I was surprised, after my post last week on removing weeds from sidewalk cracks, to find an email in my inbox from a representative at Scotts, who, of course, are the makers of Roundup. The sender, Brian, with a Scotts.com email address, had this to say:

"I am surprised you recommended hand-pulling dandelions. The roots can grow to 2 feet in length. If you leave snippet in the ground, it grows back. That sounds like a recommendation for futility."

My first, head-shaking thought was, "what, I should be telling people to spray it with Roundup?" Which is, of course, exactly what Scotts Miracle Gro, makers of Roundup, want us to say.

I have a couple of responses to this. First, I'll address the issue of dandelion removal. Then, I'll address the larger issue why, exactly, this company drives me batty.

On the issue of dandelion removal: Yes, Brian of Scotts.com, if you don't get the entire taproot, dandelions may very well come back. I may need to pull it out again. This is, of course, if I choose to pull it at all, given the fact that dandelion greens are absolutely delicious and their blooms are favorites of many pollinators. I think that, in general, someone who writes for or reads a website about organic gardening sees a bigger picture than just waging battle on weeds. And this week, my devotion to pulling rather than spraying was made even stronger thanks to an article published in Scientific American.

For those of you who haven't heard about the article, a French team studied the effects of Roundup's inert ingredients (you know---the ones that aren't supposed to have any effect other than helping the glyphosate do its job) and found that one of them, polyethoxylated tallowamine, or POEA, was more deadly to human cells than glyphosate itself. Specifically, it killed human embryonic, placental, and umbilical cord cells. And this was accomplished even when researchers used concentrations that were even more diluted than what is commonly used in residential gardens.

Monsanto, who owns Scotts Miracle Gro, responded that the methodology of the study was not realistic (the researchers applied Roundup to human cells in petri dishes, which is the way most studies to determine toxicology are performed). They contend that the product is safe. Glyphosate is considered to be a low-level toxin. However, this is the first time a study has been done looking at the effect of glyphosate when combined with one of Roundup's inert materials. The results are, in a word, scary.

And here's where I rant.

Miracle Gro has been trying, for a while now, to create an appearance of a "green," environmentally-friendly company. They have tried to appear to be the magnanimous giant, helping the citizens through donating money for community gardens and launching an organic line of products. And, when I write a short, simple post about getting rid of weeds in your sidewalk, they have the nerve to take me to task for recommending pulling rather than dousing with their chemicals.

You want an exercise in futility, Brian from Scotts.com? Here's one for you. Write to me again. Try to change my mind. Try to convince me, a woman of child-bearing age with small children, that I should use your product. You'll find getting rid of dandelions to be a much, much easier task.

In a month-long study performed by the Royal Horticultural Society, researchers discovered that talking to your plants really can help them grow faster. They also found that plants grow faster to the sound of a female voice than to a male voice.

*I'll wait for the obligatory jokes about the female voice, hot air, amount of said hot air, et cetera, et cetera....

Done now? Good.

Anyway, in the month-long study, the Royal Horticultural Society recorded ten people reading from either literary or scientific works, both men and women, and played their voices through a set of headphones that was attached to each tomato plant's pot (so, one tomato plant per person.) The same tomato variety was used, same soil, same care regimen, etc. They also included two plants that were not read to as a control. At the end of the month, the plants that had been attached to female voices grew an average of an inch taller than those attached to a male voice. The overall winning tomato listened to Sarah Darwin, great-great granddaughter of Charles Darwin. Her plant grew approximately two inches taller than the rest.

What did Ms. Darwin read to her tomato plant? On the Origin of Species.

Asked about her plant's favorable response to her voice and selection, Sarah Darwin commented, "I'm not sure if it's my dulcet tones or the text that I read from On the Origin of Species that made the plant sit up and listen, but either way I think it is great fun and I'm proud of my new title."

Researchers went into the study with the idea that the male voice would make the plants grow faster, and were surprised with the results. They said that they are unsure why the female voice worked better, saying that it could be that women may have a greater range of pitch or tone that affects the sound waves that hit the plant, and that sound, just like any other environmental factor, has an effect on plant growth.

I mentioned on Twitter last night that I needed to get out to my garden and start thinning my carrot seedlings. A couple of gardeners responded, both remarking that they really dislike thinning. I do, too. Every time I pull a tiny carrot or lettuce seedling, I cringe at the wastefulness of it all. What could have been food for my family is now fodder for the compost pile, or, in the best cases, a snack for me to munch while I thin.

But thinning is one of those tasks that simply must be done if you want your plants to grow well. Whether you direct sowed annuals, vegetables, or herbs, chances are pretty good that you now have plants that are growing much too close to one another. If you leave them, the result will be scrawny plants that spend all of their energy trying to grow taller than their neighbors (in competition for that all-important sunlight!) and do not get bushy or produce fruit well, if at all.

Though thinking about it too much makes me cringe, thinning is actually a very simple, straightforward task. Every plant has a minimum amount of space it needs to grow well. This information can be found on seed packets, in books and catalogs, or, of course, on the web. Find the recommended spacing for your plant, and remove anything that is infringing on that plant's space. So, if you're growing carrots, the minimum spacing between plants is two inches. Start by removing any weak looking seedlings. After that, remove any growing in that two-inch space between the remaining plants. Compost the thinnings. Or, if you're thinning things like lettuces, greens, beets, or radishes, you can add the thinnings to a salad for a little extra flavor.

You can also thin a couple of different ways. Some people like to pull the plant out, root and all, and others prefer to use small scissors or pruners to cut the seedling off at soil level. This helps prevent the roots of the remaining plants from being disturbed too much. I am more likely to cut my seedlings when they're in close quarters, such as in a cell pack or small container, but to each his/her own.

So, let's hear it: does thinning pain you as much as it does me? Or is it just another part of the gardening life?

My husband and I have managed to amass a fairly large collection of gardening tools. We have enough hoes, shovels, rakes, watering cans, trowels, and pruners to ensure that we can both be working in the garden and not have to fight over tools. And I've noticed that we each have our favorites. He gravitates toward the Fiskars PowerGear pruners, while I am never without my trusty bypass pruners from Ace Hardware. Yes, I use store-brand pruners. And I love them! My little pruners are sharp, not too big for my hand, and just the right size to carry around in my pocket. I should really buy another pair, just in case. I do tend to lose things....

Another tool I absolutely love is my little hand hoe, which my husband bought me for Christmas from Johnny's. It is well-made, super-sharp, and it is easy for me to get between even the most closely-planted annuals or vegetables to weed. I used to use a hand cultivator, which is still a good choice, but I like the way my little hand hoe cuts through the soil. And, it looks kind of cool. Deadly, maybe. But cool.

Oh, and then there's the spade my husband and kids bought me for Christmas. I had finally broken my favorite spade during the fall (digging out a monster clump of Siberian irises to divide...) and I mourned the loss of it for weeks. Lo and behold, on Christmas morning, my Santas gave me a beautiful new spade, made by a Michigan company, no less. My spade is made by Radius Garden, and, besides being probably the prettiest garden tool I've ever used, is also very comfortable to use. This line of tools is designed with ergonomics in mind, and recommended for anyone with arthritis or carpal tunnel syndrome. Even if you don't have those issues, these are worth buying. It seems like I don't have to work nearly as hard at tasks like digging and sodbusting with my new spade.

And then, there are the tools that drive me buggy. The hose that kinks every time I move from one bed to another. The sprinkler that never seems to spray in the direction I want it to, even after I spend several minutes fiddling with that stupid little dial that's supposed to allow you to set a spray pattern. The grass shears that absolutely kill my hands when I use them.

Do you have a favorite (or least favorite) garden tool? Share it with us!