Spent the morning out in 50+ degree weather, windy and rainy, freezing my a$$ off and getting soaked and dirty.....and loving every minute of it! Finally started on the rose gardens we want...this one is at the front of the house to start, where that spindly rose bush is that I'm crossing my fingers starts to fill out after the excellent pruning advice I got here. I also planted a creeping phlox just as an accent. There will be another climbing rose bush in this garden, and a couple more flowers as well just to balance things out. And a couple fun pots, just because And I'm such a mess, and need to go shower now. Gardening isn't for sissies, that's for sure!
My hands really suffer through the gardening season. I wear gloves a lot, but sometimes I just strip them off then dig in with my hands. Which brings me to the question....do you guys wear gardening gloves much? I have several pair..a really thick pair for dealing with brush and thorny things because I just HATE getting stuck. Then rubbery ones for the dirty, wet stuff like planting and such. I wonder if there's some wisdom about the kinds of gardening gloves one should wear because they get annoying after a while, or even right away. I'm thinking they don't fit well? I tend to just buy cheap ones. But I'd gladly invest in a better pair if I knew it made a difference. What say you, oh wise ones?
I only wear gloves if im handling brush, mulch or prickly/tough weeds. Otherwise its bare hands all the way xD When gardening, my legs and hands end up looking like yours. Although maybe with a bit more dirt under the nails
Well, I'd actually washed my hands off before I thought to take that pic, so they were probably more like yours before that lol! There's STILL a faint bit of dirt under my nails that Just. Won't. Budge! And my cuticles get all dry and flaky too after digging in the dirt. Trust me, I'm not a vain sort, and my hands aren't my best feature anyway (old, age spots, veiny, short nails because my nails constantly break otherwise) but even *I* notice how unattractive they become after a weekend of gardening! Oh well, it's certainly worth it!
[QUOTE="Which brings me to the question....do you guys wear gardening gloves much? [/QUOTE] I start out with gloves on and great intentions ... somehow they always come off and I don't realize until its too late. I really hate to wear gloves, and the only way they stay on is if I am cold or handling prickly things or brush. But I also pay for this with dry and cracked fingers and by the time autumn comes there is not a hand cream that helps.
If I leave the garden clean then I don't feel like I accomplished anything. I wear an old pair of Crocs when I'm working in the garden. They're comfortable, but they have holes so my feet end up covered in dirt.
I never wore gloves until I moved to Texas. Bare-handed, I un-earthed a Wolf Spider that ran over my hand, a scorpion that was really un-happy and a baby snake. That was enough, I started wearing leather gloves! I got used to them so, even though there isn't anything in my yard now but pill bugs and night crawlers, so I still wear them for weeding but not when I'm planting.
The only way to get under the finger nails really clean is washing your hair....works every time for me. I wear Mechanix gloves (that's the brand name and their original purpose) when gardening. They are a bit pricey but will last for years. They are not waterproof so I have more than one pair for swapping the wet ones for dry ones. Actually I have more than a couple of pair, probably have accumulated 5 or 6 pair over the years and keep some out front and some out back so they are always where I can find them.
Hmmm....I might check these Mechanix gloves out. The first thing I thought of when I read your description, given that they're not waterproof, is to wear a close fitting pair of very thin surgical gloves under the Mechanix. That way your hands will still stay dry even if the gloves get wet. Wonder if Amazon has them......
The surgical gloves would work just fine, I just can't stand the heat they create under the gloves so I have two pairs to alternate when one is wet. I get mine at Lowe's and Home Depot. Amazon has everything!!!!!
Miller TIG gloves. A little pricy at 20 bucks a pair. But they will last forever if you take care of them. https://www.acklandsgrainger.com/en/product/GLOVE-TIG-IND-L/_/R-MLW249-199
