The push-button release easily converts the $69 Black & Decker
Cordless Leaf Hog from blower to vacuum. It can also be used as a
mulcher, boasting a 10-to-1 mulch ratio: Ten bags of raked leaves
become one bag of mulched leaves.
FEED ME
Here are two fertilizers that landscapers swear by. Lynda Van
Rossum, a horticulturist and owner of Northern Exposure Greenhouse
in Boulder Junction,
Wisconsin, says her secret weapon when it
comes to lawn feeding is Milorganite, a fertilizer made from
recycled heat-dried bio solids. OK, that's sewage sludge to you and
me. This particular stuff was developed by the Milwaukee Metro
Sewage District and is all the rage in the Cheese State. As anyone
who's ever driven past
Nebraska farm fields on a warm day knows, a
lot of fertilizer comes from waste.
Milorganite is terrific on lawns, as well as plants and vegetables.
It's slow-releasing, low-phosphorous, nontoxic, acts as a deer
repellent, and is especially advantageous for those near water.
Available to homeowners in 40-pound bags that run $6 to $8.
Here's an edge for those dreaming of a lawn as soft and green as
Vijay Singh's Masters jacket. Lesco, the nation's largest provider
of products to the professional turf-care industry, has developed a
fertilizer specifically designed for golf courses. Basically, the
company has improved on the methylene urea/ureaformaldehyde
fertilizers that have been around for years. For nonchemistry
majors, these fertilizers contain four distinct nitrogen fractions,
two that are desirable (slow and long-lasting) and two that are
almost useless (way too slow or way too fast). Novex maximizes the
good stuff. Plus, the particles are so tiny they are almost
invisible.
Lesco products are sold to commercial clients such as Green Bay's
Lambeau Field and New York's Yankee Stadium, but some of its
products are available to consumers in
retail outlets such as Home
Depot, or at one of 234 Lesco service centers around the country.
Note: Since their emphasis is on professional clients, most
products come in large quantities.