New Gardening Club in Sycamore, IL
Here’s a quote from my favorite email of the year:
“My daughter (8) has started a gardening club in the empty lot next to our home. She’s got 8 members in the club now. They just put up a little wire fence they found yesterday, and split an apple and planted the seeds. They are crazy – they even “planted” sticks….they don’t care about the results – they love “building” the garden.”
William Moss from CBS this Morning and HGTV prepares a Raised Bed Garden for planting with Patti Moreno, the Garden Girl.
William Moss from CBS this Morning and HGTV prepares a Raised Bed Garden for planting with Patti Moreno, the Garden Girl using Radius ergonomic tools.
Pond Shark: Net, Rake, Scraper. All-in-one pond cleaning tool.
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!
The NRG Difference
Patti Moreno, The Garden Girl, Demonstrates Radius Tools
Ground Hog Rake
Circular Heads Rake Twice as Fast with Half the Effort!
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
Garden Shark Rake
Circular Heads Rake Twice as Fast with Half the Effort!
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
Stay ahead of string algae! Radius Garden, LLC makes a splash with new Pond Shark, an all-in-one telescoping net, rake and scraper!
Like many pond gardeners, Bruce Baker used to work with multiple tools including nets, rakes, and scraping tools to try to stay ahead of rapidly growing string algae and to keep the surface of his modestly-sized, rubber-lined pond free of debris. As the inventor of many innovative, high quality ergonomic garden tools, it came to him one day when he was covered with pond muck that all of these functions could be integrated in a single tool.
The new Pond Shark from Radius combines the features of a conventional pond net with a scraper blade and tooth-like tines designed to rip and remove string algae in a simple raking motion. Opposite the rake teeth is the flattened scraper blade, ideal for scraping debris from the bottoms of natural and artificially-lined ponds. The durable, nylon-fiber construction makes the Pond Shark effective, but safe, for rubber liners. The hydrodynamic shape of the scraping blade helps the net to move and maneuver more quickly than conventional nets when used to catch fish and other fast moving aquatic creatures. Other unique feature of the Pond Shark are its replaceable, snap-in net and the adjustable, telescoping shaft that locks the tool to any length a user finds appropriate.
Baker says the Pond Shark solves another grooming problem many pond gardeners face. “I was always bothered by yellowing water lily leaves just when the plants were in full flower. Now I catch the stems of the yellowed leaves in the Pond Shark’s teeth and just pop them off into the net,” says Baker.
The new patent pending Pond Shark is the most cost-effective solution for pond gardeners who enjoy the natural beauty of a water feature but would like to stay ahead on their pond maintenance.
About Radius Garden, LLC
Radius Garden, LLC is a leading manufacturer of ergonomic garden tools. Founded in Ann Arbor, MI in 2003, Radius Garden uses current research into human factors and tool usage to create tools that maximize power while minimizing hand, wrist, and back stress. The result is an evolving tool line that allows gardeners to “Garden More. Hurt Less.”™
For more information, photos, and/or samples, please contact:
Edie Herrold, Radius Garden, 734-222-8044 or edie@radiusgarden.com or visit www.radiusgarden.com.
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I have problems with my lower back. For many years I’ve suffered from back pain and muscles spasms in my lower back after heaving lifting, prolonged bending, or frequent squatting. These activities pretty much define what it means to garden, so the equation for me has always been: Gardening=Pain. The worst part about it is that the aches and pains last for many days after a weekend of gardening and interfere with many activities during the work week. I don’t like to take too many analgesics, although I have fondly called Motrin “Vitamin M.”
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.
Yard and garden clean-up tasks get you down? Worried that if you do the job right, you’ll end up with debilitating back pain? Worry no more. Radius Garden, LLC announces the arrival of the new Gator Grabber, a great back-saving tool that can be used to pick up anything from leaves to litter to logs. With its telescoping, powder-coated steel shafts, the Grabber easily adjusts to the correct length for any user and any task. No need to bend and strain.
Sturdy, tooth-lined nylon-fiber jaws clamp and hold debris securely until the Gator Grabber’s jaws are intentionally released. These jaws are shaped and angled to provide ultimate flexibility, allowing the user to work with broad, sweeping strokes or to pinpoint smaller objects.
Uses for this tool are many. Leaves, branches and twigs, pulled weeds, small- to medium-sized rocks…all can easily be picked up and moved using the Gator Grabber. It has even been used to stack a wood pile, picking up one log at a time and depositing it in the desired location. Water gardeners can use it for moving pots and rocks (openings in the paddles make it easy to use in water). Composters can use it to mix or turn their compost. And it’s great for use in stables, too!
An early user, six years into retirement, had this to say, “I can’t thank you enough for the Gator Grabber. It is the best system yet for loading leaves into my shredder, many fewer clogs and no bending over. I usually am exhausted after 90 minutes of leaf removal, but I feel pretty good today!”
About Radius Garden, LLC
Radius Garden, LLC is a leading manufacturer of ergonomic garden tools. Founded in Ann Arbor, MI in 2003, Radius Garden uses current research into human factors and tool usage to create tools that maximize power while minimizing hand, wrist, and back stress. The result is an evolving tool line that allows gardeners to “Garden More. Hurt Less.”™
For more information, photos, and/or samples, please contact:
Edie Herrold, Radius Garden, 734-222-8044 or edie@radiusgarden.com or visit www.radiusgarden.com.
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