Kneelers and Seats for Gardeners

You do not know what use you can put a kneeler too until you have one.

Uses of Garden Kneelers

• Obviously they are designed for kneeling on when weeding or planting out seedlings.
• I find they also tamp the soil down prior to sowing a row or two of seeds.
• After kneeling the handles are most useful for pushing yourself back into an upright position. I need all the support I can get in this direction.
• Turning the kneeler upside down it forms a sturdy seat useful for raised beds and hinged backs that will stretch forward. The seat can rock forward and back but is sturdy side to side affording a long reach.
• I use the seat as a table when not in use for other matters. It make items easier to spot if the are 18″ off the ground unless I have rested my specs on the kneeler.

Available from amazon for circa £12

The name of this photo shows the poor taste of me, the shadowy photographer!

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Garden Tool Kit

After a spade the hand trowel and fork are key garden tools.
For cutting pruning and trimming, loppers and secateurs are in regular use in my garden. Loppers can wait until your shrubs and trees have pencil thick stems you want to cut but secateurs are crucial from day one.

Draper is a known tool manufacturer and this kit comprises loppers that are ’635mm long with carbon steel blades hardened and tempered with textured hand grips. The secateurs are 175mm long with carbon steel blades hardened and tempered with moulded spring-loaded handles and thumblock. Hand trowel and fork are epoxy coated carbon steel hardened and tempered with textured hand grips.’
Available from Amazon for £15.88

Lawn Edge Trimmers

Cordless Strimmer, Lawn Edger and Trimmer this GTECH ST04 is a must for all garden and grass lovers.

• The ST04 grass trimmer makes light work of cutting and edging, thanks to its fully adjustable head and powerful 12v battery unit that spins the blades at over 8500 rpm.
• A pack of 20 free blades are supplied with this machine and are easy to fit.
• The ST05 trimmer will provide up to 30 mins continuous cutting time from one charge and can be easily be set up for the individual garden user with the extendable handles.

Other Lawn Edgers & Trimmers

• Do not use a conventional spade as most have a slightly curved blade and do not leave a straight edge.
• Use a half moon cutter for small lengths of edge.
• There is a Wolf Garten Tool attachment with a roller and rotating toothed blade to trim the edge.
• Flexible edging in coated mild steel or plastic can give a crisp and permanent edge

Read Best Lawn Edges in the World

Pruning Saw and Garden Saws

A useful tool for pruning and trimming trees and large shrubs a good pruning saw is a delight to use.

Features of a Pruning Saw.

• The handle on this model folds down when not in use. Some types are like large bread knives.

• The single flat blade can get into tight areas between branches.

• A sharp blade makes for a tidier job

• To cut out a branch take off 80-90% of the length then finish off close to the trunk with a second cut.

• Tough garden pruning jobs made easy with this top-quality Spear & Jackson saw.

• • A 7 inch long carbon steel blade which locks open and shut for safety
  • Super sharp precision ground teeth quick, clean swing
  • Ergonomic, non-grip handle for comfort and extra safety
  • Helpful hole in the handle to aid hanging and easy storage in a shed or garage
  • Rust resistant

Helen Yemm in English Garden reports
‘In every garden there are difficult-to-get-at pruning jobs for which secateurs are definitely too small, two handled loppers too cumbersome, and a bow saw (or any other kind of saw) too unwieldy.
Admittedly, a pruning saw is not something you use every day – or even every month; however, in shrubby gardens, where there is a lot of maintenance pruning to be done, often in dense thickets, a slim, handy and murderously sharp blade is an absolute necessity.’
read the rest of her report

Leaf Collectors

In February it is the last chance to clear up any leaves that are gathered in corners or under hedgerows. Wet and soggy leaves will decay and it is natural to allow them to return to the soil unless they are in the wrong spot such as on a lawn.

Leaf Mold or Rotting Leaves

• Rotting leaves have negligible food value but attract worms.
• When collected, leaves are best left to rot down for longer than normal compost at least 2 years. For that reason they should be kept separate in a wire leaf bin or a black plastic bag with air holes.
• Rotting leaves do not get hot like compost.
• When well rotted the leaf mold can be crumbled and used as a seed/potting compost.

Collecting Leaves

• A spring tined rake is used for small areas, possibly with  plastic hands to pick the pile up for bagging.
• A lawn mower can pick up many leaves off a lawn and shred them. Shredders are an optional extra on some lawn mowers.
• The picture is of a gang mower device for collecting leaves off a large grassed area. The leaves look like they are collecting themselves.
• Leaf blowers and vacuums are a more expensive but efficient way of collecting your leaves.

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Sprayers for Garden Spraying

Many older fashioned insecticides and fungicides are now banned by EU regulation but a sprayer is still a gardeners friend.
An old flit gun like the one above will not improver the efficacy of your spraying but it will be a pleasure to use on pesky insects and bacteria.
I happily use a spray gun for foliar feeding my plants.

Features of a Good Sprayer

• A good sprayer need to have a fine and adjustable nozzel to regulate the amount of fluid distributed. A good arrangement will range from a pencil jet to a wide spray.
• A lance to direct the spray to the underside of leaves is a boon.
• Modern sprayers have a safety valve so you can’t over pressurise the container.
• The sprayer needs to be easy to clean as you do not want a build up of chemicals from one spray to the next.
• Graduated filling marks help to achive accurate mixing.
• A lockable trigger maintains the spray for prolonged use.
• As liquids can be heavy I would opt for a carrying harness if I was buying a larger capacity sprayer.
• Hand held sprayers are fine for indoors and small areas.

this Hozelock Killaspray has a 3 litre Net Capacity leaving 2 litres for building the pressure. It costs about £22 from amazon

Water Hose to Water in Safety

Water Hose Safety Tips

• Do not mix water and electricity. This is not my hose which is too near the power cables for my liking.
• Do not hang your hose as a kink or kinks will develop even if the hose is of the reinforced type. Use a reel to wind your hose onto.
• Do not leave hoses outside and exposed to the elements. Lag outdoor taps to prevent freeze ups.
• Do not drink from hose pipes where water will have stood since last used. Ensure you have a return valve on outdoor taps to stop stagnant water and bacteria being siphoned back into your water supply.
• To avoid tripping on loose hoses fit a wall mounter re-reeler.

Hose Reel Set available from Amazon.
The Draper 30M Wind up Garden Hose Reel set has a tubular steel frame with tough plastic drum with wind-up handle. Flow through design with 1/2in hose connector. Supplied complete with 30M of 12mm hose and five pattern spray gun.

This wall mounted hose and reel by Hozelock is £23 from amazon There is 15m of hose plus fittings.

Get Tidy Tools Nailed

For want of a nail the shoe was lost………

The nails on this picture were strategically placed to hang the spade handle. This keeps tools tidy and off the ground.
The mortice and tenon joint between the shaft and the handle has been further secured with another nail although I find screws are often more effective in garden situations.
The plastic tie is just to keep the spade on the nails.

I sieved through my pictures for more hanging nails, other than on my hands and the result is below

Multi-headed Tools for Gardening

Do you want a Wolf in your garden? Well you might if it was one of the mulit headed interchangeable garden tools like those pictured.

Wolf is a German company with a rather strange slogan ‘Not everything that is new is good; not everything that is old is reputable.’ Still the tools sell because they work.

Fruit Picker

One handle many attachments. Or a short and a long handle for even more flexibility. I have a couple of tolls but tend to leave one on permanently (as the sales team hoped I suppose).

Wolf speaking ‘For more than 80 years, red and yellow have been synonymous for excellent gardening technology. Starting with the first WOLF-Garten tool ever produced, a field hoe modified into a drag hoe….’ read more on link

Fence Care

As the algae has grown on this fence so it looks progressively more unsightly. I believe it is still well protected but any sales force for fence care products will try talk you into a respray.

Part way through the new treatment the fence is being painted by brush. It is hard to get into nooks and crannies and when you do it takes up a lot more solution than you ever expected.
A sprayer will also use up the Weathershield, Cuprinol or Ronseal but is quick, even in application and able to reach the parts other methods can not. A sprayer is a good investment if you have a large fence area to cover.

Creosote has been banned as fence treatment for several years. Most current substance make no claim to extend the life of wood but claim to be water repellent and add colour. I leave it to you to decide if you like this orange colour.

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