The Express Hoe. It's all in the name! I was lucky enough to be sent this handy hoeing tool from the lovely people at Burgon & Ball to try out.
We both work full time but also have a traditional 'dig' allotment plot. This means our time to keep on top is precious and we have to work 'smartly'. With approaching the end of the summer season and holidays, we are catching up a bit with tidying and preparing beds after harvesting. Any time-saving help is a bonus!
As you will see from my (rather basic) video (I'm not so technical!) This allotment and garden tool is pretty awesome compared with that of a traditional style hoe.
It's steel head is flexible, allowing you to cut into the soil at whichever angle is required to pull the whole weed - including the roots.
It's attached to a long, sturdy wooden handle, which is great for reaching in and around bushes as well as saving you bending and straining your back...
...I'm not the fittest of people and I found the express hoe really easy to use. Little effort is required and you soon find your own technique. For smaller weeds I was literally sweeping up with it!
To weed an area as big as I did would have literally taken me a couple of hours if I was just digging/using a trowel or traditional hoe but our soil is still pretty dry and hard from the long hot and dry summer we had and so Burgon & Ball's express hoe was a godsend. It cut through no problem, no straining on my part and pulled up the roots.
I probably got finished this section of the plot in approx 30-40 minutes - and that was taking my time AND included a few minutes break to check my phone.
Not only did it save time, it wasn't as labour intensive and so it enabled me to get more done in the time I had at my plot without getting too tired.
I've also used the express hoe in my front garden flower bed where there was some really hard to reach weeds underneath some larger trees and bushes, which are now totally cleared! (A job we struggle to get motivated to tackle usually!)
So, in summary I think this is a really worthwhile purchase. It allows more time to enjoy the plot without it being back breaking work and it's made to last.
Please take a look for yourself as well as Burgon & Ball's complete range of tools, agricultural tools, accessories and more: