Garden Must Haves

baggins11

The recent posts on kneeler stools has got me thinking. What are your top gardening products or most used items that you wouldn't want to live without? It might be a mega expensive luxury item or a free re-purposed item.

Or what about things you bought with high hopes that have turned out to be a lemon?

For me I would say my garland super 7 propagator is a must have. I love the mini trays as you can just do one type of seeds at a time so you don't have some seedlings going over when others haven't even germinated. And being heated they are so quick to germinate and very reliable.

Also I really love the 40 cell trays from Wilko 3 for £1 - I bought these by accident meaning to get the bigger cells and actually I like them more than the bigger ones. Saves space in the greenhouse.

My 'I wish I hadn't' would be any of the many hanging baskets I have bought in the past. I always forget to water them.:o

So tell me your 'must have' or 'wish I hadn't' items..

unrecordings

Burgon & Ball flower snippers & their topiary shears are my favourite means of pruning most stuff. The complete lemon was the Leaf Vacuum (from B&Q) - an utter waste of time & plastic. I also find using an old bricklaying trowel is a really good way of mixing/breaking up compost, filling trays etc. I also have a couple of pot tampers I designed (I made a few using reclaimed floorboard & porcelain drawer handles)

baggins11

I just looked up Burgon & Ball - they have some lovely items. Sheffield I note - your neck of the woods isn't it?

-taff

compost heap..heavy duty adze [brilliant for digging out bushes], long handled loppers, root trainers. and an old, straight, sharp spade.

baggins11

taff do you just use the root trainers for just certain deep rooted plants or do you use them for everything? does it make the plants more resilient if they are allowed to grow deeper roots?

unrecordings

baggins11 wrote: »

I just looked up Burgon & Ball - they have some lovely items. Sheffield I note - your neck of the woods isn't it?

Yup good quality stuff - I've a B&B trowel that I used to dig out and refurbish the ancient boundary wall at the bottom of our garden - lesser trowels had been bent double by lesser tasks. Their potting scoop is also really good

Jeannine

Well, I’d certainly recommend Burgon & Ball’s Japanese Razor Hoe - one of the most useful tools I have ever used in the garden!!

-taff

baggins11 wrote: »

taff do you just use the root trainers for just certain deep rooted plants or do you use them for everything? does it make the plants more resilient if they are allowed to grow deeper roots?

I use them for beans, sweetcorn, tomatoes, cucumber, and I have two sets of I think, 32.
It's not so much deepers roots more of a better root system. I find them good, but I'm not very adventurous with them, I suppose you could start off anything bar parsnips or carrots in them.

Davesnave

Expensive item: Stihl MSA 200 battery chainsaw, which will take down a 25' tree, or just lop small branches off neatly and cut part way through stems when hedge laying. Yes, I still have my ancient Spear & Jackson billhook, once used for the latter job, but the chain saw is easier and much faster.

Cheaper items: a 3/4 weight mattock from South America, found in a local farm supplies outlet and much easier for a small guy like me. There's also an ancient scuffle hoe, rescued from a lady who was about to throw it into a council skip, and a small Ho Mi from my friend Dave at Blackberry Lane...http://www.blackberrylane.co.uk/homi.html

I also have a steel reinforced heavy-duty fork from Bulldog that's at least 50 years old. Came with this property.

unrecordings

Davesnave wrote: »

I also have a steel reinforced heavy-duty fork from Bulldog that's at least 50 years old. Came with this property.

I've got about two generations worth of this stuff. When I came to this garden I thought it (the tools) had all gone to my sister, came across on old chap on ebay selling up and bought a job lot from him. Then it turned out when I cleared my parents garage, that the original tools were still there - all good Sheffield, Leeds, Birmingham brands from back in the day. They'll last another 70 years at least

[Deleted User]

Must have's:- kneeling pad, Felco's, hand trowel, long handled loppers, and an old, old, grey bucket bought from Wilko's yeeeears ago - it's my version of a trug, travels all around the gardens with me !


Waste-of-times:- gardening gloves - they always get thrown off when I actually get stuck into a job !