Garden Gear

As well as wetsuit-type wellies, here are my top essentials for comfortable gardening this winter:

Thermal underwear – Choose garments designed for outdoor pursuits and sports, as they’ll draw off perspiration from your skin as you work in the garden.

Garden heaters – Outdoor heaters kept me and my guests as warm as toast while I tended the barbecue on Bonfire Night.  Technology is making winter much more comfortable!

Neoprene gloves – This material is really flexible and you won’t feel like your hand is wrapped in hard plastic.

Knee Pads - invest in a pair that will not only protect you from the discomfort of kneeling on hard surfaces, but also from the cold.

Solid fuel hand warmers – These are relatively cheap, stay warm for several hours and are a really effective way to warm up your hands quickly.

Thermos cups – Nothing beats sipping a hot cup of tea or chocolate as a quick warm-up on a cold day.

Cheap expandable gazebos – Hardy gardeners who prefer to stay outside even during breaks can set up a cheap expandable gazebo for shelter when it rains.

Waterproof radio – Why not take a portable, waterproof radio into the garden with you, so you can tune into your favourite station?  You can even use your spade instead of an air guitar!  But remember your neighbours may not share your musical tastes.

Makes poor weather gardening easier and much more comfortable.

What's Hot -  Wetwear

Neoprene wetsuit clothing is usually seen on super-cool watersports enthusiasts – but now you can be in at the start of a new trend for gardeners and benefit from all the added hi-tech performance that this material offers.

The new neoprene range from Tenax is soft and will keep you warm, yet it’s tough enough to cope with rigorous garden work.

What's Not - Rubberware

Rubber’s great for making car tyres – but not for your skin.  Stiff rubberwear, like traditional wellies, looks uncool, restricts movement and makes you feel cold in winter.

Great Product

Keeping warm and toasty when you’re out in the garden on a winter’s day is as easy as pie with the right thermal gear.

Choose a sport variety that will keep you dry even when you’re working hard digging.  Have a look at The North Face’s range of base layer thermals, which even includes boxer shorts.

What's Hot - Locked Up

A security alarm on your shed will deter criminals and give you peace of mind, especially when you’re going away at any time of year.

What's Not - Broken Open

Rusty, creaky bolts, which take hours of slow wriggling and manoeuvring to unlock while your hands freeze.  It puts you off going into your own garden shed, and does nothing to protect your tools from being stolen.

Great Product

Shiplap sheds are built using a tongue-and-groove method so that the pieces slot into each other.  This makes the building harder to break into and better for storing all your garden essentials.

Small investments to get great returns.

Fencing is to the walls of your garden as wallpaper is to your lounge.  You can have some pretty tacky ornaments but if the wallpaper is stylish it can carry a room.