Which are the best gardening tools?

[kittyk]

I would like to buy some new tools instead of making do with different ones I have bought or inherited over the years. I guess you get what you pay for-i don't mind investing in the right ones. I'm mainly looking for forks, spades, secateurs etc.

Wooden handles look nice but sometimes I dont like the feel of them when using them a lot.

Any advice would be welcome.

[Alison]

I really like my Wilkinson Sword digging spade. Think it's a power spade or something like that. Have no idea what my fork is and to be honest I don't use it that much. Do use my Spear and Jackson stainless steel trowel a lot and have a Wolf add on thing rotivator which is very good (and pretty old as I found it in my grandad's shed after he died)

[rustylady]

Go for stainless steel if you can afford it. Got my spade and fork reduced at the end of the season a few years ago (Spear & Jackson) and worth their weight in gold. Same goes for hand forks and trowels - stainless steel doesn't bend like cheaper ones and is so much easier to use and clean.

[Glutton4...]

With you there RL, Stainless steel every time!

I recently bought some cheapo B&Q hand tools, stainless tools with lovely comfy rubber handles - they looked the business. Well, they're fine if you have light sandy soil, or just want to piddle about with compost, but they're no good for heavy work. Me, being too lazy to go back to the car for bigger tools, I got a bit heavy-handed and broke the fork the first week - turns out the shaft only goes into the first inch or so of the handle, not all the way through! They exchanged it, no problem, but I'm a lot more careful with them now!

[Lovage]

If you have much pruning to do I would definately go for Felco secateurs - expensive at around £40 but professional quality, easy to use and every part can be replaced to keep them going for a lifetime

I'm not sure about stainless steel spades, I've managed to break three! Most are made cheaply in China and are welded together not forged from one piece.

[kittyk]

At the mo, I have quite a cheap fork which did bend when I did some hardcore digging but not as much as I thought it would considering! It sounds like expensive ones don't always fare any better!

[snuffer]

For a good digging spade and fork it has to be Bulldog. Expensive and perhaps a little heavy but will last forever with the added bonus of being made in England. As Lovage says (and in contradiction of many others) I would avoid stainless steel. Looks good and soil doesn't stick to them so much but they can be weak at the weld.

As for secateurs it has to be Felco. No other manufacturer comes close.

[Jeanied]

I hardly ever use my spade - but I use my stainless steel border fork all the time on the lottie - not a full size one because I'm a wus. The other tool I wouldn't be without is a stainless steel hoe which is shaped like a golf club - and a file to keep it sharp! These 2 keep most things in order most of the year. Oh, and a trowel to plant things with!

[kittyk]

Thanks everyone.

[HeyWayne]

Sounds daft, best pick 'em up and hold them, move them around and so on. One man's (or woman) spade is another man's burden.

What I might consider light and manoeuverable (sp?) may be heavy and cumbersome for someone else.

I'd echo the Felco comments though. The handle on mine rotates with your hand minimising blister potential.

Some people get on better with push hoes than pull ones.

Some people get on better with long handled spades than standard ones.

I'm still finding out what suits me, but I do get on (and mostly use) my Azada. If you're not sure what they are - here's where I got mine: Get Digging with Alternative Tools for the Allotment and Garden

[jackyspratty]

I'm mainly using an azada, not sure if hats the same as a mattock or not, but its spanish? You chop down into the earth and pull it towards you, seems easier on my back and was great for claering couch grass on the lotty. One side is for chopping and the oherside is sort of like a pronged end which was graet for the couch grass as it didn't chop the roots up as it pulled them.

I have a pretty rubbish back, and this method or change of technique from the spade/fork eased my back considerably

Got mine from sameplace as heywayne, really rate it, love it in fact!