Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I heard about this product in a gardening group on Facebook. A few people raved about it, others complained about the price tag. But I was curious. I'd been putting in various gardens (perennials, annuals, planters) at my new home for the past year and had just installed 280 feet of raised veggie beds that needed planted. I was tired of dragging a tape measure around with me. So I thought I'd give it a try. First off I'd like to say I think this product is really well suited to "raised vegetable bed gardening" and to two particular groups of people -- those who are brand new to gardening and really haven't gotten a good sense of proper plant spacing, and us old-timers with bad knees and aching backs who just want to make the planting process as fast as possible so we can go inside and take an advil, LOL. If you are a super-sturdy 35 year old who has been gardening for a few years you might think this product is unnecessary. But for those who are just learning, or who are teaching kids, or who are starting to having some issues gardening without pain, this thing is a great tool. With a few caveats. You can probably use this in garden beds for flowers, etc., but I don't see that being as useful as in raised veggie beds where squares and rows work the best. A few problems I encountered were lumpy dirt, loose dirt, and the poker product that comes with it for making the holes have a few issues. Here are some tips for making this work better for you: 1) Level the section you are about to plant as perfectly as possible before starting. Remove any lumping soil as it will prevent you from getting the square to lay down nicely. 2) WET your soil with a hose before starting. Not soaking wet (you don't want mud), but enough so that when you press this into the soil you can see your squares. If your soil is too dry you don't see the marks you are making. 3) The orange "poker" stick that is supposed to make the holes is kind of a mixed bag. A lot of seeds only want to be planted 1/4" or 1/2" down, but if you press the poker only 1/4" into the soil thru the template, a lot of times you can't see where your holes are. So I learned to just make the biggest holes I could then go back and rub the soil where the holes are to the proper depth. So I didn't really use the poker to measure so much as I did just to make the holes. You'll see what I mean when you use the product. Otherwise, highly recommend. Saved me a TON of time planting the corn patch and some other things!!