Technology in the garden - wheelbarrows

The latest innovations are designed to ease the strain and make gardening easier.

The Bucketbarrow.  The wheelbarrow is a mainstay bit of kit for gardeners, yet since its invention thousands of years ago, it hasn’t changed much - so say the Australian team behind the latest wheelbarrow innovation, Bucketbarrow.  The family business spent five years developing ways to improve on traditional wheelbarrows and have come up with this unique new product.

It’s actually quite a simple idea, but often these are the best, comprising a wheelbarrow with interlocking and removable compartments to help you separate out different materials such as prunings, plants, tools and crops, instead of having them in one big heap.  It’s useful for carrying and pouring out mulch, especially if you need to get to different levels in a garden, and avoids back strain by dividing up loads into smaller quantities which you can empty one bucket at a time.

There are different models of varying sizes, including The URBAN88, an 88 litre narrow wheelbarrow, (525mm wide) that’s ideal for urban spaces and compact enough for storing in small spaces.  It has four 15Lt buckets and a really useful12Lt scoop that fits neatly into the front – useful for pouring out mulch or cleaning up after a job.

ITip rotating handles for wheelbarrows.  Another wheelbarrow innovation.  This time it’s a handle that attaches to the wheelbarrow to help with the tricky manoeuvre of tipping contents out.  The handles are designed to rotate easily allowing you to tip out compost or manure without changing your position – an action that’s not only quicker and easier, but reduces the risk of wrist injury.  The handles come in a fab array of 12 colours including pale pink, blue, purple and orange.