Monday 29 July 2013

Evening telegraph

http://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/news/features/news-features/award-for-inspiring-peterborough-gardener-1-5041386

The link above will take you to a piece written in our local newspaper when i won my award for The Sunday Telegraph Gardening Against The Odds award. It was such a brilliant day, meeting the lovely Lindsay from The Conservation trust who are part of the competition too. I was given my award by David Bellamy and spent ages chatting to Alan Titchmarsh!

Now I am going to be on the judges panel next year!! I am very excited and feel very honoured to have asked :)

Tuesday 16 July 2013

Garden Gear Online Review


News & Blog

2013
15 Jul

Darlac Snapper - Tried and Tested by The Two Fingered Gardener


Welcome to the first of our guest blogs that has been written for us by Niki Preston aka The Two Fingered Gardener.  Niki really is a true inspiration to everyone, gardener or not, and she has very kindly agreed to test some of our products and write reviews.  Here is what she had to say about one of our most popular pruning products - The Darlac Snapper ....
My name is Niki Preston, also known as The Two Fingered Gardener. I am a freelance disabled garden writer and garden product tester. I was thrilled to be asked by Emma at Garden Gear to write a blog and carry out some product reviews so here is the first of what I hope will become many reviews.
Having always struggled with deadheading I was really impressed when I tried the Snapper tool. This is a very lightweight pruning tool with varying handle lengths according to the task at hand. I tried out the shortest Snapper as I mostly wanted to use it for deadheading. The amazing thing about this product is the fact that it holds on to the stem once it has been pruned, a total garden boon to me as I am unable to bend, only having two fingers can make picking up thorny rose stems a real prickly painful operation. No more, just snip and pop the waste into a trug. Fantastic! When I first got the tool I did wonder whether I would actually be able to use it as it looked like it needed both hands, one to squeeze the trigger and one to steady the pole. However after a long hard think and a trial run I soon realised that I could hold the handle in both hands and due to the lightweight nature of the pole it didn’t need steadying at all. I can deadhead my verbena hanging baskets now, no more hoping someone else will cut them in the right place. After a bit of deadheading I decided to tackle the lilac which was in need of dire pruning, usually a task left to James, my husband. The Snapper allowed me that extra height and reach to successfully prune several branches and flower heads. James had a go too, he was desperate to give it a try, it has now become his favourite garden tool! This was not meant to happen. I have to keep trying to get it back off him. The gentle squeeze action required to operate the trigger means that this is a perfect tool for weak wrists and is ideal for wheelchair users as it allows a longer reach and the capture system enables more pruning with far less clearing up afterwards. The 360 degree rotating action means that no matter where you nee to prune/deadhead you can always reach no matter where the plant has decided to grow. Truly a useful versatile garden pruning and deadheading tool that any gardener would love to own.

If you would like to know more about Niki and her gardening then please take a look at her Facebook page www.TheTwoFingeredGardener.co.uk or her own Blog page www.nikipreston.com.

The Darlac Snapper is available in various lengths including two telescopic versions.  For more information please take a look at the Darlac Snapper category on our website.