January means making resolutions for many people, and I am no exception. Only in my case, this year, my resolutions aren't about what I eat or how much exercise I get (okay, I make some of those, too...) but about how I care for my tools. And about what tools I choose in the first place.
I am someone who has refused to spend more than $10 for pruners because I keep losing them. My speciality is dropping them into the bucket I'm collecting weeds and clippings in and then forgetting where I've put them so they eventually end up buried in the compost pile.
Well, no more. I have turned a corner. Turned over a new leaf. Crossed the street from the Land of Lost Pruners to the Country of Responsible Tool Owners. Yes, I have taken the plunge and bought myself some Felco Number 8 pruners.
You may be wondering what has motivated me to risk $60 on pruners that, if I don't reform my habits, may end up at the bottom of a pile of weeds and chicken poop. Three things: Paula's repeated advice, Harry's tutorial on tool care, and an occupational therapist's suggestion that I focus on the ergonomics of my gardening.
Paula is a skilled and sensible gardener who has suggested more than once that I stop spending my money on cheap pruners, buy a better pair already, and then take good care of them. (Thank you, Paula, for being so patient with me!)
Harry is a new friend, a retired master gardener and arborist who is spending his retirement passing on a lifetime's worth of knowledge and experience to anyone he think might use it. In the fall he spent an afternoon giving me a lesson on how to prune shrubs and trees, which culminated in a practical demonstration on how to take care of a good set of pruners. Here's the drill.
- Use a green scrubby to clean off any wax, pitch or sap. If the pruners are really dirty you might need to use a razor blade.
- Then use a small piece of 220 grit sandpaper on both surfaces of the blades. Use each small piece only once.
- Check the tightness of all the screws.
- Finish by spraying WD-40 on a piece of towel and using it to wipe down the blades and all the mechanisms. This will also disinfect the pruners, which is always a good idea.
Lastly, a few sessions with an occupational therapist at the Arthritis Society convinced me that if I used better quality and more ergonomically friendly tools I could reduce the strain on my joints. My triumvirate of friendly advice givers all suggested a set of Felco pruners, and who was I to argue? Harry suggested the Number 8 model as being particularly good for people with arthritis.
I have used them in the garden a few times so far, in exactly the kind of circumstances that in the past have led to loss: big cleanups with lots of buckets of clippings and weeds being dumped in a wheelbarrow and then the compost pile, and I am happy to say I haven't had a moment of not knowing where they are. And the cleaning routine is quick and easy and so far has kept my new pruners looking pretty good.
If you, too, are sometimes challenged by your arthritis in the garden, Harry had another suggestion: wavy bladed shears take much less force to use and don't get stuck in whatever you're trying to cut down. Given the quantity of bunches of stems I have to cut down in the perennial garden in the fall, and how hard I find it on my wrists, shoulders and elbows, I think this will be a good purchase.
Provided I prove I can hang onto my Felcos, that is.
If you, too, are sometimes challenged by your arthritis in the garden, Harry had another suggestion: wavy bladed shears take much less force to use and don't get stuck in whatever you're trying to cut down. Given the quantity of bunches of stems I have to cut down in the perennial garden in the fall, and how hard I find it on my wrists, shoulders and elbows, I think this will be a good purchase.
Provided I prove I can hang onto my Felcos, that is.
