Zone A
All Postcodes in England & Wales
Zone B
Postcode areas within Lowland Scotland, please note there are some exceptions.
DD DG EH FK G KA (Exc KA27 & KA28) KY ML TD AB1 - AB16 AB21 - AB25 AB30 AB39 PA1 - PA19 PH1 - PH3
Aberdeenshire AB1 - AB16 AB21 - AB25 AB30 AB39
Angus DD
Ayrshire KA (Exc. KA27 Isle of Arran & KA28 Isle of Cumbrae )
Berwickshire TD
Clackmannanshire FK
Dumfries & Galloway DG, ML
Dunbartonshire G
East Ayrshire G, KA
East Dunbartonshire G
East Lothian TD
East Renfrewshire G
Edinburgh EH
Falkirk FK
Fife DD, KY
Glasgow G
Inverclyde PA13-PA16, PA18-PA19
Kincardineshire AB39, AB30
Lanarkshire G
Midlothian EH
North Ayrshire PA17, KA (Exc. KA27 Isle of Arran & KA28 Isle of Cumbrae )
North Lanarkshire G, ML,
Perth PH1 - PH3
Renfrewshire PA1 - PA12
Scottish Borders ML,TD
South Ayrshire KA
South Lanarkshire G, ML
Stirlingshire FK, G
West Dunbartonshire G
West Lothian ML
Zone C
Postcode within the Scottish Highlands. Please note we only deliver to mainland Scotland.
AB31 - AB38 AB40 - AB56 IV1 - IV40 IV52 - IV54 IV63 KW1 - KW14 PA21 - PA38 PH4 - PH41 PH49 - PH50
Aberdeenshire AB31 - AB36, AB40 - AB53
Argyll and Bute PA21 - PA38
Banffshire AB37-AB38 AB44-AB45,
Caithness KW1 -7 KW12, KW14
Inverness IV1 - IV28 IV63
Moray IV30- IV40, AB37-AB38, AB54-AB56
Nairnshire IV12
Perth and Kinross PH4 - PH41 PH49 - PH50
Ross and Cromarty IV52 - IV54
Sutherland KW8 - 11, 13
Zone D
We don’t send to the following postcodes
HS IV41 - IV49 IV51, 55 & 56 KA27 - KA28 KW15 - KW17 PA20 PA41 - PA49 PA60 - PA78 PH42 - PH44 ZE Isle of Man (IM) Channel Islands
Are Hand Forks & Trowels really essential gardening equipment ?
| Every Garden Needs a Set | 64.2% |
| Tools for Children | 4.2% |
| Only need a Hand Trowel | 25.8% |
| Only need a Hand Fork | 5.8% |
So why on earth would you need to buy a hand fork when you can do so much with a trowel ? …
This rather well-worn hand fork which originally belonged to Jill Laing, Rosy’s mother, pays testimony to how useful a hand fork can be. The handle has been moulded to the shape of the hand which used it, its tines are worn down and the makers mark has all but worn away. With a bit of detective work we managed to identify the company name as C. T. Skelton, of Sheafbank Works, Sheffield, a Yorkshire company which was founded in 1855 by Charles T. Skelton. We know this hand fork is at least 58 years old, possibly a lot older!
A hand fork is the perfect implement to tease out weeds from beneath shrubs where working space is limited and from between plants where you need to minimise root disturbance. It’s ideal for cultivating the soil in raised beds, narrow flower borders and containers. On very stony ground, such as our flinty Hampshire soil, using a hand fork can be far easier than using a trowel to dig planting holes (on occasions you may be forced to use a combination of the two).
Many of us love biennials and annuals such as DIGITALIS purpurea Alba (white foxgloves) NIGELLA Cottage Garden Curiosity Blend (love-in-a-mist) and ERYNGIUM 'Miss Willmott's Ghost’ all of which happily seed themselves around, but invariably they pop up in places where you don’t want them. For gardeners with an eye for detail, using a hand fork enables you to carefully loosen the soil and remove unwanted seedlings while preserving those you wish to keep.
So it seems we are giving the Hand Fork and Hand Trowel a big thumbs up!
Or are we ...
Now just before you rush off in search a suitably priced gift set or on reflection, maybe just a hand trowel or hand fork, I will quietly whisper these words in your ear ….. “Hori Hori “
P.S A few things you may find interesting - Notably Charles.T Skelton (b.1833 - d.1913) had a keen interest in politics which led him to became Mayor of Sheffield 1896/7 and he was subsequently knighted by Queen Victoria 1897.
In 1962 The company C.T. Skelton merged with Brades and Nash Tyzack to becomes Brades, Skelton and Tyzack, by 1967 they had merged again to become part of Spearwell Tools . In 1972 Spearwell Tools merged with Spear and Jackson (Tools)
In our quest to try and date this hand trowel we discovered a couple of key facts - In 1891 the Mckinley Tariff Act of America required all imports to America to bear the name of the country of origin. So, an item bearing the words – England – or another country, will have been produced on or after 1891, unless it was solely sold in its country of origin. By the beginning of the 20th Century (approx 1914/16) if you wanted to export to America, then your makers mark needed to state - Made In England
Rosy's Mother's Trowel states that it was Made In England - we don't have a precise date of manufacture, but if you or anyone you know could give us a more precise year of manufacture then we would love to hear from you. Rosy still uses this trowel although not always for gardening, at one time she used to keep it in her car, just in case she needed to remove the oil cap while the engine was still hot, it's had a long and varied life...
The Long Handled Bulb Planter.
Prices range from £11.99 - £98.85 (Prices based on an internet search on 1st November 2020)
As many gardeners are preparing to plant drifts of spring flowering bulbs it seems an apt time to take a look at the long handled bulb planter ...
The Long handled bulb planter is not a new invention as this snippet from a 1908 Barr's Daffodil Catalogue proves. Designed by Barr's and made by C T Skelton of Sheffield, a company which later merged to become part of Brades in 1962 before merging again in 1967 with Spearwell Tools.
Critically the advert for the Barr's Special Bulb Planter states
“ A time must be chosen for planting when the ground has become softened after early autumn rains and not when in a hard and baked condition, as it is then impossible to use this or indeed any other tool with success.”
We ran a mini opinion poll via Twitter asking people to select one of the statements from below -
| A great bit of kit. | (23%) | 40 people |
| Good but not essential | (33%) | 56 people |
| Have one, never used it | (14%) | 24 people |
| Don't like them at all | (30%) | 51 people |
171 people voted (Please note this was not a scientific study).
So, you may ask why was the vote so split ?
The vote and variety of comments we received, probably reflect the wide range of soil conditions on which we all garden - if you have soil which is very stony or sandy/free flowing then the bulb planter is probably not for you.
However if your soil is relatively stone free and you follow the advice to wait for the ground to have been soften by the early autumn rain this tool can be a real asset, especially if you are planting many hundreds of Tulips or Narcissus.
If you can work in a team of two then having one person using the bulb planter to create the planting holes and the other putting the bulbs in the ground will certainly speed things up.
Our advice would be to try one before you buy one.
P.S Just in case you were wanting to know more about Barr's Daffodils, we can tell you that the nursery was started by Peter Barr 1826 -1909 an interesting character who has been dumbed the 'The Daffodil King' of Tooting for his pioneering work breeding and popularising Narcissus. Last year he was honoured by a 'Blue Plaque' with a banner proudly proclaiming 'FLOWER TO THE PEOPLE'. If you need any more explanation then you are too young! The nursery was taken on by his sons when he went into semi-retirement. (You can read more about his work and life on the 'Gardens Trust' website. )