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Above:
My garden needs quite a bit of trimming over the months
(photo taken Aug 2012).
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Have you ever been
asked what your favourite garden tool is? I do love my garden tools. I’m not
sure about a favourite, but I have tools that I use regularly and couldn’t do
without, such as:
- Hand fork for
weeding;
- Digging fork;
- Spade / shovel;
- Secateurs;
- Hand sheers;
- Bucket;
scissors; wheelbarrow; twine; sticks/ poles.
With roughly an acre of a garden, which includes lots of hedge, shrubs, trees, perennials and other plants I’ve gone through quite a few garden tools over the years, and broken several digging forks and numerous secateurs. This year I’m trying a new brand (new to me) – Spear and Jackson as I’ve read good things about them. I’ve gone for value for money, and since I needed several tools, I saw that Argos had a three piece set (secateurs, hand shears, and loppers, plus a free blade sharpener) for £34.99 (now reduced to £29.99). I’m also trying out their digging fork too – a necessity in Northern Ireland’s clay soil! I’m hoping to have these tools for a lifetime. They seem quite sturdy.
Left: My new tools – I almost
don’t want to use them – but I must!
Below: One of my first tasks was digging over an area to make a new
planting bed. This may sound easy but with compacted clay soil it’s a tough
job. Two or three days later I have the soil dug over (I find the fork more
useful than a spake for this), and plants planted. I love those purple
Heuchera! And I love that hostas are so easy to divide in early Spring to make
lots of new plants.
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I‘ve
found the Spear and Jackson digging fork, hand shears and loppers to be quite
heavy, however, if they last a long time then I don’t mind if they’re a little
heavy (as long as they don’t break!). So far so good; and they do seem sturdy
and well built. |
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New hand shears christened by
trimming an over growing clematis.
All work and no play... not
exactly. I’m not one for garden gnomes and such but I do like the look of this
polyresin heron as it reminds me of Florida and sunny weather. And wouldn’t you
know it, once I placed it in the garden we had ten days of good weather
(probably a coincidence).
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Argos also sell Spear and Jackson so if you want to have a
look – click here
Do you have a
favourite garden tool?
Or a favourite garden figurine (gnomes and such)? Do
tell!
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Copyright: All words and photos are property of Kelli's Northern Ireland Garden.