For the last few weeks I have been putting three Wilkinson Sword garden tools through their paces. A patio knife, a weed grubber (which I had never heard of) and a large plastic head garden rake.
So without further ado here are the results!
As this is a ground level job it is one that I cannot manage; bring on one handy hubby and let the trial begin! Immediately James liked the feel of this short wooden handled tool, his old one is plastic and feels somewhat flimsy compared to this good strong wooden handle, he thought it was much more useful as he could apply more pressure where needed especially when using the flat blade edge for chopping the weeds that were growing close to any brick work.
The angle of the blade was perfect for getting deep in between the paving slabs and where we had big weeds popping up it was fantastic at loosening the roots which made them simple to pull up complete with the whole root. I am ashamed to say our patio needed a serious clear so this fine tool came in very handy. The patio knife certainly passed James' fussy tool taste and he has squirrelled it away in an "I'm not sharing" manner, which is praise indeed. I felt the quality of the patio knife was top notch, obviously it has a shape blade so use with care but it really does do the job well, one quick slice in the crevices and all the weeds, grass and debris comes out.
"The angle of the blade was perfect for getting deep in between the paving slabs"
My turn now to get my mitts on the weed grubber. I must admit this is a new tool to me and I wasn't really sure that I needed such a thing. How wrong could I be? I was amazed at how easy this tool shifted the deep rooted weeds in my front gardens raised beds. My two fingers make this job a tad tricky but the grubber was actually like having some extra fingers! A huge bonus, let me tell you. I picked a particularly large dandelion which are notorious for their long roots, wiggled the two pronged finger bits around the stem pushed back on the handle and pop! Out came the entire weed, root and all! A very happy weeder here.
Wooden handle tools are becoming a firm favourite for me, they feel so smooth and light weight, I used to think they would be heavy and unwieldy but that's not the case at all. I also liked the fact that the metal section was flat and thin, this enabled me to hold it with ease. This tool would really help anyone with a weaker grip and or wrists as it removes the need to grip the weed at all. It would also be useful to get into those hard to reach places and further back in the border, and say goodbye to getting stung by nettles as this neat little tool means you will never have to pull one up with your bare hands again.
Raking leaves is usually a long laborious job and you constantly have to keep thinking “lovely leaf mulch" to keep you going, yet the Wilkinson Sword plastic head rake makes light work of the job in hand. James loved it so much he has gathered 12 black bin bags worth of leaves all ready to start making lots of gorgeous mulch for next year’s garden, usually he gives up after about three bags, now he is willing the leaves to drop off the trees. At the risk of repeating myself this rake really is a goody, excellent quality, soft wood that seems to mould to your hands, the extra large plastic head sweeps up a vast amount of leaves at a time making it much faster than normal. The flat plastic ends of the head stops any leaves getting spiked onto the head which then need scraping off by hand, none of this with this rake, it also works across all surfaces from slabs to grass to borders, it easily glides from one to the other bringing the leaves with it. James was super impressed that it worked equally well at getting the driveway clear.
I did give raking a go so I could write about it properly, the twisting and pulling action required is something I avoid but I did manage to rake up a good amount of leaves with this rake. The smooth wooden handle slid easily through my arm. Let me explain, I have to hold the handle tucked under my left arm (no hand on my left side) and then use my right hand as a sort of balance, anyway then I had to throw the rake outwards and pull back, jobs a good'un. The rake head is very tough yet super flexible thus hardly any effort is needed, making it a more enjoyable and faster garden task. In fact another family member wanted a go too. Our little granddaughter Kayleigh (Squishy to us), only 22 months old loved helping Ga Ga (this is her name for James, Grandad). Her little face lit up while holding the handle and pushing it about, mind you I am not too sure how helpful she was when it came to bagging up the leaves but oh boy did she enjoy stomping about, throwing the leaves in the air and yelling "tidy up Ga Ga" she had us in stitches and to me that's the whole point of gardening; fun, laughter and the simple enjoyment of it all and having the right tool for every job only enhances the enjoyment. Later on that day we went to visit my father-in-law, who happens to live next door and he was bemoaning his tiny leaf rake and did we have a better one? Funny you should ask, we let him borrow the Wilkinson Sword and he was amazed at how much better it was, in fact he loved it so much he now wants one for Christmas! Sold on the rake then and there is no better recommendation than that. From 22 months to 78 years old this rake was a true hit across the ages, a must for every gardening family.