All the Dirt on Gardening

New tools, plants and garden books for 2010 include redesigned handles for spades, double hibiscus for the hedgerow and a dozen volumes on garden design. Each gardener can find something to enhance their library and shed. Here are a few that you may not have heard about. The Arnold Power Rake attaches to many walk-behind lawn mowers (requires tools and some mechanical ability). It dethatches, can help with fall leaf chopping, lawn scalping, and aerating. Cost $15 - $20 Available at Lowes and Amazon.com. Deep Drip Tree Watering Stakes will be helpful for fall tree planting. Watering should be deep enough to encourage the roots to sink down into the soil, below the hole. Deep Drip soakers look like heavy- plastic, giant, turkey-basters, with irrigation holes in the sides. Designed to work with either a garden hose or soaker, they are planted into the hole between the tree trunk and the drip line. Fertilizer added to the Deep Drip via the removable cap goes directly to the roots with wat...

Colleen Plimpton has accomplished an autobiography of herself as a person, a church and community booster, a professional social worker, a gardener, a friend, a daughter-mother-wife, a mentor and someone you will feel you have known for years after reading her book. "Mentors in the Garden of Life" weaves stories of great grandparents, grandparents, in-laws, children, neighbors, casual acquaintences and best friends into the fabric of a life well lived. Plant lovers and gardeners will see themselves in many of the stories because they are at some level common to us all. We watched how our ancestors tended to their flowers, vegetables, houseplants and,or, livestock. And those experiences became a part of us that we lived out later in our own gardens. We experienced the happiness of seeds cracking open, plants returning from dormancy, talking about plants with strangers, family and friends. Most of us have suffered loss and have a plant that reminds us of that love. When Colleen...