The Home Depot Introduces New Products for Spring

ATLANTA, April 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- According to a survey by the National Gardening Association, approximately 75 percent of U.S. households take part in lawn and garden activities, and that doesn't even include grilling. To help homeowners make the most of their outdoor pursuits this spring, The Home Depot(R), the world's largest home improvement retailer, will offer new products from reputable brands, including Ducane(R), John Deere(R), Lawn-Boy(R), and Vigoro(R), as well as an enhanced online Garden Club with more features and benefits.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20030502/HOMEDEPOTLOGO ) Ducane Stainless Series Gas Grills

This spring, The Home Depot exclusively offers two new sleek and powerful Ducane Stainless Series Gas Grills. Both are loaded with features, including a side burner and rotisserie; V-shaped heat distribution plates to evenly radiate heat; heavy-duty welded-rod cooking grates for perfect grill marks; an expansive cooking area; large wipe-clean stainless steel side shelves; and a push-and-turn ignition.

The 24-inch, three-burner Ducane Stainless Steel Gas Grill has 624 square inches of cooking space and retails for $699. The 32-inch, five-burner model has 832 square inches of cooking space plus a stainless steel warming rack and retails for $899.

John Deere L111

John Deere continues to enhance its line of lawn tractors with its newest addition, the L111, now available at The Home Depot. The L111 boasts a Briggs & Stratton(R) OHV 20 horsepower V-Twin engine and John Deere's exclusive THE EDGE Cutting System, all for under $1,800.

The L111 replaces the L110, previously available at The Home Depot, and offers comfort features such as an automatic foot control transmission, cruise control and a comfortable yellow padded seat with the widest range of total seat travel in its class. It is designed to mow a lawn the size of 1.5 acres.

THE EDGE Cutting System on the 42-inch deck is constructed with a deep- dome design that provides better airflow for increased capacity and a clean, even-cut lawn. The blade tip distance from the front of the deck allows the grass to stand back up to be cut while the increased blade overlap helps reduce striping. Additionally, THE EDGE Cutting System features a completely smooth underside to reduce grass build up.

Lawn-Boy Insight(TM) Series of Walk-Behind Mowers

The Home Depot has expanded its walk-behind mower selection in the United States and Canada by offering two new models from the 2005 Lawn-Boy Insight Series. Available in stores now, this new line of mowers was designed from the ground up to fit users through a unique ergonomic engineering process and to offer a comfortable mowing experience for each individual, regardless of height or strength.

"Lawn-Boy is a well known outdoor power equipment brand that will appeal to a broad range of customers who value thoughtful design and ease-of-use as well as simplicity," said John Costello, executive vice president of Merchandising and Marketing at The Home Depot. "Homeowners will appreciate the Lawn-Boy brand's intuitive designs and innovative features that will make yard work easier."

The Lawn-Boy mowers have more than 15 new features, including soft grips on the pull cord and an adjustable handle height that allows a 4'10" user to mow as comfortably as someone who is 6'2". Removing and replacing the bag requires only one hand, and when the lawn is done, a simple step-on lever allows the handle to fold down to 180 degrees for easy storage. One of the models available at The Home Depot is equipped with Sens-a-Speed(TM) self- propel technology - a unique system that senses how fast the user walks and adjusts the mower's speed accordingly.

Vigoro Lawn and Garden Products

Vigoro, a leader in lawn and plant care products for more than 80 years, is adding 38 new products to its lineup this year, including grass seed, phosphorus-free fertilizers, water soluble plant foods, season-long plant foods, fertilizer spikes and liquid plant foods among others.

Vigoro lawn fertilizers are specifically formulated to provide the essential nutrients for all types of lawns. The Vigoro line includes lawn fertilizers that green in 72 hours, prevent and control weeds and control insects, all while promoting a thick, green turf.

The line also includes an array of garden fertilizers for feeding plants from Azaleas to Zinnias. Many Vigoro products, such as the All Purpose Plant Food and Vigoro Tree & Shrub spikes, feature a patented timed-release fertilizer that can feed plants for up to six months. In addition, Vigoro introduces water-soluble plant food into the line of garden fertilizers. All Vigoro water-soluble products contain nitrate nitrogen, the source that professional growers demand.

Vigoro enters the grass seed market with a new line of premium grass seed that utilizes exclusive self-repairing technologies, high germination rates and 99.9 percent weed-free formulations. Grass seed offerings include Ultra Turf Tall Fescue Grass Seed Blend, Ultra Turf Shady Lawn Grass Seed Mix and Ultra Turf Sun-Shade Lawn Grass Seed Mix.

All Vigoro products feature bilingual packaging with a project guide label that is unique to the industry. Every package includes general tips for improved performance along with specific product tips on where to use it, and how and when to apply, and customers can access http://www.vigoro.com/ to learn more about how to properly use Vigoro products.

Online Garden Club

For more gardening information and inspiration, The Home Depot offers an online Garden Club for the beginner to avid gardener. The Web site, http://www.homedepot.com/gardenclub , was launched last spring and now features significantly more content ranging from regional gardening reports and plant care guides to garden calculators and a Q&A library with answers to more than 28,000 gardening questions. The site also offers a special Garden Basics library tailored to beginner gardeners. It is free to join, and consumers can sign up online to receive benefits such as e-newsletters with gardening tips, access to gardening message boards and an event calendar of shows, festivals and workshops by state.

About The Home Depot

Founded in 1978, The Home Depot(R) is the world's largest home improvement specialty retailer and the second largest retailer in the United States, with fiscal 2004 sales of $73.1 billion. The company employs approximately 325,000 associates and has 1,898 stores in 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, nine Canadian provinces and Mexico. The company recently announced the creation of a business development operation for retail expansion into China. The Home Depot has been recognized by Fortune as the #1 Most Admired Specialty Retailer for 2005. Its stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange and is included in the Dow Jones Industrial Average and Standard & Poor's 500 Index. HDG