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New outdoor living products stretch the imagination
Outdoor living will flex its retail muscle at the National Hardware Show this week, taking up the entire second level of the Sands Expo and Convention Center. That's a 42 percent increase over last year's lawn and garden vendors. Many of the bigger names will be there - Scotts Co., Bayer Advanced, Rainbird and Fiskars - but so will the smaller suppliers, the ones trying to launch a single product.
This year's New Product World will be showcased in two venues featuring a combined total of nearly 500 exhibitors. Many of those vendors will show their new products in the Las Vegas Convention Center. However, more than 200 exhibitors will promote new lawn and garden products in the Sands Expo & Convention Center, also the location of Lawn & Garden World.
While some outdoor living vendors have invented brand new products, others have taken traditional items and made them easier, quicker, safer or better looking. Either way, a number of products should not be missed. Here are lawn and garden highlights from the show's New Product World pavilion:
Pour-it-yourself pavers
Designed by a soap maker, these lightweight molds were once the exclusive domain of craft classes and kids' workshops. Now gardeners can make their own stepping stones out of concrete or mortar mix. Lots of designs and shapes are available. The landscaping borders are especially nice.
* GardenMolds, Booth 21469, www.gardenmolds.com
Garden bench
Southern Patio has made a lightweight fiberglass version of the classic garden bench, the one made of concrete that no one can lift, let...