Allotment Tools
When starting an allotment or purchasing a house with a garden it can be extremely daunting at first but also exciting as you have now got your own patch of land to start growing your own vegetables, fruit and flowers. Knowing where to start on your plot is a hard decision. But having allotment tools is a good place to start.
The first thing you need to purchase when getting your own allotment is garden tools. If you don’t have your own garden tools you won’t be able to get started and clear your allotment plot. There are so many tools and varieties of garden tools available to purchase but knowing which ones to purchase can be confusing.
The price of allotment tools can soon add up as some can be expensive, but you can also land on some bargain tools if you wait until the end of the gardening season to purchase your garden tools. Supermarkets often sell off all there tools around September/ October ready to transform there aisles into Halloween and Christmas.
Allotment holders are always on the hunt for bargain tools, whether its car boots, Facebook or watching for the sales at the end of the year. Word soon gets round online of the best place to purchase something. It certainly feels like Christmas when you see a bargain on offer.
Here on this page we have listed most of the important tools that will see you set on your way to starting that transformation garden project or allotment.. If money is an issue why not post it on your facebook or ask freinds or family if they have any of the list available to help you get started. You can always give them some produce as a thank you once it has grown.
Allotment and Kitchen Garden Book
Are you starting an allotment or planning on growing your own fruit, vegetables, herbs, and flowers in a kitchen garden? If so we highly recommend the book Allotment Month By Month. This does exactly what it does on the cover to help you with what you should be doing in the allotment and kitchen garden each month. Below you can see the link for Amazon where you can purchase the book directly. This book is extremely popular with all allotment holders as you will read in the reviews:-
You can check out all the allotment and kitchen garden books we recommend here.
1. Garden Trowel
The garden trowel is a extremely useful tool for your allotment and garden. This is used for planting all your plants and bulbs. You will certainly be lost with out this garden tool. The garden trowel also has marks on it showing the depth. This is ideal if you are following depths of how deep a plant or seed needs to be planted on your allotment. It’s good to follow advice and tips of how deep certain items need planting
2. Hand Fork
The hand fork is my favortie garden tool. I will always have a couple of these on my plot just in case it breaks or I loose it in the plot when I get distracted. I will always find them the next year when i’m clearing it for that year.
The hand fork is ideal to be used when weeding in between plants and turning the soil over. The spikes on the hand fork will glide through the soil easy. These tools are an essential of the allotment and usually great priced.
3. Garden Spade
The garden spade is a common tool which you will see on many allotments. It is not one I particularly use often as it can chop through roots when digging. This tool is mainly used on my plot for digging my potatoes in. I also use it for plants fruit bushes, trees and shrubs. Garden spades can cost anything from £7.50 upwards depending on what metal it is made out of or if the handle is made out of wood. Personally I would go for a cheap garden spade as it wont be used much.
4. Garden Fork
The garden fork is one tool that you won’t be without on an allotment. Like the hand fork it is used for all the weeding on the plot, this is because you wont end up cutting through roots like you would with a spade. You can also use the fork for digging your produce up. Just be careful if you are digging your potatoes up as you don’t want to piece holes in them.
5. Garden Hoe
The best garden tool you can have on your allotment is a garden hoe. It will soon become your garden best friend. This tool is like magic. It will keep on top of those pesky weeds. If you go round your allotment beds with it every week or few days you will keep your weeds to a minimum. You will never have an issue with weeds growing in your allotment beds and you will have more time to sit back and watch the plants grow..
The garden hoe will also beak up the soil so that when you water your fruit and vegetables the water will soak into the soil a lot better and easier. If the ground is hard it will just run off. Just be careful not to slice through the plant roots.
6 Watering Can
If you don’t have a watering can you are really going to struggle. You will certainly make full use of this garden tool. You will need to purchase a watering can for watering all your seeds with. Just make sure you don’t loose the end of you watering can as having the sprinkler on the end you wont dame the plants with the gushing of water.
You can obviously use a hose pipe on your allotment and garden but most allotment sites don’t like you using them only to fill your water butts up with. Using a hose pipe can be a lot quicker but you end up wetting areas that don’t need wetting and more weeds end up growing.
7 Garden Pruners
These allotment tools the garden pruners will only need to be purchased if you have fruit bushes as that is what they are most commonly used for. They can also be used for pruning back brambles and your tomato and cucumber plants. Just look carefully when purchasing pruners as the spring in the middle of the pruner most often detaches.
You don’t want to use these on branches or thick brambles as you you just end up breaking them. They are certainly not made for that job.
8 Dibber
Dibbers are awesome for an allotment. They are extremely cheap and you can keep it in your gardening belt. A dibber is used for planting your vegetables out. Make the perfect hole in the ground for your vegetables and seeds to just drop straight into. Dibbers are extremely cheap and once you use one you certainly will know how much time they are worth. If you don’t want to purchase a dibber you can easily make your own.
9 Wheelbarrow
The wheelbarrow is the garden tool that will save injuring your back. When you first start your allotment you will probably find it full of rubble, bricks, paving stones, carpets. Don’t injure yourself and get a wheelbarrow to move it. Plus you may also grow a huge pumpkin so you will need a wheelbarrow to move it. Once you have a wheelbarrow on your plot you won’t need to purchase another one, it will only be the tire you might have to replace if it punctures. Just make sure you store it somewhere safe so it doesn’t get pinched.
10 Gardening Gloves
Gardening gloves are not necessarily a garden tool but they are an essential for the allotment. What ever you do do not skimp on buying cheap gloves you need to look around for a pair that will protect your hands from glass, thorns, thistles, and brambles. If you only have cheap thin gloves the spikes on the brambles will go through and they are extremely sharp and will hurt you.
Stay safe when on the allotment and invest in good quality gloves. It will be worth it in the end.
As you can see their is ten allotment tools listed above. These are the main gardening tools that you require to do all the jobs on the allotment. As the time passes you can invest in some unique tools.
