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[Mike Furley]

Not a rant, but I couldn't decide which forum this should go in.

my wife and I are celebrating our 4th wedding anniversary this week. we exchange the traditional gifts for each anniversary. This year is fruit & flowers. I'm going to get her things to start a garden as she has always wanted to sstart one. What tools & supplies do you reccommend I buy? I have no gardening experience. Anyone on here have any ideas? I'm trying to adhere to our $100 limit. We already have a hose, but that's about it.

[bluefan]

$100 ain't gonna cover it, chum. My wife's rule of thumb when it comes to gardening: buy everything in sight even remotely pertaining to gardening.
Here's a little list to get you started from my garage and barn:
Nineteen shovels. Make sure they're all different shapes and sizes, though. Can't have hubby catching on that they're all for the same purpose which would be...digging shit. (Kind of like when I sneak a new gun into the house and she finally realizes there's more than there used to be. "No honey, this one kills deer better than that one. That one's for coyotes. Duh." The more sarcastic you sound the more she'll feel dumb and just let it go.)
Three hundred and seventy four flower pots. Again, different shapes and sizes. Some plastic, some terra cotta (sp?), some glass. About half might actually be used for a couple days out of the year but it's nice to know you have more than the entire stock at Menards and Home Depot combined.
One rototiller. Does it matter she uses it once a frickin' year? Hell, no. Gotta have it. (This one alone blows your paltry $100 limit to hell.)
Nine planter carts. What's a planter cart, you ask? It's a four foot tall cart with wheels that you dump your three hundred and seventy four pots on. They're excellent for making you burst a blood vessel when it's time to move them all to mow the damn lawn. Oh, and they're excellent places for bees and hornets to nest in and around.
Assorted hoes, spades, water nozzles, buckets, pitchforks, and rakes. Any combination adding up to twenty eight. It should be a cold day in hell where some type of frickin garden emergency could arise and wifey's unprepared for it.
This about wraps up the "starter's list" for gardening and flower planting. As your wife becomes more and more obsessed with growing shit you two can work on accumulating a real gardener's collection. This meager beginner's kit should tide you over until then.
Oh, one more thing: welcome to hell.

[mgoblue1]

Not a rant, but I couldn't decide which forum this should go in.

my wife and I are celebrating our 4th wedding anniversary this week. we exchange the traditional gifts for each anniversary. This year is fruit & flowers. I'm going to get her things to start a garden as she has always wanted to sstart one. What tools & supplies do you reccommend I buy? I have no gardening experience. Anyone on here have any ideas? I'm trying to adhere to our $100 limit. We already have a hose, but that's about it.

How's this project coming Furley? I was just going to volunteer my .02 for your dilemma here, but I would start out with all of the hand tools needed for gardening, etc., followed up by some good things to plant around this time, don't ask me what those would be, but yeah down the road you probably will need a nice tiller which is not gonna be doable for under 100. You prbably are already aware, but these two links may be a good start
http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Navigation?storeId=10051&N=10000003+90401+500493&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&Ntk=AllProps&cm_sp=Navigation-_-GlobalHeader-_-TopNav-_-Outdoors-_-Garden_Center

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=categorySelect&Ne=4294967294&category=Lawn+%26+Garden&N=4294960705

hope some of this may help and good lucK.

GO BLUE!

[amazinblue]

Furley,

Go to the best nursery in your area - the more specialized, the better. Walk up to the best looking woman working there - and tell her what you want to do. She'll gush all over your thoughtfulness, handle your $100 in a heartbeat, and your wife will appreciate the effort...

Enjoy... and congrats on your anniversary.

[gator]

$100 ain't gonna cover it, chum. My wife's rule of thumb when it comes to gardening: buy everything in sight even remotely pertaining to gardening.
Here's a little list to get you started from my garage and barn:
Nineteen shovels. Make sure they're all different shapes and sizes, though. Can't have hubby catching on that they're all for the same purpose which would be...digging shit. (Kind of like when I sneak a new gun into the house and she finally realizes there's more than there used to be. "No honey, this one kills deer better than that one. That one's for coyotes. Duh." The more sarcastic you sound the more she'll feel dumb and just let it go.)
Three hundred and seventy four flower pots. Again, different shapes and sizes. Some plastic, some terra cotta (sp?), some glass. About half might actually be used for a couple days out of the year but it's nice to know you have more than the entire stock at Menards and Home Depot combined.
One rototiller. Does it matter she uses it once a frickin' year? Hell, no. Gotta have it. (This one alone blows your paltry $100 limit to hell.)
Nine planter carts. What's a planter cart, you ask? It's a four foot tall cart with wheels that you dump your three hundred and seventy four pots on. They're excellent for making you burst a blood vessel when it's time to move them all to mow the damn lawn. Oh, and they're excellent places for bees and hornets to nest in and around.
Assorted hoes, spades, water nozzles, buckets, pitchforks, and rakes. Any combination adding up to twenty eight. It should be a cold day in hell where some type of frickin garden emergency could arise and wifey's unprepared for it.
This about wraps up the "starter's list" for gardening and flower planting. As your wife becomes more and more obsessed with growing shit you two can work on accumulating a real gardener's collection. This meager beginner's kit should tide you over until then.
Oh, one more thing: welcome to hell.

That's funny as hell.

As far as gardening (or outdoor work in general), it's completely different for my wife and me. I actually like it, but my wife hates it (mostly because it's 100 degrees w/ 100% humidity here in FL). I started a flower garden for her before I knew this little fact. I thought all women liked that shit, and it was a good way to spend time together. My mom and grandmother were big in it, and my wife's grandmother loves that kind of stuff. Turns out, I just created a giant headache that I now maintain alone. I assume, however, that you are talking about a real garden (with fruits and vegetables and shit). I would actually love to do one, as I would get something for my labor, but I have not started one because it requires way more work than I currently have available. If you aren't into that kind of thing, bluefan is right....welcome to hell. My parents maintained a 120' x 60' plot and two additional 40' x 40' plots for many years when I was a kid. In case you are wondering, that is a lot of work to do by hand, which I'm now sure was my parents' intention for those long summer months when we were home all day. I'm sure the weather is more agreeable in MI, but a garden is HARD work and time consuming. I pity the fool that wants a garden and doesn't have a tiller (if it's larger than say 30' x 30'). My advice is keep it small until you get one. Just a warning in case you want to rethink this gift idea. If you're sold on it, you are certainly going to need some good shovels, metal rakes, pitchfork, hoes, soaker hoses or sprinklers, good pairs of gloves. That should more than cover your $100 dollar limit. As soon as you start to garden, you will discover that it can be financial blackhole. It won't take much for you to spend more than $500 in your first year of gardening (and if you decide to get a tiller, go ahead and tack on another $300-1,000).

[Mike Furley]

thanks to everyone who gave me some insight. I went to Home Depot today and picked up a lot of stuff to get her started.

[Mike Furley]

Here's the finished product:

Shovel, hoe, rake, nozzle, hand weeder, tiller thingee, and a hand tiller thingee. I made a bunch of origami tulips and taped them to the tools. The Mrs was pleased.

[1OSUNUT]

You may have created a monster. I could not even tell you what my wife spends a year on flowers, wind chimes, decorations and other yard related items. It's insane. Congrats on your 4th !!!!!!!