It’s Gardening Time!

Gardeners are starting to feel it in the air. Spring is coming and with it the gardening season will start. When you walk into your local garden center in the next month your eyes will surely be caught by the “Glove Rack”. On it you’ll see this season’s latest offerings. There will be new fabrics, patterns and colors. While you will want to pick a pair that look oh-so-fab you should also consider their purpose. We wear gloves to garden in so our hands stay clean but they are also necessary to protect our hands. Gloves provide a barrier from soil, splinters, pricks, cuts and abrasions, insect and spider bites, poison oak and other skin irritants. They keep skin dry, prevent sunburn and fingernail damage and reduce blistering.

It’s important to have different gloves appropriate for the task at hand. You therefore need a number of styles in your potting shed.

• Leather Gloves – provide protection from most thorns but still absorb water and don’t breathe
• Rubber Gloves – keep hands dry, great for muddy/wet conditions, washable
• Performance Gloves – snug-fitting, durable, may not protect against thorns, not ideal for wet conditions
• Nitrile Gloves – excellent for dexterity, strong, puncture resistant, and if they have a knit back then they are good for breath-ability, washable, often good to protect against chemicals
• Cotton Gloves – inexpensive, washable  and comfortable but offer no protection from water or thorns
• Waterproof Gauntlet – totally waterproof with a long gauntlet, sometimes even reaching up to the shoulder, perfect for the pond/water gardener

Be sure that gloves fit well, that they’re nice and snug. Choose gloves with long wrist protectors (gauntlets) for pruning plants with prickles and thorns. Click to view our selection of gardening gloves.