In your garden: It's vital to have a handle on the tools of the trade

WHETHER you are a novice or a long-standing expert, when it comes to being a gardener, good tools play a crucial part in the success of any vegetable plot or flower bed. Here, city allotment holder George Sutherland offers his top tips on gardening implements.

Some people have their shed full of fancy tools, yet new plot holders need only a few basics.

When I first took over my plot, it had no shed and I had no car. Tools and produce were carried for a mile.

Reducing the load to the basics was important, especially when returning home laden with vegetables - a 10-plant row of harvested potatoes can weigh more than 60 pounds. That's quite a carry.

A spade does digging plus lifting potatoes, leeks and parsnips. An errant potato is cleanly cut into two useable pieces by a spade, while a fork will split it all ways.

On my plot, the Dutch hoe is the most used tool. Hoeing keeps down weeds but also prepares ground for seeds. Use at a shallow angle for weeding and a steeper angle for deeper soil preparation.

The draw hoe makes earthing up potatoes easy while the trowel makes holes for planting potatoes and greenhouse raised plants. The dibble makes holes for transplanting leeks, while the tape measure and line are a great help in laying out the ground accurately for planting up. I've also inherited an old barrow, and a good sharp knife and scissors often come in useful.

Over the years, I've added a few more tools to make life easier. The fork breaks up the sub-soil during double digging for potatoes and it's also easier than a spade for moving compost and farmyard manure.

The rake levels the ground after lifting potatoes and the bulb planter is easier for planting potatoes. The seed sower allows an even row of leeks in their seed bed plus precise sowing of other seeds, while the secateurs prune the fruit bushes perfectly.

I now keep most tools on site - knives can be considered "offensive weapons" if carried.

Not really a tool, but marking out paper sheets for crop rotation is important. I use a four-year scheme. It's easy to rotate when each section is the same size. Section A for one year becomes section B for the next, and so on. Keep the sheets for later reference.

Stainless steel tools are an expensive luxury, while regular use and an oily rag will keep ordinary tools rust free and shiny. I was once asked if my spade was stainless! Do buy good forged steel tools, avoid weaker pressed steel ones. A forged trowel with a cranked handle means fewer grazed knuckles.

• George Sutherland is a past president of The Federation of Edinburgh and District Allotments and Gardens Association (FEDAGA). He has an organic allotment in the Capital and is a ?ve-time holder of the Robin Harper Green Trophy for organic vegetables.