A thing of shreds and patches

No, not W S Gilbert’s Wandering Minstrel, but my gardening trousers.  Or, to be precise, my ex-gardening trousers.

Having been brought up to make do and mend, I’ve always gardened in clothing that has reached the point of being no longer fit for other purposes.  Scruffy clothes that will no longer do for polite company but are ‘fine for the garden’.  So it goes against the grain actually to spend money on something to wear in the garden, to put on just to get wet and muddy.  But last year I had to ditch my gardening jacket, an old grey puffer jacket that did a good enough job at keeping the cold at bay even after it parted company from its lining; finally the outer fabric ripped, and the padding started to fall out, making it really no longer practicable as gardening kit.  I had no other comparable garment ready to be downgraded to replace it, and a local outdoor-wear shop was doing a deal on cheap padded jackets, so I spent a whole £30 on a new outer layer – and I have to say that it does the job really well.  I’m trying to remember to put it in the washing machine from time to time to stop the fabric from deteriorating; too easy just to hang it up again after every spell in the garden!

I dallied for a while with the idea of using the old jacket to create an old-clothes scarecrow, perhaps one that could have planting pockets inserted in it (I’ve seen it done), but decided that it was going to be too complicated and would probably fall apart.  Instead, the old jacket was washed and sent to recycling, where I hope it was shredded and turned into something practical.

End of the road

My trousers have also now reached the end of the road.  Originally a very respectable pair of soft denim jeans, eventually their zip started to split and, needing something to take over from my previous gardening trousers (a black cotton pair from Gap), I demoted them to garden use.  They were roomy enough to allow me to wear a pair of black cotton leggings underneath when I needed extra insulation; the elastic waistband of the leggings is sagging but the jeans held them up, and the leggings provided suitable modesty when the jeans’ zip finally gave up completely.  However, the fabric of the jeans has now started to split across the leg and, while ripped jeans may be a valid fashion statement in some quarters, in a damp and dirty garden they’re just not a good idea.  So I’ve gone (online) shopping.

The new trousers, specially designed for gardening, cost considerably more than the £30 jacket, but they’re warmer and more practical than the jeans, they come highly recommended and first impressions are good – I just need to remember to keep them washed so that they last longer than my jeans!