Patsy Bell Hobson's friend, Elsie, using the Gator Grabber.

Well-known freelance writer, Patsy Bell Hobson, has some nice things to say about our Gator Grabber. See the whole article here.

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Graham Renny, inventor of the Gator Grabber, returns to QVC UK for a second appearance after selling out in 6 minutes during his first appearance.

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Bruce Baker, Radius Garden founder, discusses the design of the Natural Radius Grip trowel.

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Like all of the Radius Garden tools, the Pond Shark was designed to provide a better way to solve a real problem. I have a rubber-lined pond in my own back yard and struggled for years to keep it clean and free of string algae. I used a variety of tools to do the cleanup, but I invariably ended up draining two thirds of the water, climbing in, and cleaning by hand. Along the way I used various tools to scrape away algae, used old rakes to try to scoop objects and rubbish from the pond, and wore out many fish nets chasing after my numerous Shubunkins. Because my pond is about 12 feet across and over 4 feet deep I often taped various tools onto the end of a long piece of bamboo to give me the reach I needed to get at remote corners of the pond.

One day, when I was drenched with pond water and covered with pond scum, it suddenly dawned on me that as a garden tools designer and manufacturer I could solve these problems for me and everyone else by making a tool that was just right for the task. The design of a net, rake, and scraper all in one telescoping tool came to me very quickly. We made it safe for fish and rubber liners, but sturdy enough to lift big rocks from the pond bottom. We also realized we need two lengths: the Pond Shark a five foot extended version for the casual water gardener, and the Pond Shark Pro an eight foot fully extended version for the more serious or professional water gardener.

That’s our friend, Patti Moreno, the Garden Girl using the Pond Shark on the right. She tells me she uses it every day to harvest duckweed that she feeds to her chickens!

There are many attributes of the Pond Shark that make it the perfect tool for the water garden. After we finished tooling the production models we discovered that the beveled surface of the scraper blade, designed to be safe for artificial pond liners, made the net move through the water faster through an accidentally hydrodynamic design making it better than any fish net I’d ever used. Removing string algae is easy as the rake tines will rip it into the net using a gentle raking motion. I find it is easy to groom water plants, especially water lilies, by popping off the dead leaves into the net. The sturdy, telescoping shaft allows me to clean up the deepest recesses of my pond. You will fall in love with the Pond Shark after using it only once!

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Few Radius tools have been less understood by the public and more loved by their users than our G-Series rakes. They look weird, have goofy mascots (a woodchuck and a green shark), and in addition to being the greatest garden rakes I’ve ever used they do a lot of things that normal rakes won’t do.

When you look at the Ground Hog the first thing you notice is the curved head with straight tines. You might also notice that the shaft is longer than most rakes and is pitched at an angle that doesn’t force you to bend over when using the rake. People also get confused when they hear the word “ergonomic.” It is derived from the Latin for “work naturally.” So when we design an ergonomic rake we don’t add some crazy bend to the shaft; instead we allow you to work naturally by standing up straight in a way that won’t hurt your back.

With the Ground Hog in hand the next thing you will notice is that the curved head will grab and gather much more material than it seems like it should based on its size. It’s not unlike the way you reach out with your own hands placing your fingers in a curved semi-circle to grab and gather. The next thing you might notice about the Ground Hog is that it isn’t limited much in what it will grab and gather. Wet leaves, mulch, branches, trash; just about anything with which conventional rakes have a lot of trouble. It’s a natural shrub rake that won’t break or get caught in stems like most conventional shrub rakes. The circular head design allows you to rake around a corner, so you can get behind existing landscape easily. Another unique benefit of the circular head rake design is that while it rakes away almost anything, it requires only a very light touch that will not damage the landscape underneath it.

What I love the most about the Ground Hog is that the head is angled so that when you flip it over you can use it like a pitch fork. This makes garden and lawn cleanup a breeze. As a prairie plant gardener one of my annual spring tasks is to clean up the thousands of tall wildflower stems left over from the previous growing season. I use only one tool for this task: the Ground Hog. The first step in the process is to snap the stems at their bases by sweeping the Ground Hog back and forth in a pendulum-like motion. Next, I rake the stems into piles. Most of these stems are 2 to 4 feet long, so conventional rakes are useless for this. Finally, I pitch the piles, using the Ground Hog like a fork, for composting.

Once you try the Ground Hog and Garden Shark rakes I am convinced you will never use a conventional rake again.

The ergonomically designed, Ground Hog Rake is so versatile that it’s almost impossible to describe all of its uses but you can Learn More About this Product Here

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Few Radius tools have been less understood by the public and more loved by their users than our G-Series rakes. They look weird, have goofy mascots (a woodchuck and a green shark), and in addition to being the greatest garden rakes I’ve ever used they do a lot of things that normal rakes won’t do.

The Garden Shark may look even stranger to many people than does the Ground Hog. There are two major differences in design that give the Garden Shark some wonderful and unique properties as a rake. In addition to its circular head, the tines of the Garden Shark curve sharply inward. That curvature, combined with an even longer shaft than that of the Ground Hog, makes the Garden Shark the best all around garden and lawn rake I’ve ever used.

While you can use the Garden Shark for almost anything around the home, I have three favorite applications for it that I will describe.

First, the curved tines of the Garden Shark make it an ideal rake for cleaning and cultivating garden soil. It reaches out to grab unwanted rocks, dirt clods, and other refuse just like you would do with your own hands, except that you can be working on a corner of the garden 5 or 6 feet away from you without bending over. The angles of the tines and shaft combine to allow an ergonomic, stress free raking experience with no lower back stress. As you work the Garden Shark back and forth in your garden you will notice that it combs and cultivates the soil on the pull stroke while smoothing it on the back stroke. You will be amazed at how the same curvature in the tines that grabs and gathers on the pull stroke will glide across the soil on the push stroke leaving it perfectly smooth for planting.

I have large naturally landscaped areas in my yard that are covered with mulch for appearance and weed control. The Garden Shark is absolutely the finest mulch rake I have ever used. It will grab and gather mulch on the pull stroke and smooth it on the push stroke. The curvature is perfect for smoothing even fibrous mulch materials, such as shredded bark, with nothing more than a gentle pushing motion where the weight of the rake head does all of the smoothing work for you. This contrasts with years of flipping over a straight rake and struggling to smooth mulch until I ended up on my hands and knees fixing all of the problem areas. The curved head also allows you to mulch right around a corner or between existing landscape. The same pull/push stroke method works very well to refresh trampled mulch periodically. The Garden Shark is at least twice as fast for mulching as an other method I’ve ever seen.

A third application I want to highlight for the Garden Shark is for dethatching lawns. The first time I tried this on my own lawn I was amazed at how the Garden Shark will pull itself down and comb out the thatch with almost no effort. A quick push will clean all of the thatch from the tines. It’s really easy.

Once you try the Garden Shark and Ground Hog rakes I am convinced you will never use a conventional rake again.

The ergonomically designed, Garden Shark Rake is so versatile that it’s almost impossible to describe all of its uses but you can Learn More About this Product Here

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I am often approached by would-be garden tool inventors who have a new twist on a shovel, so I was tempted to ignore an email I received in early 2008 from Bruce Renny in the U.K. introducing me to an unusual product he called the “Grab-O-Saurus.” I’m very familiar with the low quality grabbing tools with pincher ends that have little or no utility in the garden, but I decided to visit his web site out of simple curiosity. What I saw was a rather crude, but apparently effective grabbing tool that looked like a giant pair of tongs. But, I couldn’t get the idea out of my head that and ergonomic grabber tool might be the solution to my back problems.

After playing with a sample of the product I decided to obtain the rights and redesign it within the constraints of its U.S., U.K., and European patents for greater utility and better ergonomics. We added telescoping handles so gardeners could adjust the length and reach as needed for the task at hand. We extensively redesigned the blades, or paddles, to incorporate better grabbing teeth. We we added curvature to the head for more grabbing capacity. We added openings on the paddles to make it lighter weight and more useful in water. It is actually one of the best water gardening tools I’ve ever used for moving pots and rocks and cleaning up ponds. Overall, we improved what was already a great idea. And, yes, I can now do extensive cleanup work in my yard and garden without bending over and without suffering any lower back pain.

What have I used the Gator Grabber for? I’ve stacked logs. I’ve mixed compost just like I would toss a giant salad. I’ve picked up potted plants that have fallen to the bottom of my pond and replaced them on the proper shelf. I’ve loaded several hundred pounds of black walnuts into a trash can. I’ve moved large piles of native wildflower (weed) stems after cutting them in the fall. I’ve stuffed piles of leaves into bags. I’ve cleaned up manure-laden straw in a horse stall. Finally, I just had a lot of fun playing with this amazing, ergonomic garden tool.

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I’ve been an amateur landscaper all of my life. I’ve transplanted many hundreds if not thousands of trees and shrubs and shrubs in my day. Finding the right spade was always a challenge. For many years my favorite spade was nine pound monster with a “D” handle and metal strapping two thirds of the way up the shaft. What I like about this tool was its deep blade with just enough curvature to help me move soil, but a flat enough business end so I could sharpen it and cut through roots. It had no step, so I often cut the soles of my work shows and infrequently ripped into my ankle for a very painful surprise. The “D” handle was made of wood, which occasionally splintered into the palm of my hand. It wasn’t large enough for me to hold with both hands in a natural position, but I grabbed it with both hands anyway and often bruised the palms of my hands on the corners of the handle.

The Radius PRO Spade was designed with the famous Natural Radius Grip “O” handle that allows one to hold the handle at all times with two hands in a safe, comfortable position. The unique shape of the blade includes the sharp, flat end of the very best nursery spades, but then widens out at the top to accommodate an extra-wide step that is bent forward for maximum digging thrust. The soft edges of the step eliminate the landscapers’ dreaded ankle injuries. Instead of outer metal strapping, we encase a carbon steel core through the entire length of the shaft to insure the tool will never bend or break. This versatile spade will last forever and stand up to the very best nursery or digging spade you’ve ever used. And, the Natural Radius Grip design will reduce or even eliminate the tendonitis commonly caused by excessive work with “D” handle spades.

The picture below was forwarded to us by a very proud, 61 year old woman who had just finished turning a rather large plot of mostly clay soil.

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