By Phran Novelli

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - It’s like a magic wand. Gardening gadgets can lure anyone who enjoys shiny new toys – especially during end of summer sales – but a few good basics are really all you need. Besides a good shovel, pruner, and cultivator for weeding, one of the tools I depend upon most is a watering wand at the end of the hose.

A watering wand helps you save water because you can regulate the flow with a lever on the handle – instead of walking back and forth to the spigot – which means you can put the hose down while you stop to weed, pick tomatoes, or answer the phone without spewing water all over the ground. It also adds about two feet or more to your arms’ length – to let you reach plants up high on balconies and in windowboxes – as well those at the back of a row without stepping into garden beds. And because the head on a watering wand generates a generous but gentle shower, it keeps you from drilling a hole in the soil with a harsh hose blast, and stops so much soil from spilling over the sides of your pots too.