Plant Tissue Culture PPT

Gardening is potentially a very rewarding task. There is nothing more satisfying than looking out your window and seeing a beautiful flower bed in full bloom or bountiful vegetable garden ripe for the picking. However, these beautiful gardens don't just spring up on their own. They need a lot of careful tending and hard work to make them flourish. There are certain garden tools that are essential for any avid gardener. Here is our short list.

A garden or digging fork is one of the most useful and versatile tools in a gardener's arsenal. It is useful for turning soil, mixing in nutrients and aerating soil. A spade can also be used to carry out these tasks. However, the tines on a fork come in handy for breaking up clods and raking out weeds and stones. Most gardeners will have both a digging fork and spade.

There are several types of garden hoes available to use for weeding and creating seed furrows, including the heart-shaped and diamond-shaped hoe. Every gardener has his or her own favorite type of hoe based on personal preference and the type of gardening being done.

Pruning shears, loppers and a pruning saw are all essential items for keeping a garden neat and tidy. Pruning shears are useful for dead heading flowers and cutting back unwanted vegetation. Loppers come in handy for cutting off twigs and small branches as well as for pruning bushes. A pruning saw is useful for cutting off dead branches from large bushes and trees.

A hori hori knife is a very versatile tool. This multi-purpose knife has a sharp, heavy serrated blade with a semi-sharp point. It can used for many gardening chores, including cutting open bags of soil, planting, weeding and light digging.

A garden cart or wheelbarrow is very useful for transporting bags of soil and plants as well as other gardening supplies and materials. A cart can also be used at harvest time to transport ripe vegetables back to the house.

Gardening trowels are another versatile type of tool that are used for a variety of garden chores. They are especially useful for weeding, planting, digging up plants and mixing fertilizer into the soil.

It's always a good idea to have a sharp-pointed shovel on hand for digging holes and breaking up dirt clods. If a flat blade or scoop is better suited for the task, you will want to use a long-handled garden spade instead.

Use a watering can or garden hose to keep plants watered. For a more automated solution, a drip irrigation system could be used instead.

When shopping for garden tools, always choose the ones made by respected manufacturers with high quality materials such as strong steel and sturdy wood. Ash hardwood is the best material for handles. It is a very strong wood that still has a bit of give to it. Also pay attention to the length, weight and angle of the tool. It needs to feel comfortable to use and fit your body type. Not every tool will be the right fit for each gardener or every gardening task. You may need to experiment before you finally come up with the perfect set of tools that fit your gardening needs. The good news is, once you do find them, quality gardening tools will last for many years to come.

Poppy Lynch has been helping beginner gardeners for over 15 years. For simple, easy-to-follow gardening tips, Poppy suggests signing up for the  Woolly Green Weekly, a great source of gardening chat, products, offers and competitions. Woolly Green is a new website, for people who like to garden as a bit of an antidote to their otherwise busy lives.

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With more people getting allotments the need for soil cultivation tools is growing, as is the height of the population. Taller people can greatly benefit from tools made specifically for them as it will make activity easier with less bending.

Are we getting taller as a species?

We have all been in historic houses and cottages and had to stoop to enter through doorways. This shows us the inhabitants were not as tall as we are today. Modern humans are clearly taller than those from the 18th and 19th centuries. In fact, over the last 150 years the average height of people in industrialized nations has increased approximately 10 centimetres or 4 inches.

Nutrition is a key factor and examination of skeletons showed no significant differences in height from the Stone Age through the early 1800s. It has been documented that the heights of vagrant London boys declined from 1780 to 1800 and then rose three inches in just 30 years, an increase that paralleled improving conditions for the poor.

Also, during World Wars I and II, when hunger was common place the heights of the children actually declined but recovered soon after.

Digging Today

For taller people bending while digging over extended periods can be at best uncomfortable and at worst very painful. Tools that have longer handles and allow the taller person to remain more upright are the ideal solution, but not readily available in many high street stores.

Bulldog Tools, made in Wigan, have addressed this problem and produce several ranges of tools to suit the taller person.

Longer Shafted Standard Tools

For soil preparation a basic tool set on allotments will comprise the spade, in the digging or border form, and the fork, also in the digging or border form. The standard shaft length for bulldog and many manufacturers is 28 inches.

Bulldog Tools manufacture all four with 32 inch shaft lengths in the forged Premier range.

Long Handled Tools

Another solution for tall people is the changing of the standard 'D' or 'Y' shaped handle to a straight long handle. These typically are 42 inches to 54 inches long allowing the tallest person to stand upright and work comfortably.

These long handled tools from Bulldog are available in the following forms:-

Spades

Long handled digging spade- the head size is the same as a standard spade with a 48 inch handle

Long handled shrubbery spade- the head is a little smaller than a border spade with a 42 inch handle

Irish digging spade - the shaped head size is larger than a standard spade with 48 or 54 inch handles

West Country digging spade - the shaped head size is larger than a standard spade with a 54 inch handle

Forks

Long handled shrubbery fork- the head is smaller than a border fork with a 42 inch handle

Rakes and Hoes

The standard hoe or rake handle is 54 inches in length and can easily be replaced with a longer one if required. Straight handles up to 72 inches can be purchased and provide some extra handle length for the taller person when hoeing or raking allotment plot beds.

In Summary

Taller people need not suffer while on the allotment, a range of tools that are perfectly adapted to an upright stance are available and will make the more energetic aspects of cultivation more of a pleasure than a chore.

Author: Ray Richardson
See the range of Tools for Tall People- here
MyAllotmentPlot - Your one stop shop for information and allotment supplies
http://www.myallotmentplot.co.uk/

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