It seems that home improvement stores are making their gardening supply and nursery stocks more expansive year by year. You can buy gardening products in various stores or nurseries, or you can order gardening products from catalogs, or even order them online. The trick is in knowing what you need for the jobs you plan to undertake.

You will obviously need the basic gardening tools no matter what you are planting, such as a hoe, spade, and maybe even a shovel. You must have watering supplies, like a hose, sprinkler and watering can. Other possibilities include a spade, a pot, and a pair of gloves for comfort, some pruning shears and a rake. Then, of course, there are the essentials such as the lawn mower and weed whacker, but we are mainly going to focus here on the basic landscape/gardening tools and leave the grass for another day.

When first starting a garden you will definitely want some type of mushroom mulch, manure or peat moss to properly amend your soil. There are a few types of potting soil that you can also add into your slurry including organic potting mix, seed starting potting mix, cactus potting mix, and root development potting mix, just to name a few.

If you are growing vegetables or herbs, you may need different gardening tools than regular flower gardens require. If you are growing tomatoes for example, you will need a tomato cage and ties to protect the plants against the wind. Many plants, mostly vines, are designed to grow on something and you will have to have a fence or trellis of some sort.

There are decorative flower pots, sundials, plastic figurines, stones or bricks for a pathway or looks, and even lawn furniture. The big trend in country gardening is to find old, weathered and rusted garden tools and plant those in and amongst the greenery. Decoration will add to the charm and uniqueness of your garden and is an excellent way to give it a personal touch.

The winter months will bring a whole new set of gardening products to store shelves. When the frost hits the prime place to put your plants are in a greenhouse. However, if you do not have a greenhouse for whatever reason, a tarp of some sorts can be used to cover plants up at night. You also might need a light source, like a heat lamp, to both keep plants warm and give them extra light. In addition, you are going to need a snow shovel or maybe even a snow blower, as well as some good quality driveway ice melter.

New and upgraded gardening products are always popping up on the market. It seems like every day there is some gardening product that claims to be bigger and better than the last. While many gardening tools are not a necessity, they sure make the job a lot easier and more enjoyable. Fall time is a great time to pick up deals on lawn and garden tools as the season is nearly over and they are often found on clearance. Check them out today!

Bark – the outer bark of the birch tree is traditionally gathered in june from live trees by making a horizontal slice in the trunk and pealing away the thick sheet of layers all the way down to the darker inner bark of the tree (which of course harms the tree)- birch bark from fallen trees or trees slated for harvest is best to use. Fresh bark can be easily bent and sewn, but older bark which has been pressed flat for storage must be heated with warm water for a few minutes to make it flexible enough for bending without splitting. (Soaking the bark is not necessary for the step of inserting the quills through the bark or for sewing flat pieces together).

Quills – porcupine quills can always be bought from craft supply companies but there are more creative ways of obtaining a supply of quills. Porcupines are often hit by cars in the northeast but at least use can be made of their quills. A clever woods-person can get a good supply of quills without harm to the ?porky? – a generous amount of quills will stick to a blanket, sweater or other ready article of clothing strategically tossed over the slow-moving critter. Quills must be soaked in warm water to make them soft and flexible – ideally kept warm and moist in the quill-workers mouth – I prefer to alternate my quills between a small container of warm water and a moist sponge to rest them on so they don?t over-soak.

Marker – or a bone marker to etch onto the dark stiff (inner bark) side the design to be quilled (or a pencil to draw the design on). The pairs perforations are placed along these line placed

Scissors – preferably two pair: a heavy duty pair for cutting the bark and one for snipping quills and lighter work.

Awl – Traditionally sharpened bone awls are used for making the perforations in birch bark. One such awl is made from the naturally tapering arm (ulna) bone of a deer or similar mammal. An awl with a triangular point works best and doesn?t split the bark as a round needle tends to. But in a pinch a large leather needle or other pin can be used to make the perforations in the bark.

Tweezers or pliers – Though quills can be grasped easily enough by pinching fingers if the hole is large and the quill is inserted far enough, tweezers can really help to grab that teeny-weenie pointy tip when you go to pull it through the hole. Just be careful not to snap the point of the quill off if you?re using metal tools to grab the quill.

Spruce root, cotton thread , or imitation sinew (waxed nylon) string – The piece of decorated bark must have a separate bark backing or liner sewn on with lashing or thread to protect the short bent-over ends of the quills and to keep quills from slipping out. Spruce root, split down to the same width as the quills, is traditionally used to lash the rims of decorated bark containers and is ingeniously incorporated into designs. Use an awl to make holes for stiff spruce root or a for a standard needle and thread. A glovers needle (having a triangular point) can also be used. Whip stitch-on a backing the same size and shape of birch bark.