Gleaning Garden Containers for Fall
This year has been an amazing season for my elevated gardens. Since the spring I have been testing a garden tool from Gardeners Supply called the Lifetime Raised Bed Cultivator – it is a swan-neck hoe on one side and a three-prong cultivator on the other side – and is super strong. I have been testing it all season long and have found it is excellent for projects outside of the elevated beds as well.
Gleaning Garden Containers in Fall
One of the things I do in late summer is pulling out a few plants that are not performing well in the various outdoor elevated beds and containers I have around the garden. Below you see me using the swan-neck hoe side to dig beneath the roots of a mint plant that has become invested into the container’s soil. I’ll pull the mint, which has a bit of fungus and has stopped performing well and let the garden container continue through the end of fall. This extends the growing season.
Gleaning garden containers of ill-performing plant materials leaves more space for growing plants, prevents disease by increasing aeration, and enables plant replacement by creating an open space. Many containers can become soil compacted and root-bound by the end of the garden season and loosening the soil a bit with the three-prong cultivator side of the tool helps increase aeration as well.
Weeding and Digging with the Cultivator
Additionally, I tried weeding with the three-prong side of the tool and found it great for getting small weeds and debris from the garden up in one scoop (above and below). Flip the tool over to the swan neck hoe side and it works well to dig holes and do deeper in-ground cultivation (bottom).
Overall I review this versatile Lifetime Raised Bed Cultivator garden tool as a 4 thumbs up because of its lifetime guarantee, plus it has a sustainably grown ash handle with an 18-inch reach that enables me to get all the way across the garden bed and helps me loosen soil and pull any debris out of the elevated beds. A great tool with many uses.
