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Chris Beardshaw: There are various theories, ... one of which is that in many soils copper is deficient, and therefore by using copper gardening tools, because copper and copper-derived tools are relatively soft, what you are doing when you're digging in the ground is you are leaving a small residue which will then help to make up for the deficit.

So that's the kind of broad theory. Although I have to say that copper and copper-based gardening tools are relatively few on the ground and there are only a few people who use them, of which I know Bob is one.

Chairman: Why, Bob?

Bob Flowerdew: Well, the one I use is a trowel. It's actually not copper, it's phosphor bronze, which is considerably harder although it's mostly copper. It has other things in it which makes it harder.

I must say it has the best edge of any trowel I've ever used, and it's held an edge for three years. So bronze is not as soft as people think. It's very, very good, it works well, it's heavier than steel which is a slight handicap but not much.

But there are actually other reasons, esoteric reasons. Did you know that between the great wars there was actually a man in Germany making a living gold-plating people's ploughs because they had the theory that again gold was very effective. You could have a cheaper copper-plated plough, but of course the gold-plated plough was the one.

And there are other theories. A lot of people think that magnetism affects plants, and of course copper is non-magnetic. And so when you dig with a non-magnetic tool people believe it has a different effect to digging with a magnetic one.

I personally don't give a lot of credence to that, but certainly I have found them (to) work well, so that's the best reason.

Here is a selection from the comments in our feedback folder.

"The Polux hoe is a lovely strong tool that survives my flint filled garden. Other tools bend!"

"The slug community in my garden has definitely reduced as I have not seen the usual 'traffic queue' now the mornings are becoming moist and dewy."

"The tools are light and easy on the hand when working, but best of all they somehow manage to stay clean, even though we have typical clay based Essex gardens."

"The Sirius Hoe is absolutely brilliant. Perfect to use - so light and easy. Just the right size and weight, and it's true - it has helped to reduce the slug population. My best tool."

"The Castor Trowel is worth every penny. It makes gardening so easy when you are disabled and have to sit or kneel. No matter how hard the soil is, it just glides through it."

"My wife swears by our trowel and our hoe. She says that the difference is that with her iron trowel whenever she comes to a piece of ground again after a few weeks it feels rock solid and takes really hard work whereas after going over it once with the copper it remains light and easily worked."

"This is the best trowel I have ever used. It is much tougher than it looks and is perfect for prizing out stones. It is the one tool that I would rescue from my shed if it caught fire." (Castor Trowel)

"This is the first spade I have been able to dig my allotment with and not have back pain!" (Orion Spade)

And here are some longer comments:

You should require only a few tools so it is worth buying good ones. The best I have found are made of copper in Austria (www.implementations.co.uk) and last extremely well because copper does not rust. My copper trowel has kept sharp, has a useful pointed end, and has outlived two stainless steel trowels from a well-known store, which simply snapped at a poorly designed weak point below their handle.

From ORGANIC GARDENING The Natural No-Dig Way by Charles Dowding, Green Books 2007, p.21. More details at www.charlesdowding.co.uk

"I bought my trowel at the Malvern Autumn Show two years ago, with birthday money. £20 seemed a lot to pay for a trowel at the time, but it proved to be worth every penny as it is such a pleasure to use. The edge is so sharp you can use it almost like a sickle to cut down growth, and the blade goes through soil like a hot knife through butter.

As Secretary of Beeston in Bloom (Beeston, Leeds that is, a very Urban Community) I do a lot of gardening in the community, in troughs and planters, community gardens, the local park and so on, in addition to my own small garden. My trowel has had more than average use I would say. Unfortunately I left it behind on one of our projects; how I could be so careless I don't know because I treasured it. I hope whoever has it now appreciates it!

Anyway, I couldn't live without it, so I sent off for a new one as soon as I discovered my loss.

My own garden used to be plagued with snails, and the problem has definitely reduced since I started tilling with the bronze trowel. I have recommended it to my friends, but they all think "£20 for a trowel!" It isn't until you actually use it that you realise what an investment it is. I wish I could afford a spade, but that will have to wait.

Congratulations on an excellent product."

Vivienne Bate, November 2006

"We started using a copper trowel in the garden some two years ago and we have had wonderful hostas and other plants ever since. Up to that time, slugs and snails had been a major problem in the garden, with hosta leaves looking like fine lace. We still find the odd nibble on a plant but we can live with that.

... Whatever the scientific validity of the theory, in practice the use of copper tools seems to work!"

The Hardy Plant Society Sussex Group Newsletter, Spring 2005

"I needed to prepare a bed for my French Beans which was weedy and had two plastic bags of leaves on it, gathered last Autumn. There were a lot of large slugs under them which I left where they were. I weeded in my usual way using an iron fork where necessary for deep rooted weeds. I then cultivated using a copper cultivator and a copper rake. This was all done on very dry soil.

Next day I planted some Swiss Chard. The following day there was no slug damage so I planted my French Beans. This was all about 10 days ago and there is still no slug damage to be seen!"

Mike Spence, Hampshire, July 2005

Contemporary fields of knowledge complementary to Vastu indicate that iron and steel gardening implements dry out and deplete the soil, and that copper gardening tools restore and heal the soil. I love using these and recommend them. ... These sharp, light tools are based on the research of European Viktor Schauberger, who closely observed nature."

p. 114, Vastu: Transcendental Home Design in Harmony with Nature by Sherri Silverman, Ph.D, Gibbs Smith Publishers, 2007, website: http://transcendencedesign.com

A definition of Vastu from Sherri Silverman: Vastu is the design, architecture, and sacred space system from ancient India's Vedic tradition. It requires beauty, honoring of the environment, natural materials, and alignment with the directions and five elements of earth, air, fire, water, and space. Vastu gardens and buildings create a more supportive, nourishing environment for health, happiness, abundance, and success in all areas of life.

If you are a user of the tools, we would like to hear how you have got on with them.

Please contact us.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Jane Cobbald

Here are some excerpts from our garden diary for 2001 and 2002, the first years in which we used the tools.

We have a small garden with a vegetable plot of raised beds and a greenhouse, and have gardened organically since we moved here. In that time, we have got used to sharing the garden with the slugs and snails – they are everywhere. Any garden produce consisted of what the slugs didn’t like or couldn’t reach. However, I found it hard to believe that the best way to deal with the problem was to find ever-more ingenious ways of tricking or murdering them.

May 2001

I started using copper garden tools this spring. As usual, the slugs devastated the runner-bean seedlings and anything else they took a fancy to. I also planted out potatoes, and tomatoes in the greenhouse, protecting the tomato seedlings by keeping them out of reach until they were large enough to cope on their own.

August 2001

I sowed some lettuce seeds in the greenhouse, and a week or so later, the seedlings had started to appear. At about eleven one evening I did a prowl with the torch, and found two slugs in the area of these seedlings. I collected and deposited them in the compost bin as usual, on the basis that they might chomp something usefully there. Oh well, I thought, no lettuce this autumn. But the next morning, the seedlings were still there. I was so surprised that I promptly forgot all about it.

One raised bed, 3ft 6ins wide and 6ft 9ins long, with a berberis bush in the corner, had 21 Kestrel potato plants. I earthed them up with grass-clippings, and early in August noticed that some potatoes were showing on the surface, so I started picking them for meals, disturbing the rest of the plants as little as possible. On Friday 31^st August I lifted the rest, and again, couldn’t believe what I found. I lifted 36lb of potatoes, of which six potatoes had slug damage. Only six! Of which I only had to throw one away! I could chop out the slug-eaten bits from the others. Compare this with last year’s crop in a neighbouring raised bed, when there weren’t too many potatoes at all, and most of those were chomped through. Admittedly, this has been not such a bad year for slugs. But even so.

December 2001

Finished the last of the potatoes from the garden, after saving some for chitting for next year.

March 2002

Inspired and emboldened by last year's successes, I decided to try spinach again this year. In previous years it has been all eaten by slugs and snails. I transplanted the spinach seedlings to a raised bed, and the next day one little clump had been eaten to the ground. The rest were untouched. I also transplanted about 30 Cosmos seedlings to the flower beds. I did the same last year, and three survived.

April 2002

The spinach are all still there, some admittedly with holey (holy? with holes in, anyway) leaves. But there are more than enough for our household to eat. More than half of the Cosmos have survived. I realise that my attitude to slugs and snails has completely changed. Following my thoughts about them (described on the 'Slugs and Snails' page) I now think of them as a valuable part of the garden, linking it together. When I see them, I leave them alone, apart from in the greenhouse which is an artificial environment and therefore out of bounds.

May 2002

I was premature about the Cosmos, but eight plants are still there. On the positive side, we are still inundated with spinach, and the runner-bean seedlings, transplanted on 19th May, are thriving.

June 2002

I now do not even throw the snails out of the greenhouse. None of my tomato plants has been touched, although I have seen snail trails on the ground around the plants. Four runner bean plants have been demolished, but the rest are still there. It's not all good news though - there are only three Cosmos left.

August 2002

We have lifted another healthy potato crop. Carrots, chard, onions, radishes, runner beans and lettuces are also doing well. This is what I had hoped for - a healthy and productive vegetable plot. So I think it is appropriate to end this diary here.

Viktor Schauberger believed that copper implements would lead to healthier plants and increased yields. To test this theory, he conducted field trials with a copper-plated plough. For a summary of the results of those trials , have a look at the table.