Category: Buying Guide

Choosing the best cultivators for vegetable gardens comes down to one thing nobody tells you at the garden centre: bed width, not horsepower. A machine that churns a wide strip in an open field will not fit between two rows of carrots, and a tool with no motor will not save you an afternoon in…

The best loppers for thick branches are the Fiskars 32 inch PowerGear2 bypass loppers, whose geared pivot multiplies hand force enough to shear branches rated up to 2 inches thick. We spent six weeks comparing ten of the highest-rated long-handle loppers against live green limbs, dried storm debris and hardwood offcuts, and the Fiskars is…

Shopping for the best leaf rakes for large lawns comes down to two numbers: head width and handle length. A rake with a 24 inch or wider head and a handle of 54 inches or more covers ground roughly twice as fast as a narrow fan rake with a short handle, and it lets you…

Dandelions are stubborn plants with one unfair advantage: a taproot that runs deep and regrows from almost any fragment you leave behind. That is why the best long handled weeders for dandelions matter more than they look like they should. I spent a full season working through lawn, garden bed and neglected-lawn weeds with ten…

An oscillating lawn sprinkler is a hose-fed unit with a horizontal spray bar of nozzles that sweeps back and forth in a straight line, laying down a fan of water across a long, narrow strip. That strip is exactly the shape of a rectangular lawn, which is why the best oscillating sprinklers for rectangular lawns…

For a large lawn, the right answer is a heavy-duty impact or rotary sprinkler head on a stable tripod, spike or wheeled base, covering 5,000 square feet or more per head. Above-ground systems like these are the fastest way to water a big yard; permanent in-ground kits only make sense once you want unattended, scheduled…

The best propane patio heaters for large patios are not the ones with the biggest number on the box. A single 48,000 BTU tower warms a circle roughly 10 to 12 feet across, which is one seating zone, not a 400 sq ft deck. Buy one for a dining table and a second for a…

A smart sprinkler controller is an irrigation timer that joins your home WiFi so you can schedule, monitor, and cut watering runs short from a phone, and that automatically skips or trims cycles using local rain, wind, temperature, and soil data. On a large property, that automation is the difference between a lawn that stays…

Best overall for camping: the Jackery Explorer 300. It weighs 7.1 pounds, holds 292Wh, and pushes 300W continuously (600W surge), which is enough to run a 12V compressor fridge overnight, charge phones and laptops, and top up camera batteries. If you need more than a day off-grid, step up to a 1,000Wh unit. We put…

Yes, propane fire pits are safe on a deck when the unit is CSA or ETL certified, the flame is contained in a bowl or table cavity, and you keep 36 inches of clearance from anything combustible. Propane throws no sparks, no embers and no ash, which is exactly what makes wood-burning pits dangerous on…