Just as we are spending more time than ever at home outside, we are enjoying a rash of new products that make free time there as convenient and comfortable as our indoor kitchens or family rooms.

One of the greatest innovations in all of our lives (after microwave popcorn) is the microchip. It runs our lives in every way imaginable and it’s making headway into our gardens and landscapes as well.

How many times have we visited a nursery or garden center, only to find that the plant information we are looking for is woefully lacking? Details such as cultural requirements or other information that might help us to be smarter gardening consumers is missing all too often.

That no longer has to be the case, thanks to my new friend, the “Pocket Gardener.” It’s a clever free software program that can be loaded into your portable pocket computer or PDA. Tim Rhodus of Ohio State University headed up a project that makes all of us pocket-computer gardeners more confident when we head out on our next big plant buy.

By simply logging on to the Web site and downloading the software, about 190 pages of plant information becomes readily accessible. Furthermore, the data is stored on their computers, so you don’t have to worry about using up a lot of memory.

This is a great resource from one of the top horticultural Web sites in the country. Go online to hcs.osu.edu/pocketgardener for more information.

Even as we enjoy outdoor living in our Web-enabled, remote-control-activated outdoor rooms, we are involving the entire family more and more. So it’s no mystery that we are becoming more environmentally aware of the spaces where our families work, eat, play and relax.

One of the most intensive environmental product focuses today is in addressing the chemicals we put on our lawns to keep them green and weed-free.

As we live and entertain outside, we are requiring better-looking results and, at the same time, demanding less effort to get and keep it there. Companies and products are sprouting up like, well, weeds to meet the demand.

For example, Garden Promise, a California-based company, has developed an all-organic line of liquid fertilizers that can be inserted into drip and lawn irrigation systems. These kits are being tested in California municipalities and piloted in some big-box stores there. If successful, this product should quickly make its way across the country and into our own backyards.

Products like this indicate that manufacturers are hearing and responding to our need for multitasking, eco-friendly, do-it-yourself solutions.

Creating smart combinations that provide environmentally responsible ways to quickly and easily feed our lawns and gardens safely is certainly hitting the mark.

If current trends continue, maybe these time-saving, ecologically responsible solutions will allow us to get back to the days of lazy afternoons in our backyard hammocks … watching our weather-resistant, remote-control television, while the computer-driven, battery-operated lawnmower quietly goes about cutting the organically fed grass.

source : http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/ By JOE LAMP’L