or purchase new inner tubes. Or buy that gooey "fix-a-flat" stuff. Or spend your first ten minutes in the garden each day with the air pump. This goes double for any gardener with an extensively thorny berry patch, where wheeling that barrow can easily cause punctures.

Shopping for garden pruners? Buy quality pruning equipment, and shop at a store that also carries replacement parts for those pruners. That is also true when choosing any sort of garden cutting device, including needle-nose nippers (for cut flowers, fruits, vegetables), pruning hand saws, bow saws, loppers and chain saws. And don't base your purchase on brand name alone. Felco, Corona, Fiskars and other manufacturers do make high quality (and high priced) pruners. But they also may produce inexpensive lines of pruners for the big box stores and chain stores. 

For example, that $10 bypass pruner by Fiskars may not have replaceable blades, a replaceable latch or even the ability to disassemble the unit for cleaning, sharpening and oiling. But the $50 bypass pruners from Felco do have a removable nut so that you can replace and clean the blades, as well as being a better design that may be more comfortable for extended use. The cheaper models might last a year; a good hand pruner by Felco or Corona can last a lifetime, with proper care. One of my favorites is the Felco F-7 (pictured below, on the left). It has a rotating handle that eases the strain on the fingers and hand during a long day of pruning.

One other tip: for general pruning chores, choose bypass hand pruners instead of anvil pruners. Anvil pruners crush the stem, and can leave a messy cut that may invite pests and disease if that branch is alive. Anvil pruners are fine for your cut flower garden (sealing the moisture in the stem until you get the flowers into a vase of water) or for removing completely dead branches. For more information (and some rather stern opinions from local gardening experts), here's a link to more about Anvil vs. Bypass pruners.

When choosing your first drip irrigation system, buy it from a store that's going to be in business for a long time. That store will be your best source for add-ons and replacement parts for your particular system. An irrigation supply store is the best place to shop. Or, choose a reputable online irrigation store, such as Dripworks, based in Willits, California. 
There is no uniformity among manufacturers when it comes to their "half-inch tubing" sizes. The outside diameter of that half-inch mainline drip tubing can range from .620 to .710, depending on the manufacturer. Which means that shopping for fittings, especially couplers, can be a a daunting experience if you're shopping at a different store. The good news: there are universal couplers available that are adjustable to fit most half inch tubing. The bad news: in my experience, they break down after too many years in the sun. Bury them under some mulch for a longer life.

A tip: Not sure what size fitting you need for your drip line? Take a piece of your existing half inch tubing with you to the store, to make sure that the fittings (couplers, tees, elbows) you purchase will, indeed, fit. 

Another tip: note the color on the ends of the couplers, tees, and elbows that you already own and use. Buy the same color when shopping for more of those parts.

One more tip: Shopping for drip fittings and you don't have that spare piece of half-inch pipe with you? Let your finger be your guide. Go out to the garden. Stick your little finger into the opening of one of your existing couplers, tees or elbows. How far does your little finger slide in? Remember that point on your finger, and then you can shop for couplings by "trying them on". Another good reason to always carry hand sanitizer: it might help you get those couplings off your finger if they get stuck.

Anvil Versus Bypass Pruners: Some Cutting Edge Thoughts

 

     This time of year, stroll down the tool aisle of any garden center and you'll find a vast array of cutting instruments, all designed with the backyard gardener in mind. Blade heads of short-handled pruners and long-handled loppers usually come in two different styles: bypass and anvil. 

     Bypass loppers or pruners have a stainless steel curved blade that uses a scissors action to pass next to, not on top of, the lower surface, sometimes called the hook, designed to catch and hold the branch while the cutting blade comes down. 

     The cutting blade of anvil-style pruners comes down onto the center of a soft metal or hard plastic lower surface, called the anvil or table.

         

Bypass pruners offer a cleaner cut, as the blade slices all the way through the stem. 

Anvil pruners tend to crush the soft tissue of the stem, stopping the flow of nutrients, prolonging the healing time for the cut surface.

         Despite the bypass pruner's benefits, garden centers still offer a nearly equal number of anvil-style pruners and loppers, a never-ending source of confusion for the gardener hunting for cutting tools. So, we asked area garden experts their pruning preference: bypass or anvil?

         Sacramento County Farm Advisor Chuck Ingels prefers bypass pruners. "I never use anvil pruners because you often can't cut close enough to the branch collar without leaving somewhat of a stub," says Ingels. "When they begin to wear, they often don't cut all the way through. Also, they crush the bark, which bypass pruners can do also, but you can turn the shears so the blade is closer to the collar and make a clean cut."

         "I don't use and usually do not recommend anvil pruners," says Luanne Leineke, Community Shade Coordinator for the Sacramento Tree Foundation. "I tend to see too many wounded branches, particularly when the bark is soft. I suggest using bypass pruners for up to three quarters of an inch-thick branches, loppers for up to one inch thickness and a hand saw for anything larger."

         Pete Strasser, former plant pathologist with Sacramento's Capital Nursery, has only one use for anvil pruners. "Anvils are for deadheading annuals, and that's about it."

         Loren Oki, Landscape Horticulture Specialist with UC Cooperative Extension in Davis, also has limited use for anvils: "I was taught that bypass pruners were used on live material, whereas the anvil types were better for dead wood. The bypass type cuts cleaner through the softer material without causing much damage."

         Steve Zien, owner of the Citrus Heights-based organic landscape consulting business, Living Resources, leaves no doubt to his preference: "I would never use anvil pruners! Never ever, unless something needed to be pruned right then and there, and it was the only tool I had beside my teeth."

Garden Lessons Learned the Hard Way

As Grandpa Wicka used to say while repairing the tractor at the family farm outside Wibaux, Montana: "Education Costs Money." And that includes your garden education, as well. Here are three tips that took awhile (and not a few dollars) for me to learn:

Buying a wheelbarrow? Replace that inflatable tire with a foam filled tire. Yes, that foam-filled tire/wheel combination may set you back an extra $50, but you will never again have to worry about a flat tire. Or purchase new inner tubes. Or buy that gooey "fix-a-flat" stuff. Or spend your first ten minutes in the garden each day with the air pump. This goes double for any gardener with an extensively thorny berry patch, where wheeling that barrow can easily cause punctures.

Shopping for garden pruners? Buy quality pruning equipment, and shop at a store that also carries replacement parts for those pruners. And don't base your purchase on brand name alone. Felco, Corona, Fiskars and other manufacturers do make high quality (and high priced) pruners. But they also may produce inexpensive lines of pruners for the big box stores and chain stores. 

For example, that $2.37 bypass pruner by Fiskars may not have replaceable blades, a replaceable latch or even the ability to disassemble the unit for cleaning, sharpening and oiling. But the $34 bypass Fiskars do have a removable nut so that you can replace and clean the blades, as well as being a better design that may be more comfortable for extended use. The cheaper models might last a year; a good hand pruner by Felco or Corona can last a lifetime, with proper care. 

One other tip: for general pruning chores, choose bypass hand pruners instead anvil pruners. Anvil pruners crush the stem, and can leave a messy cut that may invite pests and disease if that branch is alive. Anvil pruners are fine for your cut flower garden (sealing the moisture in the stem until you get the flowers into a vase of water) or for removing completely dead branches.

When choosing your first drip irrigation system, buy it from a store that's going to be in business for a long time. That store will be your best source for add-ons and replacement parts for your particular system. An irrigation supply store is the best place to shop. Or, choose a reputable online irrigation store, such as Dripworks, based in Willits, California. 
There is no uniformity among manufacturers when it comes to their "half-inch tubing" sizes. The outside diameter of that half-inch mainline drip tubing can range from .620 to .710, depending on the manufacturer. Which means that shopping for fittings, such as couplers, can be a a daunting experience if you're shopping at a different store. The good news: there are universal couplers available that are adjustable to fit most half inch tubing. The bad news: in my experience, they break down after too many years in the sun. 

A tip: take a piece of your existing half inch tubing with you to the store, to make sure that the fittings (couplers, tees, elbows) you purchase will, indeed, fit. 

Another tip: note the color on the ends of the couplers, tees, and elbows that you already own and use. Buy the same color when shopping for more of those parts. Some couplings (as pictured above) allow you to join different sizes of half-inch drip pipe, or reduce from a three-quarter inch pipe to a half inch pipe. 

One more tip: Shopping for drip fittings and you don't have that spare piece of half-inch pipe with you? Let your finger be your guide. Stick your little finger into the opening of one of your existing couplers, tees or elbows. How far does your little finger slide in? Remember that point on your finger, and then you can shop for couplings by "trying them on". Another good reason to always carry hand sanitizer: it might help you get those couplings off your finger if they get stuck.