Basic "Tool" Kit

Hi everyone,

I've posted lots of pictures of my garden, and now am ready to start buying tools. I am very limited by budget, but I don't believe in buying cheap anything as it never lasts. So what is the basic toolkit I need, and what are some good brands? My current list of what I own already looks like this:

Hand trowel
Hand fork
Rake (the kind that looks like a fan, not the straight tough type)

Good, innit? I currently borrow a friends mower, but would like to get my own as soon as I can, although I'm thinking it's now June and I could carry on using hers until the end of the "summer"

I live in a small market town, but we do have a B&M, a Wilkinson's and a Morrison's, and apart from that a small hardware store.

Thanks!

 

The biggest expense is always your mower then you will have to decide electric or petrol stripe or no stripes.

Wolf garden tools are quite good I have a few bits by them.

 

Look out for auctions - the sort of farm equipment or country-house-garden ones, usually lots of Spade/Fork etc. and good tools that have given years of service, and been well loved, that go for a couple of quid.

Worth trying Freecycle too, and possibly even eBay for things within a short distance of where you live.

 

Don't forget a nice pair of secateurs, and some bigger shears and loppers if you have lots of shrubs etc.

Other than that, for me personally, a decent spade is the most important thing. I always used to go for the cheapest option for everything. It has generally worked out ok for me, except on the spade front. Cheap spades are uncomfortable to work with, make the job 10 times harder than it needs to be, and snap or bend anyway before you've finished. So I got myself a nice stainless steel and wood Wilkinson Sword spade. This is about 4 years ago now and its still going strong.

For the mower, it really depends. If your garden isn't Wimbledon, and is a typical suburban garden size, you might get away with a cheapo one like mine. I paid about £60 for a lawn mower and strimmer set just over a year ago. So far, apart from the blades going blunt once and needing sharpening, both have done their job well. The kit was branded Worx, and came from B&Q, but I believe the same kit is available from Argos and others, but branded differently.

 

search ebay and gumtree ... there are some great bargains to be had

 

Going back to your first post, you said you like bushes and flowers. That says something of good quality and comfortable for you to handle to dig with (fork and spade) and something to cut with ie a pair of secateurs. If your bushes get very high you may want loppers (I use mine for cutting through shrub roots which have run too far too).

A word of caution, I replaced some old tools a few years ago and bought a good quality stainless steel fork. One of the tines broke off the first year I had it and I replaced it with a carbon steel and the same thing happened. I have very stoney ground and decided it may be better to buy cheap and be prepared to replace, guess what? My cheap one is still all in one piece so there is an element of luck too.

I have several different small hand tools, trowels and forks different depths and widths and I do use all of them.

re the mower. I bought a mower a few years ago and then someone came along with his own mower who quoted £7.00 to mow my small lawn. That made far more sense to me and my own mower has hardly been used (in fact now has a new home). I work full time and I've saved myself the time (my lawn gets mown at the right time not just when I have time), the space to store the mower and the maintenance. I don't feel it's a cop out, I can spend my time in the garden more profitably than mowing a lawn. Yours doesn't look too big, I'd carry on borrowing or find someone to do it with their own mower. if you do buy one, you said you have high-school age children, maybe they could turn your new mower into a part-time job. I do think something as big as a mower has to earn its keep.

 

here is a good site that discusses garden tool quality ...

http://www.fredshed.co.uk/forksandspades.htm

and on the same site, he discusses small mowers (I agree with him as regards the Bosch Rotak .... an excellent machine)

http://www.fredshed.co.uk/mowers.htm

 

Tools I have but don`t use are hoe, my plants are so close together it causes too much damage,lawn edger, i am not that fussy although they do look nice with sharp lawn edges, the rake you describe is a lawn rake I use mine very occasionally for the gravel area, garden rake like a comb with wider teeth, same as hoe,spade no longer used as just dig a hole with trowel for new planting,garden fork ditto,

So its horses for courses if you have digging good spade and fork essential other tools you can add as required, for light work wilkos have a good selection of varying quality,i bought my hoe and rake there 4/5 years ago for very little,both still like new in corner of shed, and it`s nearly garden sale time there,end of July they start back to school lines and get rid of a lot of VERY useful items you can store up for next year even

 

if your willing to travel to the wirral, (around an hour and a half from you) i have a spare flymo, a nearly new strimmer and a spade you can have. the flymo is not the most expensive, and it will need some new plastic blades (3 quid or so!) but it cuts well and is light and is very reliable. no collection box tho, similar to this:-



i won't be offended at all if you don't want them, but if they are any use to you, your welcome.

 

best tip someone gave me was to buy colourful secateurs, as most have green handles and when you put them down amongst green plants if you're anything like me then they get lost!

 

Fine gesture
If the lawn is cut regularly enough Al, there is no need for a collection box. In fact, the fine clipping will work as a feed for the lawn.

 

if you are patient on ebay, you will get the bargains .... I won another Etesia PHG mower for £20 ...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/261065806688?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649

it's missing a wheel (which costs £25) ... seller says he cannot get the mower started ... so thats £55 for a service, and it's a bit of a distance from me (it's in Leek staffordshire), so it's another £45 for a courier ... It does not have a grassbox, but I will have the mulching kit installed (thats another £40)

so, total cost will be approx £185, and a new one costs close to £1000 ... and I will have a good mower with a 5.5HP Honda engine that will be used for lawns that are overgrown

 

A big, solid watering can is always needed, unless you plan to rely on a shaky hose or the good graces of the rain gods. :WINK1: