Garden Must Haves

DigForVictory

An army surplus DPM anorak with very big pockets which resists most weather & thorny plants. I've a box of small ziplocks in one pocket & my secateurs in the other most of the time, so I can trim or harvest/ seed save/ relocate seedlings to suit.

Time spent gardening with a son or three means they all know how to get bareroot plants into the soil & they can all dig. Not to my required fineness of tilth invariably, but it save a lot of arguing on the bank holidays as they either have revision plans at so-&-sos or they just accept that time spent in the garden (regardless of the weather) will be happening.

You can get army surplus garb relatively easily. Training family is absolutely worth putting the time into.

Davesnave

Most useless things: Too many to list really, but top of the pile has to be the Mountfield 1228 ride-on mower, which is not far off new in terms of usage, but has never really worked for me. Italian engineering and no decent handbook means that it defeats my attempts to make it cut and then collect the grass for any length of time. Even my favourite garage mechanics, who are used to mowers, struggled to change the belt on this thing....

Picture included, as to be fair, this mower goes under various badges, including John Deere. Just glad I only paid £275 for it!


On the plus side, my 1985 vintage Honda 214 is the best mower I've evr had and still uses no oil!

-taff

Mattock!! that's the word, not adze, although I suppose in some places they're interchangeable.
Also have an old hoe, very thin, very sharp that was acquired through MSE ways.



Worst garden tools, cheap forks, they always bend.

DigForVictory

Ah, a good mattock is a wonderful thing. Especially when you have had words but they didn't let off the steam needed. And the fork tine remains obstinately pointing the wrong direction.

baggins11

Agree about the gardening gloves Catsacor - I spend ages looking for them and take them off as soon as I get stuck in!

LOL Davesnave at your picture evidence of your lemon! We have a small kubota tractor rather than a ride on. I was told that a lot of the ride-ons are useless and can't cope with more than a garden.

Some of them apparently have wine holders which nearly swayed my other half (roll eyes). Thankfully we bought the tractor with the house. Its quite a few years old but I think its got years left in it.

I will have to investigate a mattock as they look very useful.

And DigforVictory I love your comment about training youngsters. Mine are secondary school age and currently turn their nose up at gardening, housework etc and I am in the process of trying to change things. Should of done it years ago as I really have made a rod for my own back.

baggins11

The leaf vacuum sounds dodgy. Would you put a leaf blower in the same category? I was advised to get a leaf blower for our place but I just don't get it. Everyone I see using them just seems to be blowing the leaves all over the place.

We do have loads of leaves (I stopped collecting them after filling 20 builders tonne bags), but I don't want to buy another gadget that really isn't worth it. Does anyone rate them?

getmore4less

Mattock a great versatile tool for grubbing out and turning soil.

They do mini ones as well to get into smaller spaces.

I like to wear gloves but have loads of close fitting engineering ones I got cheap so can always find a pair.
They are not thorn proof I have thicker garden gloves if needed.

PasturesNew

I am currently desiring a little manual push mower. I've got an electric one, but to use that I have to get it out of the shed, unravel the wire, open the patio doors, wedge the door open, plug it in, be mindful of the lead, then unplug it, wrap the lead round it again and put it away - which is annoying because the grass grows at different speeds and quite often I look and think "I'd like to just give that tiny strip a quick go as it's growing a bit faster" (e.g. bits that get the shade more).

unrecordings

baggins11 wrote: »

The leaf vacuum sounds dodgy. Would you put a leaf blower in the same category? I was advised to get a leaf blower for our place but I just don't get it. Everyone I see using them just seems to be blowing the leaves all over the place.

We do have loads of leaves (I stopped collecting them after filling 20 builders tonne bags), but I don't want to buy another gadget that really isn't worth it. Does anyone rate them?

Leaf blower/leaf vacuum. I too don't see the point of just wafting them them around, but the vacuum option seemed like a good idea because I'd end up with great leaf humus... ...but ultimately it was like dragging a gigantic set of bagpipes round the garden - it would have been easier to use the workshop hoover. But then I'd be hoovering the garden - which is silly. So the leaf vac beastie was cunningly 'loaned' to family, and we went back to using the broken rake that cost £5.99 from, again B&Q

unrecordings

PasturesNew wrote: »

I am currently desiring a little manual push mower. I've got an electric one, but to use that I have to get it out of the shed, unravel the wire, open the patio doors, wedge the door open, plug it in, be mindful of the lead, then unplug it, wrap the lead round it again and put it away - which is annoying because the grass grows at different speeds and quite often I look and think "I'd like to just give that tiny strip a quick go as it's growing a bit faster" (e.g. bits that get the shade more).

Qualcast Panther, the only thing that can tackle our very bumpy lawn