I think you should take age out of the equation. It clouds the issue. By all means ask our ages, we're probably also happy to reveal any health issues that affect our ability to do what we want regards the garden.
Do you read or watch Gardeners World? Jenny, I thought all rubber wellies were non slip. I've got rubber back door shoes, they are fine, the old man has plastic ones, they are treacherous! You can get all the hand tools with longer handles.
I think a key factor that's missing from the questions is how big is the garden. My garden is quite modest, front and back gardens don't go further than about 20 metres from the shed, so I tend to just use a bucket to carry a couple of hand tools, and the bucket is used for weeding and removing debris. I've got a wheelbarrow but only tend to use it for heavy items such as bags of compost. For the size of garden I've got I can't see that I'd be bothered about anything more sophisticated than what I do already, I'm in my 40s and have tendon and nerve problems in my hands which makes heavy lifting and gripping difficult, but if I got to the stage of needing another way of moving stuff for the short distance needed then I'd probably struggle with actually doing gardening anyway.
I have taken to wearing knee pads over the last couple of years. They mean I can just drop down and kneel wherever I want without having the faff of carting a kneeler around. My current pair has velcro straps - but they keep coming undone. A well designed knee pad with secure straps specifically for gardening (waterproof and well padded pads) would be great. I am within your age range.
Jenny, I thought all rubber wellies were non slip. I've got rubber back door shoes, they are fine, the old man has plastic ones, they are treacherous! You can get all the hand tools with longer handles.
The last wellies I had were expensive Hunters and they were lethal, presently I wear an old pair of leather walking boots and aren't much better on slippy wet clay. I don't know the answer tho' except to say 'roll on the dryer weather' so I can garden comfortably in old trainers.
JennyJ Well Young Lady, I'm 78 and reasonably fit but these two home made dibber variations will save your back?
Nice dibbers! I use a pencil for dibbing in pots, and I used to have an old broom handle with a sharpened end for dibbing in the ground. I'm not sure what's become of that. Maybe it's languishing in the back of the shed. Must have a look sometime.
My back's fine, I'm just a bit puny in the muscle department when it comes to lifting bulky heavy stuff.
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
I have noticed that spades, forks etc available in shops seem to be
long and very awkward-looking these days, maybe catering to the taller
people. I hope my nice short-person versions don't break! And I was looking at knee pads last week
(the kind that fasten on with velcro) because I've got a slightly dodgy
knee at the moment, but they'd need altering to make the straps a lot
shorter so I didn't buy them. One size DOESN'T fit all.
I think what
we really need isn't anything radically different to what already
exists, but a widely-available choice of the tools and garden
equipment suitable for different heights, strength, hand sizes etc, without a price penalty
for those who aren't "average". This applies to non-gardening stuff too - ladders always have the rungs just an inch or two too far apart.
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
@Jenny_Aster I agree about Hunter wellies, lethal and too thin-soled for comfort. I use knee-high Dirtboots. Rubber short boot with stretchy neoprene upper part, padded foot, good grippy sole that’s reinforced just where you put your spade. Comfy enough for extended garden sessions and long dog walks.
I use a small waterproof dog cushion as a kneeler, thicker and more cushioned than a garden pad. I do tend to leave it in strange places though, so flexible cushioned knee pads that actually stay in place would indeed be good @didyw.
I do get the feeling that product design students are constantly being asked to reinvent the wheel (barrow) but how they can improve on the motorised tipping versions already available I don’t know. Apart from reducing the weight and designing one that could be sold at a third of the price 😆
Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
@Jenny_Aster I agree about Hunter wellies, lethal and too thin-soled for comfort. I use knee-high Dirtboots. Rubber short boot with stretchy neoprene upper part, padded foot, good grippy sole that’s reinforced just where you put your spade. Comfy enough for extended garden sessions and long dog walks.
Thanks for the suggestion @Nollie I'm off to investigate
Posts
Cambridgeshire/Norfolk border.
I use a small waterproof dog cushion as a kneeler, thicker and more cushioned than a garden pad. I do tend to leave it in strange places though, so flexible cushioned knee pads that actually stay in place would indeed be good @didyw.
I do get the feeling that product design students are constantly being asked to reinvent the wheel (barrow) but how they can improve on the motorised tipping versions already available I don’t know. Apart from reducing the weight and designing one that could be sold at a third of the price 😆
Cambridgeshire/Norfolk border.