Bronze Container & Greenhouse Weeder

A fine quality multi-use bronze hand-tool, an essential for the greenhouse and a useful number for container gardeners. This might be the tool you never realised you needed until now!

At one end, the small rake is handy for tidying the soil around your potted plants or for agitating out small weeds. At the other end, the spatula is very good for digging out weeds with deep tap-roots or for pricking out seeds.

Features a solid bronze build with an attractive design. Can be at any point throughout the patination process when received.

• Length: 10 1/4ins, 26cm

Once you have placed your order, please retain your copy as proof of purchase should a claim ever need to be made with the workshop.

The beech handles have a 2 year guarantee though replacement handles are also available to buy if out of the guarantee period.

The tool heads have an extended 10 year guarantee period.

We typically think of bronze as a fine metal attributed to statues & fine sculpture but did you know that it is in fact hard-wearing and makes very suitable garden tools?

Here are some benefits:-

• It doesn't rust compared to steel or iron
• Although it is not as hard as steel, it is smoother. Users report they find less resistance from the soil
• The edges stay sharp and retain a good edge
• As bronze is an alloy of copper & tin, it is non-magnetic. This is thought to assist the flow of plant-nourishing earth energies. I won't go into this, but it's certainly a subject worth reading about.

Keeping Them Clean
As bronze won't rust, you don't need to oil the metal. Just for the sake of the wooden handles, don't leave them outside; A cycle of wet & dry will play havoc with the wood.

Store your tools indoors and once a year it's worth giving them to a fine boiled linseed or teak oil. This will simply nourish the wood.

Sharpening the sides

There are two ways; either file the side of your trowel with a fine metal file or put the blade on a piece of wood and hammer it. If you use a file, run it slowly at an angle to the blade, at about a quarter of the speed with which you would sharpen a steel blade.

Wear

All tools wear down over time. How much and how fast depends on the kind of soil you are working in, and how much you use the tools. If you are working in stony soil, the heads will abrade and get smaller (though obviously, this can take years to even notice). This counts as normal wear and tear and so is not covered by the guarantee. The upside, however, is that copper is a valuable trace element. Any part of the tool head that wears off brings nourishment to your garden.

As bronze is mostly composed of copper, this begs the question ''What effect does a bronze tool have against slugs?''

Bronze garden tools are not a magic solution or a definitive deterrent. However, these bronze tools have been used in the gardens of numerous estates for many years and it has been noted that gardeners have seen a reduced amount of slug and snail damage. Does their use leave trace copper in the ground which acts as a slug deterrent?

Read this interesting testimonial... ''One day, at work, I had about a hundred marigolds to plant, and proceeded to do so using my usual steel trowel. The next morning, after a particularly wet night, I went to check on them, knowing full well that, along with the likes of lettuce and delphiniums, they were pretty much at the top of the menu for slugs. As expected, the slimy ones had had a nocturnal feast and managed to polish off all bar one or two. It just so happened that later that morning I took delivery of my shiny new copper trowel, looking more golden than bronze, and I promptly put it to the test by planting roughly the same amount of marigolds as I had the previous day, and in the same place. The next morning I returned to the scene of the crime, and to my amazement there was hardly any damage to the flowers, even though it had also been rainy the night before. Since that day I have hardly picked up an ordinary iron-based trowel, and have added several more copper tools to my arsenal.”

Standard postage is £4.50 and this covers a 2nd Class Royal Mail service. This may take up to 10 days. I always suggest that if you are ordering for a gift or need something arriving by a specific date, you upgrade to a 1st Class Royal Mail Service.

Postage fees covers all of my gardening accessories aside from compost and is charged per order, not broken down per item.

I'll always endeavour to dispatch your order within 24hrs. Though in the situation when I am away for a show, this may be extended.