Gardeners Tips

Americans may call them pruning shears or hand pruners but my short handled pruners are called secateurs. Secateurs are like special scissors for cutting stems and branches that are less than a finger thick. They have a form of spring to open them and a catch to lock them in place.

Tips for Secateurs

• Buy a good pair (or one of each style see below) and look after them.
• Keep the blade(s) clean and honed sharp. Old plant sap needs to be wiped off at the end of use.
• Do not twist the secateurs to cut through a stubborn stem as it can strain the blades.
• You need to find your secateurs when you put them down so choose a bright colour or add some paint to make them visible.
• Select a pair with good feel and balance – they will work better and so will you.
• After use give then a spray of WD40 or plunge in an oil/sand tray.

Types of Secateurs

• Cheap secateurs start from under £5 but you get what you pay for. A top line Felco pair will cost around £45.
• Anvil secateurs have only one blade which closes onto a flat surface or anvil as in the picture above. They are reputed to crush the stem but I like them for many jobs particularly chopping down stems for the compost heap.

• Bypass secateurs work exactly like a pair of scissors with one blade passing the other to make the cut. At least one of the blades will be curved with a convex upper blade and either a concave or straight lower one.
• Parrot-beak secateurs consist of two concave passing blades which trap the stem between them to make the cut. These are suitable only for narrower stems and intricate work.
• Bonsai have there own pruning tools including leaf cutters like miniature shearing shears and sharpened pincers.

 

Maintain Your Secateurs

• Anvil secateurs remain reliable when slightly blunt but are easy to sharpen on a wet stone.
• Use an oil stone or wet stone to sharpen the blade.
• Two types of wet or oil stones are shown above.
• The liquid quickly makes a grinding paste which is how the blade is sharpened
• Normally 5 or 6 strokes will be enough to hone an edge but when renovating an old pair like the ones in the picture more effort may be required.
• Only sharpen the outer blade on bypass secateurs.
• Clean off sap and plant juice before putting secateurs away.
• I spray moving parts monthly with WD40 to keep them in good condition

 

Felco and other Secatuers from Amazon link

 

Series of well ventilated cold frames.

Cold Frames are an excellent low cost method for developing and growing young seedlings. Cold frames make a good alternative to the the cost and size of conventional greenhouses.
To some extent you can make your own cheap cold frames. See this post – Home Made Cold Frames. I have just used a redundant double glazing unit to make a cold frame for my alpine plants.

 

A good cold frame needs to have an easy mechanism for allowing air in. The cold frame can then be closed at night to protect seedlings against frost. This wooden variety helps keep the heat in. For best results keep at a south facing wall. The wood also makes quite an attractive feature for the garden.

The only problem with cold frames, is that  once you realise how useful they are, it soon becomes full and you start wanting a greenhouse! Of course, a cold frame can be an excellent choice for those who find the greenhouse overflowing at this time of the year.

Cheapest Cold Frames

Some of the cheapest cold frames can be bought for under £50. This Gardmen cold frame holds 6 seeds trays (1000mm *650mm) and can be bought for less than £50. Cold Frames at Amazon.co.uk

The smallest Greenhouses (6ft * 6ft) will come in at over £200. Greenhouses

Get the best gardening results from your glass in a cold frame, greenhouse or glasshouse. (The difference I am told is that a glasshouse has controlled conditions).

Preparation  for 2011

• Make some glasshouse resolutions and stick to them. What will be grown and when. What experiments may be worth trying etc.
• Plants need light so clean the glass thoroughly inside and out.
• Take down any bubble wrap insulation and clean with Jeyes fluid. Replace damaged sections before reinstalling.
• Clean out  guttering and algae from cracks between the glass. A plastic plant label may help you get into tight spaces.
• Clean and disinfect all surfaces, benches, gravel and capillary matting.
• Wash any pots taking care to get rid of bugs lurking under rims and on bottoms.
• Treat wood frames with a wood preservative.
• Check windows for damage or loose panes.
• Ventilate well and allow the area to dry
• Replace any soil or compost according to your resolutions above

Do not forget to clean other equipment like temporary plastic structures, cold frames and cloches.

Bodgers know about making use of the ordinary to help achieve results and here are a few tips for gardeners when measuring in the garden.

Your own body has natural measurement so check them out against a tape measure or ruler and remember the key ones. A stride is about 3 feet, a hand span from tip of thumb to tip of little finger is about 9″, an index finger 3″, heel to toe in a gardening boot 12″, arms akimbo 6 feet, hand width 4″ etc.

Home made measuring sticks can be created, from a 3 foot cane you have a yard stick, on a longer strip of wood paint a mark every foot or every 6″. On your garden rake or other tools paint sizes or lengths.

Buy your watering can with measures already marked or test the capacity with a kitchen jug and record the size with a permanent marker pen. Invaluable when mixing concentrated chemicals.

Buy a graduated dibber and trowel with marks every 2″ or make your own. Measure the depth of the blade on your spade.

Tie a known length of string to two pegs and stretch it out to get a straight edge of known length. If you are a sports field groundsman you may have a metal linked chain for your cricket pitch which will be 22 feet or ‘one chain’ long.

Areas are harder to measure but 4 by 3 foot canes in a square equals a square yard and this can be useful for spreading dry fertilizer and lawn weed killers.

Thermometers for the greenhouse and rain gauges are best bought from your hardware store of Amazon like the tri dial weather station.

Even the RHS promotes the use of a homemade Measuring Stick