"Spider" wrote in message
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"Ben Short" wrote in message
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Just bought some Felco secateurs and they are brilliant.

Now I need some really good quality spades, hoes etc. I bought some B&Q
ones and in my hard soil the spade broke first time.

What are the BEST spades, forks, hoes money can buy, money no object so
to speak. thanks


Because you say your soil is hard, I imagine it's clay, and compacted clay
at that. Since it is likely to be hard and sticky for some time, I would
suggest a stainless steel spade and fork, which are so much easier to
clean. My trowel and hand fork are stainless steel too. I haven't
focussed on one brand, as I select for weight, balance and comfort, but my
large spade is a Bulldog brand, my border spade and fork (smaller heads)
are Spear & Jackson, my two hand tools are Burgeon & Ball. I love their
(B&B) round-tined hand fork, and won't touch the flat-tined sort.

I would advise anyone to avoid the 'neverbend' variety. I've used a
couple, but never again. They certainly don't bend - they snap. If a
tool bends, you can straighten it, but not when it's just snapped off!
They may just serve on a light soil, but for clay soil (and soil full of
rubble) they are not worth the price.


I'm not sure about a stainless steel spade. My partner's auntie died and we
inherited some of her garden tools, including a ss spade. The first time I
used it in our dry and rather heavy soil, it went 'sproing' and bent in the
middle. I never thought a stainless steel tool would do that. Anyway, I
don't trust it now, and have reverted to a good old heavy steel spade. We
do have a ss trowel that we bought about 30 years ago and it has never bent
or gone wrong in any way.

Secateurs: We had a great pair of Wilkinson's for many years, but they
broke (the spring went) and I spent a fortune on another pair of Wilkinsons
(about £30) and they were useless. They had changed the design so that the
secateurs pinched your finger when you bit through a big twig, and the jaw
was either too big or too small.

I get all my secateurs from either Aldi or Lidl now, 99p each, they've been
great, I buy about 3 at a time for our home and allotments, and have only
used 2 in the last couple of years.

someone