Recommended tools

Hi

I need to start buying tools for gardening - i am new to all this so have only a hand trowel and hand fork!

Ive been told to go for lightweight tools preferably made from stainless steel - is this advice correct? Ive seen a lot of carbon fibre tools and i believe carbon fibre to be much lighter? Can anyone recommend any brands that i should go for? Don't want to buy the cheapest but cant afford top end either!

Thanks

 

Stainless steel is quite brittle and often bends or snaps at the welds.

The best tools by farr are old ones, most were made from fordged steel as oposed to pressed steel as today. Have a look at carboot sales etc.

 

Car boot sale, absolutely!

I have some stainless steel tools as we are on heavy clay. (If you aren't on clay give them a miss). They do reduce the amount of scraping-off that I have to do whilst working, but I still tend to use the old forged steel tools - as I have got older standing up every 5 minutes to scrape the clay off (with a paint stripped "knife") seems like a good idea!

I think you need:
Spade
Fork
Hoe
Trowel
Rake
Secateurs
String/Line
Large board

I like a spade that has a lip on the top of the blade - otherwise when you stamp your boot down on it it cuts through the boot (over time)

Digging is usually easier with a fork (but probably not if your soil is very sandy)

I use a swoe for weeding, I find this better than a Dutch hoe. I also have a swan neck hoe for earthing up spuds, and that is also useful for chopping out weeds when they get out of hand (if you have a small garden ignore that as you will probably be able to keep on top of it)

A hand trowel for planting out

A springbok(sp?) rake - for raking up grass, leaves, stuff you have hoed off the beds.

Secateurs needed for pruning and general cutting-of-plants. Buy a pair that you can handle - size of the handles, in relation to the size of your hand, is important. They need to be comfortable to use. Felco are the posh "last-a-lifetime" brand.

Garden string - on a couple of sticks so you can set out a straight line.

Old scaffolding board to stand on (so you don't compress the soil) and to use as an edge when cutting, say, a clear edge to the lawn.

I have loads more tools than that, collected over the years, and either used only once in a while or because my garden is large (the hay rake, for example)

 

Do you use a Fork to harvest Spuds John? Turn your compost heap? Brandish when running after annoying intruders?

 

I've never owned a [flat tine] Potato fork, do you think they work?

Seems to me that if you aim a tine at an underground tuber its going to spear it, flat or not ... but I've clearly misunderstood something. I'll tootle off and Google ...

 

Indeed! More of a Potato Shovel, I think!

I did wonder if, on light land, a wide-and-flat-tined fork would "sift" the roots out of the soil

 

Dont forget secauteurs !!! these are my most used tool.

For me my most used tools would be

Fork
Pickaxe
hoe
Spade
Trowel
secauteurs
spring tine rake

 

It all depends on the size and type of garden you have.

From a balcony to a mansion your core tools will be, in my opinion,:

hand fork and hand trowel - nice comfy handle with molded hand grip, stainless steel, pink handle and they are harder to loose

secauters - get the best you can afford. Felco is the favorite brand

knife - folding

the rest depends on what you want to do. Buys tools that are dependable and easy to use.

My main spdae and fork are not stainless steel. They were bought cheap in Homebase probably 10 years ago for £10 the pair. Wilkinson Sword Power digging spade and fork. They have a longer handle, which is easier on the back and angled to encourage correct digging action. I'm glad to see they are still available and also do a border set

 

" Pickaxe"

Blimey Pro, are the Bindweed more deep rooted up your way?

Agree on the secateurs though, I'll add those to my list

 

If you have clay soil, forget stainless steel! it will bend within a week.