* A gardening-gear organizer. Something like a shoe bag for garden tools, it has lots of pockets and fabric-fastener straps, and it can hang over a door or attach to a wall. It is available from gardeners.com for $49.95. However, my friend Durant Bauersfeld swears by her magnetic strip - like the kind used for kitchen knives - for easy access and put-away. Lee Valley (leevalley.com) offers two sizes, 13 inches and 24 inches, for $13.90 and $19.50, respectively.
* Garden kneeler. Gardening can be tough on the knees. This handy aid not only cushions the knees, but the frame allows you to get up and down more easily. Flip it over and it becomes a seat. I bought mine at gardeners.com, where it sells for $34.95.
* Pruner holster. You can't call yourself a gardener until you own a pair of Felco pruners. But it is the leather holster that means you never have to be in the garden without them. About $12.
* Rain barrel. Mine sits on the deck, where a sawed-off downspout fills it and a hose allows me to draw the water off into a watering can. It is an accessible source of water for all the planters on my deck, but it also makes me feel like a better person. If I was a really good person, I would have four of them, collecting rainwater from every corner of my roof. Expect to spend more than $100, unless your local government distributes them for free.
* Gloves. The search for the perfect pair of gardening gloves goes on. We want protection, breathability, durability and machine-washability. The colorful Atlas garden gloves, style 370, meet all those criteria and are now available even at grocery stores for about $4 a pair.
* EasyBloom plant sensor. I haven't gotten one yet, and I may not be able to bring myself to spend the $60 it costs, but it was featured on the Today Show as a gadget that actually works. This in-ground sensor reads and analyzes growing conditions in any spot inside the house or in the yard, measuring sunlight, temperature, humidity, soil moisture and drainage.
After 24 hours, you plug it into a computer USB port and the readings will produce a list of recommended plants from a database of 5,000. It is also supposed to help diagnose the problems of sickly or poor-performing plants.
I think my father might say that's the right tool for the job.
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