To say I am not a keen gardener is an understatement. I approach the gardening a little like I approach the ironing.....I don't enjoy doing it, but it is simply something that has to be done (but only when absolutely necessary!). I mostly use if for a little bit of weeding, but also I have a small spice and herb garden and so I've used the trowel to shift soil in order to plant. I don't use the trowel often - maybe every month or so, and so more keen gardeners may be able to compare this trowel to others in terms of effectiveness, but I can only basically tell you how I found using this trowel in particular. I bought it from www.toolmix.com for £8.42 which was the cheapest price I could find for a stainless steel trowel - and I really wasn't bothered about buying anything more than a product that was not basic.

Ultimately, the Wilkinson Sword Wooden FSC Hand Trowel looks like a shovel for minature people. It's for a stainless steel blade which is curved and quite sharp at the distal end (the end away from the handle). The sharp pointed distal end means that this trowel moves through soil easily, even when the soil is dry and compacted and so I usually don't have to put in much effort. In addition to this, because the blade is curved, it seems to pick up a good amount of soil in one go so that you can turn the soil easily. I have found that the soil does not stick to the trowel blade - on account of it being a shiny stainless steel and so between each dig the trowel blade does not need to be cleaned. The edge of the blade is sharp - but I do find that it's not sharp enough to cut weeds on (apparently you can get a blade that has a serrated edge that would be good for this purpose). I have found that there is a little bit of rust on the blade, but it is quite minimal and superficial - and is probably the result of me being lazy and not cleaning and drying it thoroughly after being used.

The Wilkinson Sword Wooden FSC Hand Trowel has an ash handle which is comfortable to hold. The wood hasn't split or become splintered despite the fact that I haven't really looked after it as well as I should have looked after it.

Overall, this trowel is fine for my basic needs.