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The Tucson Gardener |
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In the Garden Calendar
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Wheels & Deals Bummer! I frowned and left empty carted thinking how nice it would have been to have the four wheeled wagon to move heavy clay pots, bags of potting soil, steer manure, and hay bales around the homestead. Usually I use a wheelbarrow for that sort of work but it doesn't always work that well especially when moving heavy clay pots (meaning I've broken a few.) A month after the disappointing search for the cart I received another garden oriented catalog in the mail and on the back cover was a new item for sale. It was the same garden cart Costco illustrated in its catalog. There was also a price tag of $185. Ouch! I'd happily continue to use my old, rusting wheelbarrow until the wheel fell off and the wooden handles turned to splinters. Darned if I didn't get another catalog in the mail a few weeks later from a tool and equipment company trying to entice me into ordering something from them for the first time. I leafed through the pages until I came to a two page spread of lawn and garden wagons and carts. There, up in the right hand corner, was the garden cart I wanted. The only difference between the two advertised carts that I could see was one retailer claimed it could haul 1000 lbs. while the other claimed 500 lbs. Either would work for me. The big difference was the price. This time the cart was on sale for $83 and shipping would be free. I thought of going ahead and ordering the cart and hiding it in the garden hoping my wife wouldn't notice because she hadn't quite gotten over a chipper/grinder folly she endured at my request a few years back. Not one to pass up a bargain, perceived or not, I suggested that my birthday was only three months away and the cart would make a darn nice present for a gardener such as myself. She agreed and I ordered the cart.
A little over a week later when the cart arrived I put the wheels and handle on the thing and parked my truck on the street so the cart would be protected from the elements in the carport. Once the newness wore off the nursery cart got moved to the garden where it's been put into active duty and already saved me a little wear and tear on my. (1999) Editor's note: Variations of these carts are showing up in some of the home improvement stores. Many have side rails.
It Always Looks So Easy On Television It's amazing what can be accomplished in a one half to one hour television show. A prime example is a new front entrance which I've seen done on television on more than one occasion. The carpenter(s) can rip out an old door and pop a new door in place before the second set of commercials. Well, I've needed a new front door since I moved into our house in 1987. The old one was made of particle board, more or less, and didn't work all that well. It wasn't a pretty door and there was no real way to improve on its appearance. Friends said I'd have no problem putting in a new door by myself. But I wanted more than a door. I wanted a new entrance way with new side panels and I had no intention of trying a do-it-yourself job on the new, fairly expensive door system. It was a good thing. I'd decided against a wood door because it wouldn't hold up to Arizona's harsh sunshine and I'd have to paint or varnish far too often. Fiberglas® was a little more expensive than I wanted to spend so I settled on a metal door with decorative glass in the door and side panels. Three weeks later the door arrived. My hired carpenter showed up and we took the door out of the shipping box to discover it wasn't exactly square. Whoever put the thing together must have had a bad day on the assembly line. I emailed the manufacturer and a representative said they would be happy to ship a replacement door. Justifiably annoyed because the door was out of whack in the first place I declined, not wanting to wait another two or three weeks and not so sure when I'd get my carpenter back to do the job. Shaking his head, the carpenter said he might be able to square the door up when he put it in place. The door didn't come painted only primed because that wasn't an option so the carpenter took the door home to paint and left the two assembled side panels in my carport where we spent two days prepping and spray painting them. Nothing was easy and I swear the designers of the doors have no idea what they're doing. They could save a builder and homeowner a whole lot of time, effort and aggravation if they gave it some thought. After a week of dry walling, shimming, reinforcing with steel, caulking, painting, and a whole lot of other things, the door finally got installed. I sincerely hope it lasts as long as I do because I'm not anxious to paint or replace it again. And I don't care how easy the projects on the television shows appear to be -- you'd better know what you're doing or have someone that does before you try to duplicate one of those do-it-yourself projects on your home. So what's all this got to do with desert gardening? Some of those landscaping projects on those television shows look pretty easy, too. Installing a garden wall, or maybe a few pavers in your patio might seem to be the perfect easy do-it-yourself job. Let me just say, "I don't think so." (1999)
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