I am impressed. They look good and are mainly red in colour and therefore easy for me to see in the garden. This is important as if I get distracted I can and do leave them anywhere, but red is a good colour for me to notice!
Wolf Bypass Secateurs
If you have a teenager living at home and a golf course nearby, they could get a job collecting golf balls too! Dual purpose and easy to do too.
One of my absolute favorite finds for working around the home, lawn or garden are my Ironclad Utility Gloves. When I needed to replace my garden gloves last year I visited my local Ace Hardware store and found these fabulous gloves in the garden/utility glove section.
It is pretty rare to pair fabulous with gloves so this is probably an indication of how happy I am to have found these gloves! They have become a go to staple for work around the house, garage, lawn and garden. So versatile, so comfy, affordable and practical.
The Ironclad Gloves are sized which I think make ALL the difference for a comfortable fit. No more swimming in garden gloves. True to fit. The gloves have velcro straps around the wrist to ensure a solid fit and keep out all those stray yard clippings and dirt from gardening.
Yes! The gloves are washable! I used these gloves for gardening with wet spring mud and the gloves washed beautifully. But the gloves must be hung dry!
One of the best features of these gloves is the nimble feel for using with power tools, rakes and shovels. Particularly with power tools that require you to hold down a button while pressing another button to operate the tool. The gloves allow you to easily and comfortably operate small buttons or levers on power tools.
So strong, so durable yet so lightweight. The Ironclad gloves are first and foremost utility gloves that I happen to also use in the garden. If you have any type of plants with thorns, prickers or sharp edges these gloves work wonderfully.
I highly recommend the Ironclad Gloves for the home and yard. You will not be disappointed in the quality and versatility of these gloves.
My first stop to shop local is always my local Ace Hardware. This is where I originally found the gloves and their recommendation was spot on.
Ace Hardware Review by Wednesday Elf
My Favorite Local Ace Hardware by The Savvy Age
I'm resting my arm on the kneeler as I work on this bull thistle plant that had babies in my herb garden. |
I was planting and weeding in this bed and wanted you to see the kneeler without me inside it. I need to get that bucket with the caddy. |
Taking a rest on my overturned kneeler in bench mode in front of the rosemary, black sage, and butterfly bush |
One of the Small Gardens in My Parents Backyard |
I have been helping a person new to gardening recently. Its been a long time since I was a new gardener as I started as a child when I was around 5 years old. This person is an adult and has no prior knowledge so I had to start from the beginning to help them with a new garden.
So I thought it would be useful for any brand new gardeners out there to have a basic list of things to bear in mind when you start gardening.
To my mind a garden is anything from a window box to a small back garden to large acres of land. Each have their own challenges and rewards. In particular never think you cannot be a gardener if you only have a small patch or containers.
Research where it originally grew, what conditions it likes, what care it needs including its watering and soil requirements, pruning, ideal situation and winter care.
Select plants that are well-suited to your growing conditions, such as your climate and soil type. Right plant, right place will save you time, money and heartache.
This is better especially in the early days of gardening than trying to cope with plants that will need a lot of care and input from you because your conditions do not suit it.
If you do this with each plant it is not as daunting and you will quickly learn about a lot of plants. Once you are experienced in your gardening you will be more confident to try more difficult plants.
Every gardener has their tried and trusted favourite tools and that will vary between gardeners and gardens. The ones below are what I use most in my garden so I would suggest a basic kit to include:-
You can always add more as you go and you may need specific tools depending on your garden and the trees, shrubs and plants in it, but get the basics first.
Get to know your soil type whether it is clay or sandy, loam or stony. To check if it is acidic, neutral or alkaline you can purchase soil testing kits such as the one below, that will give you this information.
If you garden in containers you will be able to choose the soil type depending on which compost you buy. Ericaceous compost is for acid liking plants, for others a good quality general purpose compost will be fine.
Get to know which parts of your garden faces south, north, east or west.
Check which areas of your garden are sunny or shady. It is useful to map out areas that are in full sun, total shade and partial shade.
All this influences the type of plants that will be happy in your garden and enables you to get to know your plot.
Make sure you have materials for taking cuttings and propagating and growing seeds. This will save you money in the longer term being able to grow your own seeds and take cuttings to make more plants.
So buy a few seed trays, small pots and larger pots, good quality compost suited to young plants, perlite and grit, vermiculite and seed or young plant compost.
Buy labels as well as you think you will remember which pot has which seeds in it but in my personal experience you won't!!
Perhaps not immediately necessary but if you can invest in a cold frame to harden off young plants and a basic greenhouse to keep tender cuttings and young plants, you will find it valuable.
It does not need to be a big elaborate greenhouse, if you are starting out a very basic temporary greenhouse will be sufficient for a while.
A wildlife friendly garden will benefit you and your plants more than may be immediately apparent. As time goes on your garden will find a balance of pests and predators and the plants will thrive better. You will have the added joy of watching bees, moths and butterflies, birds and maybe even hedgehogs and frogs in your garden.
To achieve this it is best not to use pesticides or slug pellets which are harmful to wildlife.
Get to know the pests and diseases your plants can suffer from so you can identify any issues.
Design your garden and grow plants so that it attracts beneficial predators that will eat the pests and do the work for you.
Do not be too tidy, wildlife need messier, wilder areas to live and material to build nests but you can easily incorporate areas like this into a lovely garden.
Grow shrubs birds like to nest in and/or fix up bird boxes, have a pile of logs in an out of the way area that insects and frogs can live in.
Build or buy an insect house. Great for insects and fun for any children to build and watch. Why Insect Hotels Are Good for Wildlife And Gardeners
If we give garden friendly predators a place to live and do not interfere too much soon your garden will have a balance. Yes you will still get pests but the beneficial predators will keep them in check so they will not do much damage.
One of the best books about wildlife friendly gardening I have read is The Wildlife Gardener By Kate Bradbury. It is a beautiful book I very much enjoyed reading and learning from.
Keep all broken crockery or broken pots to use as crocks in the bottom of pots so that soil does not block the drainage hole and to increase drainage.
Other gardeners are a wonderful source of information and inspiration. If they are local to you what grows well in their gardens may well grow well in yours. If you get chatting to them they may even share cuttings or dig up and share plants with you ! :)
Most gardeners are very happy to talk about plants ! If there are any open garden events near you do take the opportunity to go around other gardens, You will learn so much and can continue to improve your skills and knowledge as long as you want to garden!
Few gardens are perfect.
Cultivate patience and enjoy the seasons, gardening takes time and effort, and not everything will be perfect right away. In fact in my experience a garden is always an ever changing dynamic, work in progress.
Enjoy the process and learn from your successes, failures, surprises and mistakes. I am still learning and making mistakes and having successes after decades of gardening! The main thing is to enjoy yourself and have fun.
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