My current favourite garden tool - Aldi ratchet pruners

Aldi is out of my good books at present thanks to its new parking policy at my local branch. You are now only allowed to park there for 1.5 hours and 'only whilst shopping in store'. Taken literally, it seems you can't even park there while using the bottle bank, let alone popping up the high street to the post office, charity shops, bank, excellent Portuguese deli etc. The Technomage has written a rant on our village website and I've a letter ready to post to the manager.

The new arrangements mean that I won't be popping in there for impulse buys when in town for other things, but next time I'm there for a proper shop I do intend buying another spare pair of their brilliant ratchet pruners - a snip at £4.99. It's not because mine haven't lasted, but simply because I'm highly likely to lose them.


I've got plenty of overgrown shrubs, brambles and self-seeded saplings to tackle and these do an excellent job - they are great both for the initial removal of biggish branches and for cutting even fine twigs up to fit as much as possible in the wheelie bin. I was given a pair as a present two years ago, then bought a spare pair last year.

Good thing too, as I lost the originals last autumn - only to find them this spring hidden under the ivy that covers the icehouse. They were still in perfect condition - unlike all the other pairs of secateurs I've ever left lying round the garden. They're aluminium so are lightweight and of course rustproof. They even come with a little oil-coated pad for lubrication, built into the handle. Needless to say I lost both of these almost as soon as I opened the packets...

Highly recommended - but only on sale for a short period from 25 August 2011 (and perhaps at the same time next year).