Even as the gardening year slowly folds in on itself, there remains a host of routine jobs that I’m hoping – fingers crossed – to complete before the winter solstice. Roses and fruit trees, for example, requiring winter pruning. Weeds that need digging out. Compost that needs turning and spreading, young hedging, roses and baby trees that need planting, as well as woody prunings waiting to be chopped or chipped before being added to the compost heap or used as a mulch.
Bitter experience has slowly but surely imparted a valuable lesson regarding these seasonal tasks, which is that a trusty selection of garden tools crafted from hard-wearing quality materials and ergonomically designed for ease of use as well as for longevity is of the essence.
Beware, for example, the flimsy secateurs whose blades blunt or even buckle at the first sturdy branch. Avoid the shoddily made trowel that quickly succumbs to rust or falls apart; the tinny wheelbarrow; the rickety rake with a welded head that cracks after only light use. Not only will they cost you time and money in the long run, but they’ll also inevitably induce such fits of fury – few things are more frustrating than poorly designed, badly made garden tools – that you’ll end up shirking the very tasks that they were supposed to make easier.
The essentials? For those tough winter pruning tasks, invest in a sturdy, heavy-duty loppers with geared or ratcheted blades that cut through thicker branches with relative ease, as well as a model with a rubber buffer between the handles to lessen the impact of the repetitive cutting motion on tired hands and arms. Lightweight, telescopic handles are also a must, allowing you to reach up into higher branches without having to perch dangerously on a ladder. Examples include Burgon & Ball’s telescopic handled ratchet lopper, endorsed by the UK’s Royal Horticultural Society.
[ Frost can feel cruel but it’s not all bad news in the gardenOpens in new window ]
For lighter pruning work that can be done with one hand, you’ll need a strong, well-balanced secateurs (technically “secateur” if you’re a stickler for grammar) with angled, hardened steel blades that can be easily sharpened and repaired, plus nonslip, colourful handles that make it both difficult to lose and easy to hold. The scarlet-handled Swiss-made Felco range has long been considered the gold standard in this regard with the gardener’s traditional favourite being the Felco 2, followed by the Felco 4. But recent challengers to the throne include several high-end, beautifully engineered Japanese brands with hand-forged, super-sharp carbon steel blades that are proving increasingly popular with Irish gardeners such as Okatsune, Kurumi, Asaka and Niwaki (stockists include niwaki.com, mrmiddleton.com, quickcrop.ie and howbertandmays.ie).
A sharp, light, hard-wearing border fork, spade, shovel, oscillating hoe, pitchfork and rake (ideally both a spring-tine model for collecting leaves and grass cuttings plus a soil rake for seed beds and so on) are other gardening essentials. In this case, reliable brands include De Wit, Sneeboer, Freund Victoia, Greenman, Burgon & Ball, SHW, Wolf Garten, Berger, ARS and PKS. Bear in mind that for ease of use, a lightweight ash handle is generally kinder to the back, absorbing stress and making it possible to use the tool for longer.
Before purchasing, take your height and size into account. If you’re tall, choose a suitably long handle, while if you have large hands, be wary of Y-shaped handles unless they’re generously sized. Fruithill Farm in Cork stocks two lengths of straight ash handles suitable for hoes and rakes (1.5m and 1.7m) as well as an outstanding range of many of the brands listed above.
All the suppliers listed above also stock a tried-and-trusted selection of hand-tools from sturdy trowels and hand forks to weeders and dibbers. Some – for example the PKS range – are made of copper, believed to have a beneficial effect on soil health. Others are made of stainless steel (particularly good for heavy clay soils, which slip more easily from its smooth surface) or of forged steel (prized for its strength and sharpness but more vulnerable to rust).
My own favourite garden hand tool is a heavy duty, double-serrated digging trowel/knife with a superstrong manganese steel blade and a rubberised, non-slip handle designed for use with a metal detector (or “treasure digging”, as its manufacturer, Dr Otek, describes it). Think of a Hori Hori knife on steroids. It is pretty much indestructible, super strong, versatile and comfortable to hold, and I use it all the time for hand-weeding as well as for planting.
The other gardening essential that I wouldn’t be without is a sturdy, lightweight wheelbarrow for ferrying heavy loads of manure, soil, compost and leaf mould as well as weeds and plants. Barrows come in all shapes and sizes, from models with 1, 2, 3 and even four wheels, capacities that range from 75 litres up to 170, troughs made of reinforced plastic or galvanised metal, and even some that are battery-powered to help with moving and tipping heavy loads. My own preference is for a toughened plastic trough on a powder-coated steel chassis with a single puncture-proof wheel. Stockists include all good Irish garden centres as well as many of those listed above.
Remember that no matter how well made, even the best garden tools need some TLC to keep them sturdy and rust-proof for many years of use. So try to have some old cloths and a soft hand brush to the ready to clean, wipe down and dry both blades and handles. Use a scouring block such as Crean Mate followed by some camellia oil to remove sticky resin and sap from the blades of secateurs and keep them clean and rust-free, plus a whetstone to sharpen them. For wooden handles, apply a light coating of linseed oil a couple of times a year. Finally, repeated exposure to rain and frost is bad for any garden tool so make sure to store them undercover. In this way they’ll last you a lifetime, something that can never be said of their cheap equivalents.
This week in the garden
Recent night-time frosts and cold daytime temperatures signal the arrival of winter proper, and the best time to plant tulip bulbs to help prevent the risk of the fungal disease, tulip fire. Try to choose a dry day for planting, burying the bulbs to a minimum of three times their depth, or to a maximum of 30cm if you’re hoping to perennialise them. In gardens where tulip fire was a problem in recent years, avoid planting into the same area and/or plant into containers.
Round up any slightly frost-vulnerable plants growing in containers and place them in a huddle together against a warm wall to make it easier to offer them extra protection in the form of garden fleece whenever harsh frosts threaten.
Dates for your diary
Tuesday, December 3rd (7.30pm-10pm): National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin, Dublin 9. Christmas flower-arranging demonstration with floral artist Karen Massey. Booking essential. heritageireland.ie
Saturday, December 7th, Sunday, December 8th and Saturday, December 14th (10am-1pm): The Grinding House, June Blake’s Garden, Tinode, Blessington, Co Wicklow, seasonal and sustainable Christmas wreath-making workshops with garden writer and flower-farmer-florist Fionnuala Fallon. eventbrite or @theirishflowerfarmer on Instagram for details or to book tickets.
