HUGE Garden Clearance Job: tool advice please?

Hello,

I'm a new forum member. I hope this is in the appropriate place. I'm about to take on two garden clearances. One is my own house that needs a bit of work and the other is a massive job that is pretty daunting. I want to eventually use both gardens to grow my own organic food (everything that it's possible to grow in the UK).

I couldn't even begin to explain how bad the other garden is. I've ordered a skip to arrive in a couple of days time to get rid of some of the junk that's been left laying around, but there are actually weeds that have grown as big and as thick as small trees right outside the back door and actually coming out of the drains!! Nightmare!.

I've got leather gloves and a couple of bits and bobs to make a start, but I'm going to go to one of the big stores today to invest in some power tools. Can anyone advise me on what to spend my money on please?

I have a couple of orange flymo strimmers that I don't think are worth having. the spools are awkward to fit and always come off. I'll be getting rid of them and I'm thinking of a good petrol strimmer/brush cutter and a chainsaw.

I am very new to this and ANY advice would be gratefully received.

****************************************************

If it would be beneficial to other members or if anyone is interested I can post before/after pictures and reviews on what tools/methods worked for me.

thanks in advance for any help you can give and apologies for such a long first post.

JacksDad.

 

I would also suggest a root digger (not sure of the correct name) but they basically look like a enlarged scrapper on the end of a long handle. They have a abit of weight behind them with a sharp edge. These allow you to cut and attack the routes of trees/shrubs and leaver them out the ground. I found it a god send when I was digging out the roots in my garden left from various Leylandii trees.

 

Nope JWK, someone had already mentioned that tool. Nope I mean root digger, designed specifically for cutting into the roots.

Like this Silverline 868680 Root Digger: Amazon.co.uk: DIY & Tools

 

If your gardens are well overgrown, you'll fill a skip pretty quickly unless you chop up everything small, which is quite laborious and skips these days don't come cheap, so you might need more than one. The other options are either burning, (not very neighbour-friendly), or buy a shredder, which will compact everything and they always come in useful.

There's been quite a deal of criticism regarding strimmers. I've a thirty quid flymo one with the twin spool. OK they are a bit fiddly to change the line, but there's two slots on the rim of the top spool to hold the line to stop them unravelling whilst you centre the spool before poking the lines through the little holes. It is a bit fiddly, but it just requires a bit of patience.
I only use it for "edges" but it's been no trouble at all for three years.

 

I found it a godsend and a heck of a lever (which you need with roots)

 

Thats a good idea. I brought one for my project and kept the chippings to put on the borders at the end of the project. In this instance chippings might be a great idea for paths around the place.

 

I've taken a few photos of the garden and I will post them on here to show what a state the place is in. I tried to take pictures from the back door and upstairs windows but there was a tree right in front of the door and the windows wouldn't open because it was so thick.

I only went around last night to get a look before I buy my tools. I ended up breaking some branches off by hand and threw quite a lot of junk in the skip. Rusty old bikes, barbecue set, kids slide, rusty tools, etc. The skip won't last lomg at all. I think I will invest in a shredder and/or composter and use/recycle as much stuff as I can.

Thanks for the advice so far. I'll definitely get the photos up today.

 

Haven't had a chance to sort the photos out, sorry.

I've filled the skip anyway, and not even started doing any gardening yet! There was so much old junk in the garden that it's full before I've even picked up a chainsaw or strimmer. Old rusty bikes, tools, etc.

B&Q aren't selling any petrol strimmers or brush cutters anymore. They have discontinued the ones that are on display, which is a bit of a setback.

 

The most useful tool I have found was a 5ft long 1 1/2" diameter steel bar, forged to a 3" blade at one end and a point on the other. It was left behind at one the houses I have had. They are still available, a builder friend bought one recently, allthough not as big (4ft I think). We were doing some heavy work in preparation for my extension and when I fetched my bar from the shed his was christened the toothpick.

Found similar on E-Bay

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/5-Foot-Long-6...t=UK_Hand_Tools_Equipment&hash=item3f0133d877