Tools

As its Valentine’s Day today, and the whole world is in the mood for love, I thought I would talk about one of the most enduring and productive relationships a gardener can have. Although plants (and even gardens) may come and go, if you invest in good tools and look after them properly they will be with you throughout your gardening life.

In some families tools are handed down as heirlooms, and have been lovingly used and preserved by many hands. These are tools that were ‘built to last’ and are as useful now as when they were first made. But if you’re not lucky enough to have a green-fingered heritage, or you’re a completely different size to your ancestors, then you may need to invest in new tools.

It’s easy to be seduced by the cheap tools on offer in garden centres and gardening catalogues, as their descriptions make them sound perfect and they are within everyone’s budget. But their performance can be disappointing, and their lives short-lived. Plastic handles can fade and become brittle over time, and I know from experience that cheap trowels can be easily bent. After closely observing my purchasing habits during my early gardening years, Pete has developed a keen hatred for what he calls ‘garden tat’ – cheap, usually plastic or aluminium, tools and sundries that are not fit for purpose and rarely make it through even one growing season. My personal horror stories include an aluminium cold frame that literally kept unscrewing itself, and those plastic ‘garden pegs’ that bend when pushed into the soil. (Do yourself a favour and buy metal tent pegs from the outdoor shop instead – they’re cheaper and longer lasting.)

If you want to have a lasting relationship with your tools then it pays to save up and buy high quality ones, where you can replace handles if necessary and where proper tool maintenance will keep them sharp and useful for many years to come. (If you’re buying secondhand then do be wary at car boot sales, where sadly some of the tools on offer may have been stolen from allotments.) New gardeners don’t need too many tools – a spade and fork if you’re digging, a good trowel and maybe a rake and a hoe. Tools with specialised uses come later, when you’ve mastered the basics.

Ideally you should choose your tools in person, as the choice of weight, grip and handle length are all very personal. Hoes and secateurs need to be kept sharp, so investigate the different sharpening options when you’re buying your tools.

And once you have your tool, treat it like one of the family. Don’t leave it outside in all weathers, clean it and put it back in the shed when you’re finished with it. (Good hygiene is not only better for your tools, it’s better for the plants too as it helps prevent the spread of disease.) If you down tools for the winter then make sure they’re left clean, and oil handles and moving parts. Store them somewhere dry; hand tools can be left pushed into a bucket of oiled sand, which keeps them clean, dry and handy.

A holster is invaluable for good secateurs – it helps prevent you from putting them down and losing them in the garden for days on end. I should get one myself, as I have lost count of the times I have found my secateurs in the compost bin after a particularly strenuous weeding session!

If you’ve found lasting love with a particular gardening tool, then do tell me all about it in the comments :)