No, you’re not lost on an arts and crafts blog. These polyacrylamide polymer crystals can absorb 400 times their weight in water, swelling up to a jelly-like consistency and looking like watery ice, and photo pool member Poekie knows how to capture the beauty of that process. But these crystals can also save your lawn and your pocketbook.

Those of you with lawns, especially if you’re in the southwest, are probably dreading the summer water bills — or you’ve abandoned your yard to the summer scorch and the fire ants. These polymer crystals’ll catch and hold the water that hits your yard, slowly releasing the water as everything dries out.

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This bad-ass combination rake/hoe, commonly called a McLeod tool, is designed to fight wildfires, but you can also garden with it.  The tines are made for raking fire lines, the sharp hoe edge cuts sod or branches, and the head can also be used to tamp and compact. Whether you’re a firefighter or a weekend gardener, you can appreciate the tool’s versatility.

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If you’ve got a lush green lawn, you most likely want to keep it that way — which means no parking on the lawn or driving across it.  Now Soil Retention Systems makes Drivable Grass, a flexible concrete pad that’s used in place of concrete or asphalt driving surfaces. Raised concrete tiles provide a solid surface for driving and parking, and grass grows between the tiles, with the roots protected.

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With spring at hand and summer just around the corner, soon you’ll be hauling the hose all all over the yard. In my experience, the worst part of dealing with a garden hose is reeling it back in, so this No-Crank hose reel definitely appeals to me. After you’re done with the hose, just pull the lever on the No-Crank — and a motor powered by house water pressure reels it back in.

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Pitchforks work great for moving hay or threatening monsters, but they have limited use in turning up and aerating soil — the design just doesn’t give you a lot of leverage. If your soil’s too packed, plants have a harder time growing, and if you rely on a tiller, it can mix your built-up compost and topsoil with the lower soil too much. If you want a low-tech solution, look into a broadfork or U-bar.

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DR’s new Versa Pro Z-Mower covers a lot of ground, literally. You can mow at a top speed of 13 MPH and take hills with a twenty degree incline. I wish I had this when I was growing up; the General Lee would’ve had nothing on my hill-jumping prowess. Then again, DR didn’t design it for kids under the age of sixteen who’re pining for their first car — else they would’ve included an air horn on this fast and maneuverable mower.

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Spring has sprung, for better or for worse, and with spring comes tedious weeding. Gardeners go into battle armed with herbicides and pronged implements, or they engage in hand-to-weed combat. But why should you literally stoop so low as to pull them up, when you can burn them out of existence? With the Weed Dragon you can implement a scorched earth policy against unwanted plants.

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Besides its relatively recent recall, Black & Decker’s old CMM1000 lawn mower was a pretty good buy, and a pretty durable piece of gear. What you see above is its successor, the CMM1200. A quick glance shows a few updates, including a simpler height adjustment system. And it continues to offer some of the older mower’s benefits, like a folding push arm — it’ll fit in most car trunks when folded — and a comfy and handy start lever.

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This weekend I watched part of DIY’s Project Treehouse, which covered the construction of a treehouse from start to finish. During the show, they used a piece of hardware that caught my interest: the Garnier Limb (GL). Michael Garnier operates a treehouse bed and breakfast in Oregon, and he designed the Garnier Limb — a piece of hardware that can be threaded into a tree — to be a mounting point in the construction of tree structures.

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Black & Decker issued a recall on its CMM1000 24V cordless electric lawn mower about two years ago — not a recent recall, but it’s still in effect. Last summer, I found one of these mowers on the side of the road with a sign on it that said ‘Free’. After taking it home, I couldn’t get it to work and figured that’s why it was on the side of the road. While searching for a user’s manual on B&D’s website, I came across this recall. I called up Black & Decker, and sure enough, my model was covered.

The recall involves mowers labeled TYPE 1 through TYPE 4. If you have a TYPE 5 mower you’re already in the clear. According to Black & Decker, “an electrical component can overheat, damaging the lawnmower, and it poses a possibility of a fire hazard. If your mower is included, STOP USING IT IMMEDIATELY and call 1-866-229-5570.” You can call them anytime between 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday through Friday, to arrange for a free repair.

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I’ve always liked the easy lines of the Burgon and Ball tools, especially of knives like their classic pruning knife. Though my attempts at gardening usually begin and end with kicking the occasional dandy-lion over, I still like the blades.

Burgon and Ball have been making hand tools in Sheffield, England for longer than the US has been a country — with that kind of time to work at it, we aren’t surprised they have a good looking product. These folding pruning knives feature blades that are about 3-1/2″ long and a thick, heavy handle for large, gloved hands to work with.

They aren’t the newest thing on the block, but that’s not really the point. Solid craftsmanship and old-school lines are the name of the game, and they’ve got that down.

Street pricing starts at around $55.

Classic Pruning Knife [Burgon and Ball]
Street Pricing [Google Products]

We have no wish to harm our friends of the feather, and neither do the business owners who deploy these spike strips to deter birds from roosting in signs and overhangs. They’re just trying to keep their business from turning into Fort Pigeon, where random organic ordinance often comes into play. But the problem is this: in some cases, the birds aren’t put off at all.

We’ve seen all kinds of methods for scaring off birds, from these spike strips to sirens blaring scary bird sounds. Is this actually a good way to go about de-birding your entry ways, or are “Bird Bombings” just going to happen at storefronts no matter what anyone does? Let us know what you think in comments.

Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

If picking the right push mower isn’t something you like to step into cold, the Home Depot website provides a sweet comparison tool — with voice-overs, tons of pictures, and more than a few models from five of the major manufacturers to choose from.

We can’t imagine anyone would ever pick a mower based solely on an online sales “showroom”, but with this super useful tool you can skim the best features of the popular models on the market, without having to leave the house — and we’re all about that.

Push Mower Selector [Home Depot]

Spring is creeping up on us with steady signs of the new growing season to come, which means it’s time to get the lawn prepped for being green. There are two real methods for this: You can call a lawn care company and shell out for the spring prep – which I highly recommend – or you can do it the old-fashioned way. Most gardeners will debate on this subject for hours, but if you’re doing your own work, here are some chores to consider.

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Mowing the lawn is about as exciting to me as watching it grow. Some folks are wired to savor the earthy enjoyment of a well-manicured lawn that’s carefully cultivated by its loving homeowner.  I’m not that guy.  I hate yard work.  That said, with a mower like the F1, I could change my view on the subject.

The article on Slipperybrick says the F1 will bring the neighbors to your yard to help mow. I say screw ‘em — they didn’t want to help when it was crappy, so why let ‘em help when you’re setting up your very own Backyard 400?

Of course, this isn’t really available anywhere we can find yet — but if it was, we’d look into it before buying a boring-ass model from the local big box.

F1 Lawn Mower Makes Lawn Care Fun Again [Slipperybrick]

John Deere’s updated Z-Trak “Estate Series” residential zero turn lawn mowers will arrive at local Deere dealerships next week. With a Kohler 22 HP or 25 HP V-twin engine, it can whiz along at 10 mph to get to your back forty — and chop some serious grass. Other cool features: a simplified electric start system, padded grips with integrated electronic controls to raise and lower the mower deck, and a folding roll bar.

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If you’re a licensed arborist, please look away — but if you’re an occasional gardener who maybe has some branches to lop off, then check out this $4 saw at Northern Tools. The saw’s constructed from a painted steel frame and comes with the blade and a blade guard.

36″ Bow Saw [Northern Tools]
Street Pricing [Google Products]