It's easier to put the whole thing off until the next weekend.

And that's what inspired Massachusetts horticulture teacher Jim Ugone to invent a watering can that includes a receptacle and measuring tools for mixing fertilizer as you water.

"It's an ugly duckling," he says of his U Can Watering System. "It's not the most attractive thing in the world. But everything you need happens to be there."

The lightweight 2-gallon can's main aesthetic quality might be its translucent body - in green or blue - that allows light to shine through it, revealing the water line. It's topped by a wide, well-balanced handle with two rubber grips to ease watering, and has a large oval sprinkler head (or "rose" in horticultural lingo) that can be removed and stored underneath the spout.

But its main appeal is the built-in fertilizer container with a date dial to remind you of the next application date, along with a spoon and measuring cup. A couple of protruding nubs between the spout and handle can hold gardening gloves.

Ugone designed the U Can with the mass user of dried nonorganic fertilizer brands such as Miracle-Gro in mind. To help those using mostly organic liquid fertilizers or insecticides, he's added an optional liquid pump ($6.95) than can be inserted in the fertilizer container.

Another of Ugone's goals was to keep the production in the United States. The U Can is manufactured in Iowa of recycled milk jugs.

U Can, $19.95, available at www.theucanbrand.com or (978) 887-4191.

- Laura Thomas