5 essential tools to make light work of spring gardening
It’s time to prune, lop, and spruce up the lawn, weed beds and borders – in fact, spring is one of the busiest times of the year for gardeners.
Dobbies resident gardening expert, Louise Golden, explains: “Now is the time to hoe borders to remove weeds, feed borders and hedges with fertiliser, and apply a thick layer of mulch to retain moisture and help keep future weeds at bay.
“Finish off pruning roses, if not already done, lift and divide congested clumps of snowdrops while still in ‘the green’, and prune back late summer/autumn flowering clematis.”
Get the right tools for the job
After a wet and windy winter season, some plants will require trimming into shape. Prune summer-flowering shrubs, such as buddleia and lavatera, to encourage new growth for this summer’s display. Encourage strong vibrant new growth for next year by cutting back colourful stems of cornus and salix.
Gardeners, you’ve certainly got your work cut out! But what about your toolkit? Here are some essential tools to help make light work of freshening up your outdoor space this spring…
1. Gardena Combisystem Gutter Cleaner, £19.99, Homebase
Fed up with climbing ladders to get to the leaves and debris that have clogged up your gutters over the winter? Gardena’s come up with a new gutter cleaner attachment for its telescopic combisystem.
With sturdy bristles on one side, and a powerful plastic scraper on the other to help get rid of all the rubbish, it’s fitted with a Gardena connection – so you can connect it to the garden hose to achieve better results with water. You need to buy the combisystem telescopic rod for the gutter cleaner separately (it comes in two lengths, from £35.95). The rod can also be used with other attachments, including rakes, a fruit picker, broom and saw.
2. Wilkinson Sword Ultralight Bypass Loppers, £29.99, wilkinsonsword-tools.co.uk
Bypass loppers are perfect for green wood, as they give precise, clean, cuts and avoid damaging the branch, with blades that are designed to pass each other smoothly as they cut. If you’re looking for a tool that’s especially lightweight, without sacrificing any cutting power, these Ultralight Bypass Loppers are the ideal option.
Made from strong yet light materials, this lopper can provide the power you need, while weighing in at just 450g – half the weight of its traditional counterpart. They minimise physical effort and increase efficiency of each cut, and the bypass non-stick coated blade is perfect for young, green wood with the 25mm cutting capacity providing a precise, defined cut while the sap groove directs sap away from the cutting blade.
3. Bosch Cordless Secateur EasyPrune, £85, shop.bosch-do-it.com
Take the strain out of pruning with these power-assisted secateurs from Bosch. The EasyPrune cuts through branches with a diameter of up to 25mm effortlessly. A finalist in this year’s RHS Garden Product of the Year award at the Chelsea Flower Show, the secateurs make light work of branches and don’t jam if they’re a little too thick. The power only kicks in when the handles are actively squeezed together, as they would be with conventional secateurs and when the tool senses resistance. A choice of three different settings also lets you adjust the power assistance to your specific needs.
4. Burgon & Ball Wonder Weed Puller, £19.99, burgonandball.com
Another finalist for the Chelsea Product of the Year, this weed puller avoids any of the back-breaking work involved with weeding lawns as it’s designed to be used standing up, without bending or stooping.
To remove a weed in the lawn, insert the three rust-resistant stainless steel prongs into the ground to surround the weed crown, rotate the puller through 360-degrees and pull to remove the weed with its root intact. Press a button on the handle to jettison the weed into a barrow or trug for removal – so you don’t even have to get your hands dirty.
5. Spear & Jackson Neverbend Stainless Steel Weed Fork, Hand Trowel and Transplanting Trowel, £13.49 each, Amazon.co.uk
Treat yourself to a new fork and trowel set for the new season, to help you weed and plant with ease. This Neverbend range offers value for money, with sturdy blades made from mirror-polished stainless steel offering protection against rust and minimal soil adhesion, which makes for easier cleaning. They are finished with durable weatherproofed hardwood handles to extend their lives. Can’t personally vouch that they will never bend – after all, every tool has its breaking point – but they are certainly better than average for the price.
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