This article comes from guest contributor Lisa Dove of Forest Park.
When we bought our house in 1984, we borrowed an old lawn mower. We had no money, no garden tools, no equipment, and no knowledge about how to care for the property we just purchased.
Neighbors, eager to help, gave us their old “duct taped” shovels, dull pruners, and the good ol’ two handle hedge trimmers. “These are still good!”, they said, or “I don’t need them, I’m cleaning out the garage!” Little did we know that they were jumping in the car to run to Mr. How’s warehouse (way before Home Depot) for newer, electric garden tools.
The gift of the tried-and-true tools were extremely helpful to those of us who were just starting out, and I’ve been guilty of the same thing as we’ve gotten older, offering my older manual tools to new neighbors, or my adult children.
The point is if improvements in garden technology can make the “work” of gardening easier on us. Why not take advantage? If you want to spend all day trimming your hedge by hand — go for it. If you are like me — I want something to make it go faster. And now that I’m older, I want something smaller and lighter that I can lift without throwing out my back.
Just as cell phones have gone from the size of a small briefcase to something that can fit in your pocket, electric garden tools have also become lighter and smaller. Manufacturers have created hand-held battery power pruners (actually a mini-chain saw) that is amazing, and a hand held trimmer with a long and short blade. It does most of the work of its big brother, but easier to wield for smaller trim jobs, and you can reach over your head without fear! I don’t want to appear to endorse any manufacturers here, but if you want to know — drop me an email — I’ll give you a couple of examples.
Many manufacturers have created convertible equipment, which is where you purchase the power unit, then are able to purchase a multitude of attachments, such as trimmers, edgers, trenchers, tillers, and even chainsaw attachments. The major cost is in the purchase of the motor, and the attachments range in price, based on what it does.
Whatever you do, make sure you invest in good equipment. It will last you for a long time. I cannot tell you how many of our grass trimmers have gone in the trash.
Don’t get me wrong! There are some hand-held tools that are just not replaceable.
My go to manual tools are: hand trowel, lawn knife, GFS steak knife (no kidding), pocket limb saw, my duct tape shovel, my “Hula” hoe, and a kid’s size fan rake (great for getting around shrubs.
See you in the Garden!
— Lisa Dove
