Start With Less Than You Think

A new allotment has a way of making you feel under-equipped. The plot is overgrown, the shed is empty, and the nearest garden centre has an aisle full of shiny things that all claim to be essential. In truth, you can clear, dig, plant and keep on top of a full-sized plot with a surprisingly small kit. Four tools will do most of the work: a spade, a digging fork, a hoe and a watering can. Buy those well, add the small items as you actually need them, and you will spend your money on seeds and compost instead of gadgets that rust quietly in the corner of the shed.

The Spade and the Digging Fork

If you buy only two things, buy these. A spade cuts and lifts; a fork breaks up and loosens. Between them they will handle everything from turning over a neglected plot to planting a row of potatoes.

Look for a forged carbon steel head rather than pressed metal, and a shaft of ash that feels comfortable in your hands. A D-handle suits digging in boots and gives you plenty of leverage; a T-handle is lighter and kinder if you have smaller hands or a troublesome back. Check the join where the head meets the shaft. If it wobbles in the shop, it will fall apart in the ground.

Soil type matters. On heavy clay, a narrow border spade will exhaust you less than a wide digging spade, because you are lifting less weight with every bite. On light sandy soil, a wider blade makes short work of a bed. A digging fork with flat tines is easier to push into stiff ground than one with round tines, and it will lift out a root of couch grass without chopping it into a dozen new plants.

The Hoe: Your Best Weapon Against Weeds

The hoe is the tool new allotment holders most often leave behind, and the one experienced growers reach for first. Weeds are easiest to kill when they are tiny, on a dry day, when a quick scrape through the surface leaves them to shrivel in the sun. Ten minutes with a hoe on each visit saves hours of hand-weeding later in the season.

A draw hoe is the workhorse for clearing rough ground and earthing up potatoes. An oscillating hoe, sometimes called a push hoe, slices backwards and forwards just below the surface and is wonderful for keeping paths and beds tidy. Keep the blade sharp with a flat file, and hoe in the morning so the seedlings you disturb dry out before evening.

The Watering Can and the Small Essentials

Allotments rarely have a tap at the plot, so a good watering can is not a luxury. Buy a nine-litre can rather than a huge one — you will fill it more often, but you will also carry it without spilling half of it down your leg. A removable rose gives a gentle spray for seedlings, and a can with a wide, stable base sits on uneven ground without tipping.

Once those four are sorted, add these as the season demands:

• A hand trowel for planting out and teasing weeds from between crops.
• Bypass secateurs for cutting back stems, harvesting and pruning fruit bushes — bypass blades cut cleanly, while anvil types tend to crush.
• A rake for levelling seed beds and gathering debris.
• A dibber and a ball of string for straight rows and even spacing.
• A kneeling pad or a small stool, which your knees will thank you for by July.
• A water butt or two, connected to the shed roof, to cut down on trips to the standpipe.

How to Spot a Tool Worth Buying

Weight is the first test. Pick a spade up and imagine lifting wet clay with it two hundred times. If it already feels heavy, put it back. A tool that is a pleasure to use will be used; a tool that fights you will stay in the shed.

Second, look at the socket, the metal collar where the head meets the handle. A long, welded socket is far stronger than a short one fixed with a single rivet. Third, check for a full tang on hand tools — the metal should run right through the handle rather than stopping at the tip.

Second-hand is often the better buy. Car boot sales, allotment association sales and charity shops turn up old forged tools with decades of life left in them, usually for a few pounds. A rusty head can be brought back with a wire brush and a little oil, and an old ash handle, sanded and rubbed with linseed oil, will outlast most modern varnish.

Looking After What You Own

Tools last if you treat them as though they cost ten times what they did. Clean soil off the metal after every session, dry it, and wipe the blade with an oily rag to keep rust at bay. Sharpen spades and hoes regularly with a flat file; a sharp edge halves the effort of digging. Never leave a tool standing in the ground, and never store it with the head resting on a damp concrete floor.

At the end of the season, sand wooden handles lightly, feed them with linseed oil, and hang everything clear of the ground. Buy slowly, buy well, and remember that the best tools on any allotment are a pair of well-fitting gloves and the habit of visiting little and often. A plot worked in short, regular bursts will always beat one tackled in exhausting weekend marathons, and your back, your weeds and your harvest will all notice the difference.