 |
Above:
My garden needs quite a bit of trimming over the months
(photo taken Aug 2012).
|
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.
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.
 |
| 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. |
 |
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).
|
 |
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!
|
Copyright: All words and photos are property of Kelli's Northern Ireland Garden.
Being a short person I prefer small tools, I would be lost without my hand fork & shovel thing. I also have an old handmade tool which someone gave me, it is made out of the end of a snooker cue with a hoe type thing at the end of it.
ReplyDeleteI think some of the old tools are the best. I always look out for tools at car boot sales.
DeleteI love my Felco secateurs, if only I could find them. I got them for the bargainous price of £10 from good old Wilko's, they had 75% off. They've been missing for a while though now and I'm totally lost without them. I really need to have a good look around as they can't have gone far.
ReplyDeleteI've recently lost a hand spade and I think it has ended up in the brown bin so probably on a Council site somewhere. I do feel a little lost without it.
DeleteI use my hand fork and trowel more than anything else plus my beloved Felco secateurs - all three of them always go missing when I am working - I am always hunting for them and find them in the most obscure places. Think I'll have to attach them with elastic - a bit like having my mittens attached when I was a kid.
ReplyDeleteI like your thinking! It would be good to have some sort of tool guard like the mitten idea.
DeleteMy secateurs is the most used tool I have, but it is not expensive because I leave it everywhere, sometimes I cannot find it back and it comes outof the compostheap after a year or so. I also have Spears and Jackson tools, spades and a fork. But my favourite tool is the very old hoe, which my father gave me for my first garden. The hoe is worn out but I still like to use it.
ReplyDeleteI think my favourite tool changes. I use a border fork a lot and a hand fork at certain times but when the soil is dry and I want to cut down on weeds I use a dutch hoe a lot.
ReplyDeleteSecateurs are a must but we go through lots of pairs too and they also play hide and seek with us regularly. E=We have just bought a new pair of edging shears and they show up how bad the old ones had become!
Hi Kelli, your new tools look very sturdy...hope you get many years of use from them. It is amazing how easy it seems that tools break! I like your blue heron; he looks quite real.
ReplyDeleteThe garden tools that rarely leave my hands are my favorite gloves and my garden snips, or secateurs as you call them. My little hand spade is always near at hand too. I must have nitrile garden gloves, thin enough so that I can feel things, but still keep dirt out of my nails.
ReplyDeleteI totally forgot about garden gloves - they're something I couldn't do without and I must have about 6 pairs on the go.
DeleteI have a wing shaped weeded that I use all of the time. I also like my little nippers that I use to deadhead.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about needing to have sturdy tools that will last a long while. Far too many gardening tools seem to be built just for the looks, and appear to be designed to last only a year or two - so that you have to buy more, thus maximising the revenue of the manufacturer! I would have no problem with buying well-known brands from Argos, but some of thier own-brand gear is very flimsy. :(
ReplyDeleteHi Kelli, I use the shorter version of the garden tools as I find the long handled ones awkward to use.When using the hand sized tools I usually spend ages looking for them as I have left them out of my hand somewhere around the plot!
ReplyDeleteWow an acre is a big garden to work and keep in shape.
Took me time to read all the comments, but I really enjoyed the article. It proved to be Very helpful to me and I am sure to all the commenters here! It’s always nice when you can not only be informed, but also entertained! weed wacker reviews
ReplyDelete