Garden gadgets

You'll find lots of new gardening products hitting the shelves and catalogs this spring -- many of them enviro-friendly.

Here's a sampling of what's new, available at many gardening centers:

EarthBox. Think automatic garden in a box. This plastic box -- a little more than a foot wide and 2 feet long -- has a self-watering reservoir in the bottom and a plastic sheet that goes over the potting mix to reduce evaporation and stop weeds. Just keep the reservoir full and it's brainless growing (www.earthbox.com, $50).

Stone carpets. No need to push around wheelbarrows full of stones to build a stone path anymore. This product from the Tenax Corp. bonds stone to 4-foot sections of mesh so you can just roll out instant paths. ($49 per box).

Leatherman Genus Pruning Multi-Tool. This one fold-up gadget has a tool for any yard job you can imagine: pruners, a wire cutter, screwdrivers, mini-saw, bottle opener, sharpening stick and more ($99.99).

Revolution Planter. An 8-inch-diameter hanging cage that lets you grow tomatoes out of the bottom. The cage is filled with soil and has a built-in water reservoir. Plant a tomato in the bottom, hang it on the patio and you'll get fruits at eye level. A good option for those with blight problems in their garden soil or for those with little space who just want one or two tomato plants (Gardener's Supply catalog at www.gardeners.com, $19.95).

Ultra-green. This potting mix is 100 percent organic with no peat (it's a blend of compost, worm poop, coir and perlite) and is made using equipment powered by wind and waste oil. Developed by soil scientist Mark Highland (www .organicmechanicsoil.com, $8.99 -$10.49 for 16-quart bag).

Escar-Go Supreme. Get rid of slugs and snails without heavy-handed chemicals. This granular product contains pet- and wildlife-safe iron phosphate and a fermented bacterium called Spinosad to make slugs so sick they stop eating and die. Also controls cutworms and earwigs (Gardens Alive catalog, www.GardensAlive.com, $9.95 for a 13-ounce box).

PotHoles Drainage Discs. Keep soil from dribbling out through your pots' drainage holes with these 5- or 6.5-inch porous discs. The material is breathable and rot-resistant and lasts for years (www.charleysgreenhouse.com or www.floriantools.com, $9.95-$12.95 per pair).

Essex Plant Supports. These elegant four-legged plant supports are shaped like a vase so they help tall flowers stand up in the garden in bouquet fashion. Made of powder-coated black steel (Gardener's Supply catalog, www.gardeners.com, $24.95-$29.95 per pair).

Dynamite Organic. The first organic-certified (OMRI listed) granular fertilizer that's formulated to last for three months in a single application. Think timed-release Osmocote, only organic. It's derived from feather meal, blood meal, bone meal and potash, carries a 10-2-8 nutrient ratio and is odorless (Home Depot or www.dynamite plantfood.com, $8.99 for a 2-pound container).

ColorStorm Premium Rubber Hose. Dramm Corp. has high-quality, crush- and kink-resistant rubber hoses that come in six "rainbow" colors to match the company's Watering Wands. (Ace and True Value hardware stores or www.dramm.com, $50 for 50-foot hose).