For years I have carried a trug of tools around the garden to be ready for any task.

Spring is when I have needed nearly everything in my toolbox but this year has been different. I have used one tool for the majority of my spring clean up, a garden sickle. Having watched a favourite gardener use one in a Youtube video I decided to give one a try.

When the snow melts after winter, the garden is covered in a collection of brown vegetation, the decomposing top growth of last year’s perennials and annuals. It has served its purpose, protected the roots beneath, fed the birds and partially replenished nutrients to the soil. It must be tidied up however, to make room for the new season. I usually use secateurs for tough growth, a hand cultivator for much of the material, including emerging early weeds, as well as an adjustable leaf rake to gather up the unwanted material. If able I will use a Hori knife to divide some perennials as I go. Most of this unwanted material goes into the compost bin.

If, like me, you have congested perennial borders. There is a lot of work to be done. I work around the garden as the snow and ice thaws and dries out. I love seeing the new emerging growth and always marvel at how so many plants can disappear completely under the snow, only to remerge in spring. Emergence is very staggered and I always fear I have lost some plants to winter, only to find them happily growing quite late in May some years.  

This year much of the spring clean up was completed with my new sickle and I wonder if I am the only one who has taken so long to call it a friend. It was never a tool I was introduced to as a novice gardener in a family of gardeners or while learning gardenening techniques during my horticultural training. Certainly larger scale tasks in farming experiences required the use of scythes and sickles but they were not the nifty useful size of the one I purchased this spring. I believe, partly the nature of our cold winter clean-up is what contributed to its use, as in a milder climate there is not nearly the amount of dead material to be removed after winter. Gardening is not really a year round hobby in this climate but March and April provide an intense start. It always seems to be a race to get the tidying up done before the new growth appears.

This year I was able to much more quickly and efficiently cut ornamental grasses and dead perennial top growth as well as pull away dead material. My arthritic hands were very grateful and I found it very satisfying to swipe across a clump of ‘Karl Foester’ in one go. The sickle I purchased this year was not expensive, around $35 and well worth the price. My favourite source of quality garden equipment in Canada, if not local, is Lee Valley Tools but I found this tool on the internet. I guessed the size and shape of what I wanted and I was very pleased with my guess. You can see in the photo, I did manage to break the tip agressively using it for a purpose it was not designed but if you have never used one, I would highly recommend adding one to your tool box.