Can you garden effectively wearing gloves?

[Primrose]

I was looking at the state of my hands and broken finger nails this morning - not a very elegant sight! But I find it really difficult to do fiddling jobs like pricking out, potting on, transplanting etc when wearing gloves and seem to manage much better with bare hands. I do occasinally wear the thin latex gloves and wonder how the rest of you manage?

[Johnboy]

Hi Primrose,
It really all hinges around what task you are about to undertake. For a job such as mixing composts and filling pots I use Vinyl Gloves as the talc used with Latex Gloves brings me out in a rash. When it comes to actually potting up I have bare hands.
Generally about the plot I am bare handed but when it comes to jobs such as pruning Blackberries and Tayberries and the likes such as Berberis and Roses I use gauntlets which reach my elbows (well almost). When pruning shrubs I only use a left hand glove and hold the secateurs in my right hand.
Somehow I cannot use secateurs with a gloved hand very effectively.
I am a great believer in the use of the Hoe and do very little hand weeding but when I do I always employ a sharpened partially broken old kitchen knife to do most of the work for me. It is scrubbing about in the soil weeding with bare hands instead of employing a weeding aid that gives you broken finger nails.
JB.

[lizzie]

Personally no...i can't. I have very small little hands and can't find gloves to fit me. Only childrens ones and they're not really fit for adult gardening use.

I keep to bear hands unless i'm doing rhubarb leaves, as i'm allergic to them. Come out in a lovely rash......nearly ended up stabbing myself with the knife though on several occasions.....

[oldherbaceous]

No gloves for me, i like getting my hands dirty too much.

[Monika]

I wouldn't want to be without my thick black household gloves with woolly gloves inside. I always carry about four pairs of woolly gloves in my gardening coat so that I can change into clean and dry ones when they become damp and horrid and smelly during a gardening session.

For sowing, I use thin disposable latex gloves or none at all.

I would prefer not to wear any at all but then my hands get so dry and my fingernails crack so I have to put up with the gloves!

[donedigging]

I always wear gloves on the plot as I have 3 cats and know that I'm going to find something nasty when weeding!

[Stephen]

I wear gloves when possible, particularly when using secateurs, as I have ended up with a blister after an long shift of cutting back the shrubs in my mother's garden. If I was just cutting the stuff away, it would not be a problem but reducing all the woody debris to fit their green bin really raises the number of cuts you have to make.

[Catherine]

I use gloves from Wilkinsons which are rubber on the front of the fingers and a sort of fabric on the back. They are quite comfortable and make it easy to weed. They are very cheap and comfortable. But to prick out seedlings it has to be bare hands. I used to use normal yellow kitchen gloves but they make your hands sweat Wilkinsons gloves dont do that.

[Tigger]

No gloves for me except when I'm tackling spikey things or nettles, then it's leather gauntlets, made by Bradleys - very expensive but brilliant.

[Geoff]

I wear fingerless mitts a lot of the time - they seem to protect from blisters without losing the fingers for detail work and are surprisingly warm.

[Happymouse]

I HATE wearing gardening gloves but have to keep my hands soft for my care job. There are lots of fiddly jobs in the garden which are pretty impossible to do in gloves. Leather driving gloves make great gardening gloves as they are comfortable and last for years.

[gardenaholic]

I CANNOT garden without them. I find that it is also a safety issue to prevent spider bite.

[lizzie]

Anyone who suffers from dry pinkies, I can heartily recommend Palmers Olive Oil moisturisers, available in most places. About £3.50 a throw but it lasts for ages and can be used on any delicate bits too.

Lush also do a brilliant one too, although a little more pricey

http://www.lush.co.uk/products/Quishion ... _2530.aspx

[Lurganspade]

.
Course "YOU" can!

Real men wear gloves!

If you do not believe me; get into a boxing ring and call the bloke in there wearing gloves; " A BIG JESSIE" or something similar, and see what happens!

Oi !!!!!!

[penny]

I have to look manicured in the day job so have been trying not only strong gloves for digging but latex for potting. They split terribly quickly though so a good alternative would be great. Penny