The Pocket Trowel Multi tool, £20, by Kikkerland
“In common with lots of other people, I suspect, I have fits and spurts with gardening. Sometimes everything looks neat and ordered, sometimes I practically have to hack my way through with a machete, depending on how much time I’ve been spending in the garden recently. I’m lucky enough to have a fair-sized garden with lots of mature flowering shrubs, some large trees and lots of perennials and annuals too.
I’ve been doing a lot of wildlife planting recently (or, as some might say, deliberately not weeding) and so I’ve got two areas set aside planted with yellow poppies, foxgloves, daisies, dandelions and more. I know my rather hit and miss approach (i.e. spend one entire weekend gardening then don’t touch it for a month) is not the best way to maintain my plants!
I really liked the idea of this little trowel, which is designed to fit in a pocket. My idea was that I could carry it whenever I went outside, for example to hang out the washing, and do a little dead-heading en route.
Planting out in a smallish pot? No problem at all for this sturdy little trowel.
“The trowel really is small and light enough to go in a pocket as long as you’re wearing something fairly practical! (In my case this week it’s been shorts). The trowel blade folds back against the handle and the tools fold out easily and stow away again neatly. In addition to the trowel itself, they include a pruning knife, a pruning saw, a device for removing weeds from crevices and a tool fore removing the roots of weeds.
I think I might be less keen on the idea of putting it in a pocket in the winter when it’s covered in mud, but I guess I can always use a bag! The trowel itself was great, surprisingly sturdy. If I’d been doing a lot of digging I wouldn’t have chosen it over my standard trowel, but it stood up to the job of planting out a couple of pots very happily.
Weed removal from a gravel path.
“I used the pocket trowel multi tool weed remover to take up a small weed from a gravel path, a task it accomplished easily although I did feel that this was the flimsiest of the tools. The pruning knife and pruning saw were great for lopping off the odd dead head or doing a bit of tidying up, but didn’t have the clout of full-size equivalents.
Dead heading with the pruning knife.
“Overall, I thought this product was nicely made and good quality. In my opinion it’s not really designed for serious gardening, but more to help with a bit of light maintenance when you’re wandering around. I kept the pocket trowel multi gardening tool on a shelf by the back door and did find it useful. It’s beautifully presented and would make a lovely gift for a keen gardener.”
Trowel extended to show all available tools.
The Kikkerland Pocket Trowel Multi Gardening Tool costs £20 and is available from Stand Accused.
My trusty under-gardener, Olly Spaniel. He doesn’t like this trowel as much because he can’t get his teeth round the handle as easily to run off with it.
All images (c) 2022 Write Image for you Media.
