NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Lifestyle

Gardening: Cut above rest

By Meg Liptrot
Herald on Sunday·
16 Jul, 2012 05:00 PM5 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

You'll be well rewarded for keeping your tools clean, oiled and sharp. Photo / Meg Liptrot

You'll be well rewarded for keeping your tools clean, oiled and sharp. Photo / Meg Liptrot

Second-hand shops can yield tools for keen gardeners to treasure, writes Meg Liptrot.

You could say I'm a bit of a fanatic when it comes to garden tools. I can't drive past a second-hand shop on road trips without leaping out of the car to fossick among the rusty rakes and worn-down hoes.

My partner will confirm that I once insisted on bringing a 1m rusty and blunt scythe blade, found in a garage sale in Clyde, home on an Air New Zealand flight. It's not terribly useful for someone of my height, so it takes pride of place on my office wall.

Other finds include a perfect composting fork with painted string binding and super-pointy tines, a vintage English wooden-handled spade and fork set - I love the shape of the handles, which are like the ones in the Beatrix Potter toolshed - and several large garden sieves of varying gauge for screening potting mix and compost or winnowing seed.

I eventually found a perfectly intact English scythe complete with serpentine timber handle, at Just Plane Interesting in Oratia. I have had a chance to give it a go - we held a scything workshop with permaculturalist Wolfgang Hiepe at a community orchard in Glen Eden. The orchard is managed by Project Twin Streams Glen Eden, where they are trialling grass-cutting using human power only.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

A sharp blade powers through grass like a hot knife through butter, and scything is a satisfying, meditative activity. It also makes quick work of a job that would be noisy and fiddly with a trimmer. Here the German scythe was used - it is lighter again, and easier to handle. The soft steel requires peening, a process in which the cutting edge is fined by gentle hammering to keep it thin, and a pouch with a sharpening stone should be slung around your waist for a quick sharpen as you go.

Vintage tool finds are not just sentimentally attractive. The tools are usually made of sterner stuff than mass-produced tools found these days. The steel is often harder and will last longer. They take to sharpening better, and the handles are often good-quality ash.

Once they are sharpened, the rust can be buffed off and, with a little oil, they're good to go.

There are plenty of great new tools and tool companies out there, too. The secret with tools is to buy quality that will last. Working in the garden is a pleasure when using tools that do their job well. A case in point is my wooden-handled Japanese Okatsune hedge-clippers. I have been through several hedge-clippers, and this pair is by far my favourite. They are nice and light and the Japanese carbon-steel blades keep themselves sharp.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

To keep the shears gliding smoothly, particularly after cutting sappy plants that can glug up the blades with resin, I give them a light spray with CRC and wipe them.

It was a coup to get the tool company Sneeboer to an Ellerslie Flower Show years ago. This Dutch company, which celebrates its centenary next year, makes hand-forged specialised garden tools, using traditional designs or concepts sent in by customers.

It fits in with my sustainability mantra to support family-owned businesses and specialist craftspeople. You can appreciate the quality and the tools will last a lifetime, so I don't feel so bad spending the money.

From Sneeboer, I have more toolkit curios: an extra-long, narrow planting trowel, an asparagus cutter/dandelion remover, and a spade with a V-shaped blade for dividing clumping roots.

Discover more

Lifestyle

Gardening: Fruits of our labour

23 Jun 05:30 PM
Lifestyle

Gardening: Rotten good luck

30 Jun 05:30 PM
Lifestyle

Gardening: Green new year

02 Jul 05:30 PM
Lifestyle

Gardening: Time to trim

10 Jul 05:30 PM

I picked up my love of tools by having a specialist bricklayer and DIY king for a father. Our garage was built by my great-grandfather and was full of all sorts of treasures.

After Dad retired, I was given a Kleensak full of tools for my birthday. It was filled with special items, the most precious being a string-line with hand-forged line pins, given to him in England by his grandfather, who was a stonemason (and likely to have made it himself). I plan to care for these tools as well as they did.

Tool time

* Getting your tools sharpened and oiled ready for spring is a pleasant rainy-day task in winter.

* To remove rust, buff using a power drill with a wire brush attachment, then wipe with a light oil (used cooking oil is ideal).

* Spades need to be sharp to do their job well. Those bought from a hardware shop or found second-hand are best sharpened before use (it's not necessary for stainless-steel ones).

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

* Use a grindstone or an all-purpose file to sharpen large tools. Sharpen evenly on the back side then file off the burr.

* Give wooden handles a wipe with 50/50 raw linseed oil and kerosene (Dad's recipe) to keep them in good condition, and avoid leaving them in the rain. Don't think you can leave plastic-handled tools out in the rain either; the join between the spade and the handle rusts.

* After use, rinse off the soil, then wipe the steel part of your tools with a rag dampened with light oil.

Where to go:

* Eureka Enterprises: importer of excellent Japanese tools, including the Niwashi and Garden Shark.

* Wolfgarten: get one handle, then select interchangeable parts. Their hoes are a must-have weeding tool. (Now available at garden centres).

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

* Silex tools (formerly Allendale): Suppliers of mail-order professional tools. Great loppers and secateurs.

* Gardening Aids: for good tools (including excellent Japanese Silky pruning saws) and great advice.

* Koanga Gardens: Suppliers of quality wooden-handled tools made by Clarington Forge.

* On the wish list: Sneeboer. Jolly Scythers for scything tools, and Middle Earth Tools for bronze earth-friendly tools (from here).

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Lifestyle

Premium
Lifestyle

I gave up pasta for a month – this is what it does for your health

Lifestyle

NZ bodycare founder Tanné Snowden: 'Living with endometriosis doesn't mean you're broken'

Royals

'Life is precious': Prince Harry open to reconciliation with royal family


Sponsored

Sponsored: Why heat pumps make winter cheaper

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Lifestyle

Premium
Premium
I gave up pasta for a month – this is what it does for your health
Lifestyle

I gave up pasta for a month – this is what it does for your health

Telegraph: It’s cheap and easy, but if you’re in midlife, it might be time for a rethink.

15 Jul 06:00 AM
NZ bodycare founder Tanné Snowden: 'Living with endometriosis doesn't mean you're broken'
Lifestyle

NZ bodycare founder Tanné Snowden: 'Living with endometriosis doesn't mean you're broken'

15 Jul 02:00 AM
'Life is precious': Prince Harry open to reconciliation with royal family
Royals

'Life is precious': Prince Harry open to reconciliation with royal family

15 Jul 01:53 AM


Sponsored: Why heat pumps make winter cheaper
Sponsored

Sponsored: Why heat pumps make winter cheaper

01 Jul 04:58 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP