In the Fiskars Garden

Fiskars Featured in Seattle Times (June, 08)

Fiskars PowerGear and Softouch Lines availability at Home Depot, Mentioned at Ottawacitizen.com (June 2008)

Ailsa Francis, Citizen Special

Published: Saturday, June 07, 2008

Tools and gadgets

Ottawa Citizen- Ontario, Canada

Fiskars tools are available at Home Depot and Felcos are available at Lee Valley and most good garden centres. 5 Shovel and spades: This is a personal ...
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Tools, Fiskars Power Pivot (April, 2008)

3 On Your Side: Garden Tools

CBS- Philadelphia, PA USA

Fiskars Power Pivot grass shears make the cut because they can go where a mower can't. They retail for $23. To get your older garden tools ready for spring, ...
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Fiskars Power Gear in The Allied Newspaper (April, 2008)

By T.C. Conner/Correspondent

http://www.alliednews.com/aboutus

My neighbor Michele called the other day and asked if I’d come over and help her dig up a clump of stubborn irises that had wedged themselves in between the paved driveway and yard. The weather was perfect, early spring warmthBy T.C. Conner/Correspondent

My neighbor Michele called the other day and asked if I’d come over and help her dig up a clump of stubborn irises that had wedged themselves in between the paved driveway and yard. The weather was perfect, early spring warmth lured me out and I grabbed my garden fork, grinning from ear to ear, contemplating dirt and neighborly gardening gossip.

Michele found the outline of the clump before my arrival and even though the ground was moist, digging wasn’t easy. However, our duo-digging efforts proved successful and the clump was removed.

Having the right tool for the above job made the task a little easier. We always hear about new flower varieties, but little is said about new and/or innovative gardening tools. Can improvements be made to the standard pair of Felco or Fiskar pruners you’ve been using for decades? What about the common garden rake or hoe? Can these be made in such a way as to substantially decrease the efforts we expel on raking and hoeing?

While tooling around the floor of the Philly Flower Show last month, I stopped by one of the vendor booths. Fiskars makes several types of hand-held pruners and was introducing a new pair with a “powergear mechanism.” These new pruners have a power gear that increases leverage, making pruning much easier. I tried a pair after seeing the demo and found out for myself that these pruners really do make cutting easier. As for other gardening tools like shovels and trowels, well, that’s another matter.

It must be practically impossible to make improvements to the common garden shovel. I guess you could say that composites have added to the life of shovels, but plastic doesn’t make the actual digging any easier. Albeit the ergonomically designed padded handles are comforting to our palms, the business end of the tool is basically the same as it always was. Keep your wooden shovels in good shape by storing them inside and wiping the handles down with linseed oil and I can almost guarantee that they’ll last just as long as a plastic-handled shovel.

Small hand-held shovels and trowels come in a variety of shapes, sizes and colors, and are also made from composite materials. Again, the basic design (the business end) of these tools has remained the same so there’s nothing really new here. Some makers claim that their “swan neck” or “natural radius grip” gardening tools will revolutionize the way we garden when in all actuality their tools just make us look geeky with weird wands in our hands.

I suppose if you’re using one of those newly designed tools and it makes you feel like a better gardener, that’s OK; bless your heart.

TC’s Gardening Tips

ä Shovels with stainless steel blades resist rust, but do not make digging easier. I think they’re too pretty to use anyway, unless you’re having a ribbon cutting ceremony for your new garden.

ä I saw an ad for a pair of gardening gloves that read like an ad for boxing gloves: “4-way stretch spandex, elastic debris cuffs and reinforced fingers with grip dots.” These “gloves” cost 25 bucks! C’mon folks, don’t go for gimmicky stuff. A good pair of leather gloves costs half as much and gives the same, if not more, protection.

ä Be leery of ads that claim something will “last a lifetime,” or ones that say a product “will never rust or bend.” I’ve bent non-bending trowels and buffed rust from them too. Again, proper care and your tools should outlive you.

ä That clump of irises I helped Michele move proved too much for my garden fork. I had to give one last final pry and it snapped into two pieces! I think I’ll check out one of those new-fangled-space-age-composite-stainless-steel-last-a-lifetime-never-rust-or-bend garden forks!

T.C. Conner is a Master Gardener and columnist for Allied News. He can be reached at tc@thewritegardener.com.

Fiskars PowerGear Hedge Shears Cameo in Consumer Reports (Apr, 2008)

Fiskars Featured in Today's Garden Center Magazine (Mar, 2008)

Fiskars Featured in Seasons Magazine (Mar, 2008)

Fiskars Garden Tools & Fiskars Pottery Blog/Media Coverage (Mar, 2008)

Growing and Mowing and Bears, Oh My!
PR Newswire (press release) - New York,NY,USA
Plant them in the Fiskars All-Natural Planter (Item #291478, $3.99) to be extra eco-conscious or make a beautiful garden arrangement for your favorite mama ...

Fiskars Gardening Tools
By sandyking
Trimming and pruning tools are an essential requirement for all levels of gardeners and the Fiskars line has an exceptional array of products for you to choose from. Powerful, well balanced and easy to use, pruning and trimming will ...
Writer/Photographer Sandy King's... - http://sandyking.wordpress.com

Fiskars Tree Pruners - Fiskars Pruning Stiks
By John
If you’ve ever had to pay to have a tree pruned, you know that the investment in a good tree pruner is one that will pay off handsomely in a single session of trimming. While a telescoping pruner can’t do everything that you get with a ...
How to Garden Guide - http://howtogardenguide.com

Tools & toys
Arkansas Democrat Gazette - AR,USA
Fiskars Garden Multi-Tool What’s to love: Both sides of pruning-shear blades are sharpened for different uses. What it does: The palm-size tool slices, ...
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Aging boomers dig ergonomic tools
By admin
Some handles, such as those on shovels made by Fiskars, are shaped like an oversized “D” to make it easier to grip and reduce hand fatigue. Fiskars’ signature orange-handled tools are available at many retail stores. See fiskars .com. ...
Best Hobbies Live - http://www.besthobbieslive.com/

Fiskars PowerGear Blog Coverage (Feb, 2008)

Oldest/Newest

2/20/2008 – 1:26 pm

Today is Oldest-Newest Day! Yep, I’m just making this stuff up as I go along. Feel free to play along!

Today I’ve picked my oldest and newest tools. First up is my newest, a pair of Fiskars PowerGear Bypass pruners. When I run across a tool that has the potential to make my life easier and costs less than twenty bucks, I grab it.
I bought a pair of these at Home Depot Sunday to replace my ancient pair of Corona heavy duty pruners. The Coronas held up under unbelievably horrid conditions; I’d leave them out in the rain over and over again, then have Arthur scrape the rust off and re-sharpen them.
The Fiskars might not last as long under my care, but I don’t care; anyone who can harness the power of physics and hand it to me has my undying respect. I was just out cutting 1″ round ficus branches with this sucker!  http://www.pamibe.com

Fiskars At the Northwest Flower & Garden Show - Seattle Pi.com (Feb, 2008)

The Grounded Gardener: Plot your path to a splendid season

Scratch that garden itch and don't miss these stops to get you ready for spring

By MARTY WINGATE
SPECIAL TO THE P-I  www.seattlepi.com

THE NORTHWEST FLOWER & Garden Show gives gardeners a chance to break out of winter for five days and shop for the coming season. Tools, accessories, furniture and plants, plants, plants are to be had, and here's where you can find them.

Garden accessories and decor are for indoors and out, helping to bring a bit of the natural world inside. At Wilburton Pottery (booth 1202), clay tiles are made from molds with designs that reflect plants, animals and other designs, often with an ancient quality. A small square tile with pinecones, berries or leaf motif is $15, or $48 for a tile with a color wash. Larger sizes are available.

The ovenproof pottery from Off the Walz Studio (420) adds color and life to the table. The gourmet salad set includes a platter, serving bowls, condiment dishes and more, and all fit together in an ingenious way to create one large, leafy head of lettuce ($399-799). Smaller single pieces are available, such as the asparagus platter ($40) and ear of corn ($20) -- taking on the appearance of what you can serve in them.

English Bridgewater pottery in all its flora and fauna glory is found at the Country Garden Antiques booth (204). Eggcups ($16), baby mugs ($23), cat and dog dishes ($28, $48) are only a few of the delightful pieces. For car enthusiasts, there's a Mini Cooper mug ($28).

At Lucca Statuary (1313), you can save 30 percent on special orders at the show. That would put that great set of lion bookends at just $34.30. Pick up a coupon to use at their Fremont store.

Decorative glazed tiles (starting at $12) at Convergence (616) and patterned mosaic vases ($99) at Artcycle Mosaics (614) add color to the garden, wall or table at any time of year.

The show is the place to compare hand pruners, loppers, pruning saws and weeders, to learn which one feels best in your hand. Lee Valley Tools (500) carries high-quality English spades and Fiskars (2244) -- directly across the aisle from the P-I booth -- has a new line of hand tools at special show prices. The Power Pivot tools, which reduce hand fatigue, are $14.99 for the small bypass pruners, $19.99 for the medium size or the grass shears.

Look for nitrile gloves for $7 a pair at Seed Ballz (312) and Wildflower Seed Co. (411). The material is tough but thin, so you can even pick up seeds, and a breathable knit backing keeps your hands cool.

You can read about and look at pictures of greenhouses, but at the show you can walk inside. Check out the display models from SunGlo (2127) and Charley's Greenhouse & Garden (202), and talk with the experts about what you need your greenhouse to do.

I dare you to walk past the Chocolate Flower Farm booth (2430) without following your nose to the chocolate-scented candles -- in various sizes, starting at about $8.50.

Here's a great opportunity for all of us who love own-root roses: you can order from Heirloom Garden Roses at its booth (2309) and get a discount.

Get ready for summer -- buy your begonia tubers now. Antonelli Brothers (2414) sell basket or upright tubers at $4 each, six for $22.50 or -- the show special -- $45 for a dozen (plus a bag of fertilizer).

Lily bulbs abound at B&D (401, 2320) and at the Lily Pad (2230), which has a three-pack of the fragrant crimson-and-white Oriental lily 'Starfighter' for $8.99 and a three-pack of the Oriental hybrid 'Serrano,' a soft yellow and fragrant, for $15.99.

Emery's Garden (2305) brings back a popular item -- you-pick 'Stargazer' lily bulbs for $2 each, three for $5, or 'African Queen' bulbs for $4. Plus stick plants -- my favorite way to buy. You'll find small Japanese maples, including 'Butterfly' and 'Sango Kaku,' for just $10 each.

Dormant perennials in bags of cedar shavings or sawdust are hot tickets at the show. You can find an enormous range of plants, and at great prices. Sundquist Nursery (2316) has an unusual gold-leaved Clematis alpina cultivar called 'Stolwijk Gold' for $20, and deep red Alstroemeria 'Inca Adore' for $10. It's not invasive!

Far Reaches Farm (2110) offers the beautiful peony with the unpronounceable name: Paeonia mlokosewithschii, better known as molly-the-witch. It's an incredible deal at $10. Sweet pink Rhodohypoxis is $8, and there are lots of kniphofias.

Lots more great dormant perennials can be found at Woodland Gardens (2120) and Naylor Creek Nursery (2220).

If I could buy an entire booth, I'd take Killdeer Farms Geraniums (2204), full of all the fancy-leaved pelargoniums I love. 'Frank Headley,' 'Happy Thoughts,' Mrs. Cox' and more -- $3 and up.

Many will find homes in my pots this year.

Marty Wingate, a Master Gardener, is the author of two garden books. She can be contacted at: martywin@earthlink.net.