Your favourite piece of equipment
Moderators: KG Steve, Chantal, Tigger, peter
Mine has to be my Superspray hose end sprayer! I can wash and disinfect my greenhouse really easy and I also use it for foliar feeding my lawn and root feeding my tomatoes. I can also wash my car with it. Id put up a picture if I new how to!but you can see it on their website
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Primrose
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I'm torn. For sheer convenience & timesaving it would have to be my Hozelock irrigation system which allows me to water my veggies automatically in dry weather,especially when we're away on holiday, (provided there isn't a hosepipe ban! ).
However, I would be lost without my kneeling stool with the upright arms which also provides a convenient seat when it's time for a tea break.
However, I would be lost without my kneeling stool with the upright arms which also provides a convenient seat when it's time for a tea break.
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oldherbaceous
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Hello Vegman, my favourite watering implement has to be an old three gallon watering can, as when it's full it is quite heavy, so no one asks to borrow it. 
Kind Regards, Old Herbaceous.
There's no fool like an old fool.
There's no fool like an old fool.
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madasafish
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I have a old (rehandled twice) small spade whose blade is about 20cm wide and 25cm long. Ideal for digging holes for fence posts (we have CLAY:-(. Was my father in laws so about 60?years old and very nice to handle as light and compact...also ideal for digging up deep weedroots plus nettles and brambles which invade from the fields...
My favourites are two very old tools: a spade which is worn down to nearly half its normal depth, but sharp like a butcher's filleting knife and with a T-handle, and the other one is a similarly sharp hoe with a beautifully balanced handle which virtually does the hoeing itself - it just slices through annuals like through soft butter. We found it in the undergrowth more than 30 years ago on an abandoned allotment we took over, cleaned it up, oiled the handle and used it ever since. We have tried to buy a similar new one (to use in the garden at home) but there seems to be nothing like it on the market.
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Howard Bantam
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Sheen X300, mwahahahahahahahaha
Monika wrote:My favourites are two very old tools: a spade which is worn down to nearly half its normal depth, but sharp like a butcher's filleting knife and with a T-handle, and the other one is a similarly sharp hoe with a beautifully balanced handle which virtually does the hoeing itself - it just slices through annuals like through soft butter. We found it in the undergrowth more than 30 years ago on an abandoned allotment we took over, cleaned it up, oiled the handle and used it ever since. We have tried to buy a similar new one (to use in the garden at home) but there seems to be nothing like it on the market.
I had a spade like that and over my thirty years of gardening its only had two blades and three handles but I didnt think it would count!!!
I would say My Howard Gem rotavator is the beast that saves the most hard graft, it keeps going when other lesser machines have fallen by the wayside, OK it chops up couch grass and bindweed into small pieces which all take root and re-grow , but if you cultivate in dry weather these can be eradicated eventually as the roots dry out in the British sunshine!.
Another favourite is a well worn turf lifting spade by 'neverbend' keep it sharp and well oiled after use and it slides under old turf a treat, we used to cut acres of turf by this method in the old days.
Potato lifting forks with speens bent over at approx 90 degrees make an excellent tool for breaking up soil prior to final raking, we call them 'scratchers' in these parts, reminds me of the old Merry Tiller advert which depicted a chicken with two long handles attached and with it's legs frantically tilling the soil, with the slogan ARE YOU HARNESSED TO A SCRATCHER. Mind you there are power tillers available today which are not much better!!!
Hortiman
Another favourite is a well worn turf lifting spade by 'neverbend' keep it sharp and well oiled after use and it slides under old turf a treat, we used to cut acres of turf by this method in the old days.
Potato lifting forks with speens bent over at approx 90 degrees make an excellent tool for breaking up soil prior to final raking, we call them 'scratchers' in these parts, reminds me of the old Merry Tiller advert which depicted a chicken with two long handles attached and with it's legs frantically tilling the soil, with the slogan ARE YOU HARNESSED TO A SCRATCHER. Mind you there are power tillers available today which are not much better!!!
Hortiman
Happiness is a well tuned engine !
Ok, it's not the most essential or most useful, but I find a Compost Aerator quite handy.
I have 3 plastic compost bins and it's impossible to effectively mix up the decomposing material more than a foot below the surface. This cunning gadget lets me reach down around 3-4 feet and get everything mixed nicely.
In theory, any walking stick could also be used, but it's the cunning hinged barbs at the end that help make it effective. Whilst I can't vouch for the value for money, you can find more here: http://www.organiccatalog.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=1969
Colin
I have 3 plastic compost bins and it's impossible to effectively mix up the decomposing material more than a foot below the surface. This cunning gadget lets me reach down around 3-4 feet and get everything mixed nicely.
In theory, any walking stick could also be used, but it's the cunning hinged barbs at the end that help make it effective. Whilst I can't vouch for the value for money, you can find more here: http://www.organiccatalog.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=1969
Colin
after last weekends work definitely my late Grandad's spade. It's very worn and extremely sharp with a very comfy and solid handle (that he probably made..) I think I've got one of those scratcher things in amongst his other bits I acquired - looks like a really funny bent small fork. I've learned something today!!! 
Hi gloworm.
I tried Roundup once but found it made all the foliage go yellow and then brown, followed by death of the sprayed subjects, do you think i mixed it wrongly in the spray tank, or applied it at the wrong rate !!.
Try GLYPHOS it is much cheaper, and does the same job.
Hortiman
I tried Roundup once but found it made all the foliage go yellow and then brown, followed by death of the sprayed subjects, do you think i mixed it wrongly in the spray tank, or applied it at the wrong rate !!.
Try GLYPHOS it is much cheaper, and does the same job.
Hortiman
Happiness is a well tuned engine !
Hi Hortiman,
Both Roundup and Glyphos are one and the same chemical. As you describe it the Roundup worked exactly as it is intended to do and the same process will be with Glyphos. They both contain salts of Glyphosate as their active ingredient.
What you have got to be aware of is the strength of the chemical you are using. I am not familliar with Glyphos but it is cheaper probably because it is a watered down variation of Roundup.
You will get better value for money using Roundup at the correct dosage.
JB.
Both Roundup and Glyphos are one and the same chemical. As you describe it the Roundup worked exactly as it is intended to do and the same process will be with Glyphos. They both contain salts of Glyphosate as their active ingredient.
What you have got to be aware of is the strength of the chemical you are using. I am not familliar with Glyphos but it is cheaper probably because it is a watered down variation of Roundup.
You will get better value for money using Roundup at the correct dosage.
JB.
Hi johnboy
I am aware of all the things that you mention , I was just being silly. I agree that roundup is an excellent product but i have found glyphos to be just as good and more economical in use. Having said that, I feel that the less we use these chemicals the better.
Rotavators have their uses in dealing with couch, bindweed etc if you regularly cultivate during dry weather to expose roots to the bright sunlight eventually they dry out and perish, which does weaken the perennial weed population significantly.
Hortiman
I am aware of all the things that you mention , I was just being silly. I agree that roundup is an excellent product but i have found glyphos to be just as good and more economical in use. Having said that, I feel that the less we use these chemicals the better.
Rotavators have their uses in dealing with couch, bindweed etc if you regularly cultivate during dry weather to expose roots to the bright sunlight eventually they dry out and perish, which does weaken the perennial weed population significantly.
Hortiman
Happiness is a well tuned engine !