Stroke of luck

While many new gardening gizmos impress, says Toby, one item is as useful now as ever– the besom brush

- Toby Buckland

YOU don’t need to set the digital clock on your DeLorean car back to the 15th century to know that tools and technology have made gardening so much easier.

Back in the Middle Ages, pointed shoes called poulaines were de rigueur, and if those winklepickers didn’t make manual work hard enough, digging with a wooden spade certainly did – never mind the shenanigans of cutting the lawn with a sheep!

I’d go so far to say that everything we use in our gardens has evolved and improved beyond measure. From sundials to wristwatches, clogs to Gore-Tex boots, bellows for dusting pesticide to biological controls, there isn’t a single tool or technique that remains unblessed by better design and improvement. Or so I thought…