• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary navigation
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Carol J. Michel

Award winner author of gardening humor books

  • About
    • Contact
  • Blog
  • Books
    • Shop
    • Gardening Humor
    • Children’s Books
    • New – The Halloween Hare
  • Speaking
    • Upcoming Speaking Engagements
  • Social
    • YouTube
    • Instagram
  • Gardening Humor
  • Children’s
  • All Books

May Dreams Gardens

What Happens To Our Missing Gardening Tools?

June 2, 2010 By Carol Michel 14 Comments

What happens to those gloves, pruners, trowels, loppers, dandelion diggers and other assorted gardening tools that disappear in the garden?

One minute you are using a tool and then you set it down, perhaps to pick up another garden tool and then when you reach to grab it again, and it’s gone.

Gone.

You hunt for it, feel for it, and look high and low for it. It is nowhere to be seen. But it was just there! You just used it. How could it be gone?

But it is gone, and as daylight turns to dusk, you finally give up the search, shrug your shoulders and head in for the evening, still wondering where your garden tool is, how you could have lost it right beside you, and if you will ever find it again.

Based on all the comments from those who entered the drawing to win a hoe●dag®, this phenomenon of missing tools is a common problem that gardeners have.

There can only be one explanation as to what happens to these gardening tools.

Garden fairies.

Yes, garden fairies.

The minute we turn our backs on our favorite gardening tools, the garden fairies sneak in and snatch them away. They carry them off to the outer reaches of the garden in places we barely know exist – under shrubs and hedges, in that bit of brush near the fence line, perhaps even at the bottom of a compost bin. And the more we love that tool, the higher the bounty for it, and the more likely a garden fairy is waiting for us to set it down so that as quick as a puff of pollen, they can grab it and run.

Then the garden fairies peer out from their favorite hiding places and watch as we wander the garden, looking high and low for that favorite tool. They know we won’t find it!

Sometimes, if we are lucky, the garden fairies will relent a little and return the tool to a spot where it will be in plain view. Then they howl with laughter and glee as we stumble across it and wonder how we missed seeing it, in plain sight, for so long.

That’s what happens to our missing garden tools…

(The tool above, one of my favorites, was hidden in garden by the garden fairies last fall. Then earlier this spring, when the garden designer came to see my garden for the first time, those garden fairies put it in plain sight in one of my flower beds. I’m sure they thought it was hilarious. That’s not what I thought!)

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: fairies, tools

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Helen says

    June 2, 2010 at 3:48 am

    That's funny, Carol. I think the garden fairies like socks, too. The minute I throw the odd one out, it's mate appears. And appears to be laughing.

    Reply
  2. Su says

    June 2, 2010 at 8:46 am

    I have many garden fairies here too, they also seem to take plant labels from the pot in which I keep them, but only the 1 label that they know I am going to be searching for – not all of the rest!

    Su

    Reply
  3. Ellada says

    June 2, 2010 at 11:21 am

    Hello,
    In Greece, we have also the same problem, I always try to found my tools but…
    So it must be the garden fairies.

    Reply
  4. Marguerite says

    June 2, 2010 at 12:47 pm

    Is there no end to what the fairies will take?! Tomato rings, garden twine and books too. Sometimes they return them but mostly not. I'm tempted to build a shrine and offer gifts in hopes of appeasing them.

    Reply
  5. Laurrie says

    June 2, 2010 at 12:56 pm

    I found kitchen shears out on the back hillside under a thicket of weeds. Rusted, laying there for quite some time it was clear. Do garden fairies come into the house and take things too? This alarms me.

    Reply
  6. Commonweeder says

    June 2, 2010 at 1:23 pm

    The garden fairies are pretty active here. Right now they are off playing with one of my new garden gloves that I took off for a single moment that required bare fingers. They will probably place it where they place all the tools they appropriate – in front of my husband's mower. He does the mowing – I can't hog all the pleasures of gardening.

    Reply
  7. Entangled says

    June 2, 2010 at 1:27 pm

    Garden fairies, eh? Thank goodness, I thought it was me who had misplaced my tiger-tooth knife. I suppose it will turn up when I buy a new one.

    Reply
  8. lifeshighway says

    June 2, 2010 at 2:12 pm

    Garden faires is an excellent therory unless of course you have garden gnomes.

    Reply
  9. Gardener on Sherlock Street says

    June 2, 2010 at 2:34 pm

    Garden faires must like to play ball because I'm constantly finding small balls and occasionally an action figure tucked under a plant in my garden. Since I don't have children, I give them to the young boys who live next door. That'll show those garden faires.

    Reply
  10. Dorothy Borders says

    June 2, 2010 at 5:04 pm

    I must have a healthy population of mischievous garden fairies in my yard.

    Reply
  11. Tira says

    June 2, 2010 at 5:06 pm

    The garden fairies are very active here, they took no less than 5 right sides of my gardening gloves, leaving me with 5 left sides! Gardening books gone, too.

    Reply
  12. Rose says

    June 2, 2010 at 6:51 pm

    Well, please tell those daggone fairies to bring back my pruners! I know I had them yesterday, and Sophie swears she didn't take them. And tell them I'm not laughing…they were an expensive pair.

    Reply
  13. Sylvana says

    June 2, 2010 at 8:31 pm

    So, Carol, you do know that the "hodag" is a mythical creature of The Northwoods of Wisconsin, right?

    Reply
  14. healingmagichands says

    June 3, 2010 at 10:56 pm

    That is very funny indeed. I like the garden fairies explanation, I will use it next time I lose my gloves. We hunted for several days for the garden fork and it finally turned up in the grass near the asparagus bed when the lawn mower was going by. I think the fairies chucked it out there just to see the lawn mowing guy slam on the brakes.

    I think I may have some indoor fairies that mess around with my glasses too.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Updates from Carol Michel

* indicates required
Email Preferences

Categories

  • Blog (3,047)
  • Internal (2)

Blog Tags

annuals Blogging books bulbs dr. hortfreud embrace fairies fall family flowers fruits garden bloggers bloom day garden bloggers book club garden design gardeners gardening gardening geek gardens hoes holidays hortense hoelove houseplants humor indoor gardening insects lawn letters to gardening friends perennials rabbits reviews Secrets seeds shrubs spring tools trees vegetable garden vegetable gardening vegetables weather weeding weeds when a gardener wildflower wednesday winter

The Gardenangelists Podcast with Dee Nash

Gardenangelists Podcast

Footer

Gardenangelists Podcast with Dee Nash

Gardenangelists Podcast

Connect

  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • maydreams icon

Quick Links

  • Home
  • Contact
  • Books
  • May Dreams Gardens
  • Podcast

Updates from Carol Michel

* indicates required
Email Preferences

Newsletter Archive

Copyright © 2023 · CarolJMichel.com · Sitemap · Privacy Policy

Book purchase links are affiliate links and Carol earns a small commission if you make a purchase.

We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
Do not sell my personal information.
Cookie SettingsAccept
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
CookieDurationDescription
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
SAVE & ACCEPT