Top Tips: wheelbarrows. Again.

Top Tips: a series of short, very short, articles featuring Things Which You Might Not Already Know.

Wheelbarrows are light when they are empty, heavy when they are full. Duh, obvious, huh?

So when you are doing a heavy job, such as digging out weeds, or clearing out a border in autumn, which means a lot of trips to the compost heap and/or the rubbish pile, always turn the wheelbarrow to face the way you are going to go, while it's still empty.

Here's how to do it - left.

The gate is to the left, so we turn the barrow to face that way, while it's still empty.

This avoids having to do an awkward manoeuvre with a heavy barrow, so you don't spill mess on the grass, don't grind a hole in the turf with the wheel, and last but not least, don't strain yourself trying to turn around in a confined space.

This is exactly the same principle as parking backwards, by the way: I always park backwards, wherever I go, because then I am doing all my manoeuvring with a warm engine, while I fully attuned to driving, and have already been looking at all the other traffic/pedestrians/obstacles etc. Then, when I drive out, the car is facing the right way, so it's easy to drive off with a cold engine and no faffing.  I never fail to be surprised at people who live or work (or shop) in places where they have to reverse out onto a road, often with steamed up windows, and usually in a hurry. Why don't they do all that faffing when they arrive? If you've accepted that you are going to hold up the traffic one way or the other, why not hold it up when you get there, rather than when you are trying to leave? (*shakes head*) Just saying!

Back to gardening....

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