How do you lot not...

[eyebrowsfurrowed]

Get a bad back leaning over like that all day?!

I think gardening is a lost art amongst people my age (sorry I don't mean to offend anyone) but I have no friends my age that garden... Yet at the same time my Mum (in her 60s) and all her friends can be out all day weeding and planting and be quite comfortable...

I on the other hand get excruciating pain after hoeing for half an hour :/

I am trying to clear a 40 X 40 ft overgrown garden in the hope of turning it into a market garden. Is there any hope? What tools do you think may help me and my poor old back?

[WynkenBlynkenandNod]

You need to build up to it and then when you are ok with doing long stints try to do them regularly or you go backwards again . You could try a mattock or azada which some people say help. I actually find that harder on my back.

Just do a little bit at a time and not be too ambitious . One you've done it and are on maintenance, I recommend the wolf garter push pull weeder.

[Rhubarbgarden]

Practice makes perfect! Changing task regularly helps as well. So, half an hour of weeding, switch to some pruning, then some mulching, then back to weeding. That sort of thing.

[eyebrowsfurrowed]

I have just cleared a large allotment which was covered with ten-foot brambles. Short of bringing a tractor onto the site, I can't think how I could have got the rootballs out, if it hadn't been for your Azada. But once I got the swing right, I was cutting them out with one stroke. I can't tell you how gratifying it is to turn round at the end of a couple of hours and see how much you've cleared. With this thing in your hand you feel like the Bionic Man!
George Monbiot, Environmental Campaigner, Author and Columnist.
www.monbiot.com

Oooh I find this very appealing. Thanks for the tips. I will see about getting my hands on one. I'll let you know how I get on.