Where do you buy your gardening tools?

[CartwheelGirl]

Need a rake and a hoe for next year.

What are the good places for this sort of stuff? Where do I go?

We bought some tools in Aldi in spring, but they don't have anything at the moment.

[shovetheholly]

How keen a gardener are you, and what is your budget? There are tools and there are TOOLS!

Do not, repeat do NOT buy cheap supermarket tools of the kind found in Sainos/Tescos (Aldi ones are a bit better on the whole, though it does vary). Some of the stuff on sale is honestly useless. The handles bend under any stress. The heads fall off. You will swear and cry. They are enough to make even the sunniest day outside miserable.

There are ranges and ranges of decent quality, mid price (£20-30) tools that are a mix of things I've bought and hand-me-downs - things made by people like Wolfgarten (who do a system where you buy a handle and interchangeable heads), Spear and Jackson, J Bentley. There are basically two kinds of 'look' for these - a sort of heritagey one with wooden handles and brassey bits, and a more functional one, often with metal handles and brighter colours. A lot of middle class people like the ones with wooden handles because they look olde worlde and a bit posh, plus wood does genuinely feel quite nice to use . The main thing, however, is not what the tool looks like but how it feels to you. Different handle lengths, weights etc can dramatically change how easy a tool is for you personally to wield. So do go to a good garden centre - the kind that sells things for the actual garden, not candles and slippers - and actually try some out! (This is probably less important for a rake/hoe than a spade, but you'd still be surprised how different they can be).

If you are mega-wealthy, you can buy extremely high quality tools by brands like Sneerboer and De Wit. These are serious pieces of kit that should last a lifetime, but at a serious price too. However, if you're really keen on gardening, they can make a lovely present.

[shovetheholly]

Oops, that should say "There are ranges and ranges of decent quality, mid price (£20-30) tools. I have a mixture of things I've bought and hand-me-downs..."

[CartwheelGirl]

Thanks shovetheholly, off to do more research

We don't know yet if we are keen gardeners or not! Only got an allotment two years ago, cleared it of tons of rubbish, planted some stuff with varying degrees of success first year, and failed it really struggled to keep up this year due to a house move. Hoping to do better in 2017.

[shovetheholly]

Ooff, a house move is bound to throw anyone's allotment schedule off! It's such a big investment of time, and tends to happen just at the time of year when growing things need the most attention. I'm sure 2017 will be smoother for you!

If the tools are for a plot and going to be kept in a shed away from home, decent cheap ones are probably best. Have a look at the Telegraph - even though I really don't like the paper, their gardening section is good and they test lots of different tools.

[CartwheelGirl]

Thanks shove, I hope so! Although I'm back to full time work from January so it'll still be a struggle, but I hope to manage - not in an ambitious kind of way, but just to keep things ticking. Even salad leaves alone made me so happy last year, they were so fresh and tasty! We also had nice tomatoes and cucumbers, lots of beans and a pumpkin

[CartwheelGirl]

Bought a rake today in a local garden centre for £21.99 - looks very nice! It's this one: www.gardman.co.uk/brand/moulton-mill/stainless-steel-soil-rake.html

We're very lucky to have our allotment within a few minutes walk from our house so most of the time I just bring tools back home. We don't have a shed yet, and possibly don't need one. Sheds attract 'visitors' anyway so it's not like it's a safe way to store things. Our allotment neighbours have a pretend garbage pile where they hide their stuff.

[bookbook]

That looks good!
Just a small point about hoes - there are actually a couple of different designs , the traditional dutch hoe, and one that works going forwards and backwards ( an oscillating/scuffle hoe) . Get one with as good a blade as possible , and invest in a sharpening stone . I sharpen mine after every session of hoeing, as I clean up. It makes a big difference.
Hope you enjoy getting back into gardening/allotmenting - at least its not far to go :)

[Ferguson]

"Wolf Garten" tools are VERY good, and because the tool-heads fit on different lengths of handle, you can tailor them to your exact requirements.

They may seem expensive at first, but are very versatile, strong and easy to use, so are worth it in the long-run:

www.wolfgarten-tools.co.uk/

[PurpleWithRed]

Implementations copper tools. Worth every penny!