Have you ever bought a pair of gardening gloves with out a doubt thought, these are the ones? Then you put them on and darn they don’t fit!
Broadly speaking, most of us lady gardeners, have had this experience at some point in our journey. Sometimes cheap and cheerful are just what we need but maybe not be suitable when gardening.
For this purpose gloves for outdoor use require some quality and durability.
Moreover, a pregnant gardener, will need protection from bacteria in the soil. In addition you may want to see my article Gardening When Pregnant and how to protect yourself.
For the fashion conscious, ladies gardening gloves come in floral patterns and slimline styles so you can still look trendy.
It is important before we go further; have you ever measured your hand to see what your actual hand size is?
In two easy steps you can measure your hand size.
Extra Small – 6.5-7 inches, Small – 7.5-8 inches, Medium 8.5-9 inches, large 9.5-10 inches and extra large 10.5-11 inches.
Now you know what hand size you are let’s look at some gardening gloves for those hands!
If your looking for a casual pair of light weight gardening gloves these serve just to keep your hands clean.
Generally made of a fabric material and often less durable if used too frequently. I am not aware of any being waterproof or thorn proof but that does not mean they cannot be worn for those tasks.
If your gloves get wet you have another pair readily available, this can be a bonus and having a multipack also enables you to have a different pair for different task.
Sometimes we require gloves to fit our fingers and hands snuggly in order to help us carry out work that requires a certain amount of dexterity, such as tying in climbers during the winter months, planting out perennials or potting up young plants.
The Showa Floreo 370 is a multi-purpose snug fitting glove that can be washed if needed.
When I asked my gardening group what gloves they would recommend, Gill replied.
“Showa, they are the best gloves I have ever had and wouldn’t garden without them.”
Most lady gardeners want to have warm, comfortable gloves especially on cold days.
The Gold Leaf Dry Touch gardening glove is the perfect partner for comfort, and with a special membrane to keep your hands warm and dry.
Once you try the Dry Touch ladies gardening gloves on you will not want to take them off. This fully lined glove is like wearing slippers on your hands!
You can order these here (full disclosure; I do receive a small affiliate commission if you use this link).
For many gardeners waterproof ladies gardening gloves are invaluable especially during the winter months.
Working in the garden on wet days can quickly soak gloves rendering the wearer to being exposed to cold wet hands.
Many lightweight gardening gloves come with a nitrile or latex palm providing a level of waterproofing but to be fully waterproof the coating needs to cover the whole exterior of the glove.
The Treadstone Clip Glove brand offers a seamless waterproof glove which has a double latex layer over the whole glove making this a strong contender for a when working in wet weather.
This type of gardening glove is now popular in the marketplace. To find out more technical information check out my article on The Beginners Guide to Ladies Gardening.
You can order these here (full disclosure; I do receive a small affiliate commission if you use this link).
From time to time you may find yourself pruning plants that have sharp thorns or prickly foliage. Despite this nobody likes getting a thorn in their finger!
The best form of thorn proof gloves in my experience are those made from leather with an added liner for breathability, comfort and added warmth.
I have been wearing this type of gardening glove throughout my career and they would be my top choice.
Having a small hand can be frustrating when finding one to fit, as most of them tend to be unisex and start from a medium size and upwards
This is why if you have a smaller hand, it’s worth going the extra mile for a pair of Gold Leaf Ladies Winter Touch Gardening Gloves. Gloves that fit as they are meant to and the only brand to be endorsed by the RHS.
You can order these here (full disclosure; I do receive a small affiliate commission if you use this link).
Most gardeners have calluses, get hand fatigue or the occasional blister when doing a repetitive task.
Although, the term ‘Grip Relief’ is associated to a brand of gardening gloves that provide the wearer hand relief.
For this purpose, the Grip Relief ladies gardening gloves have been specifically designed by an orthopaedic hand surgeon. I found their information on the Anatomical Relief Pad Systems fascinating.
I asked Joy, one of my clients, to provide a review for these gloves.
If you’re looking for a top class ladies gardening gloves then you won’t be disappointed to invest in a pair of these.
You can order these here (full disclosure; I do receive a small affiliate commission if you use this link).
“These are exceptionally strong and comfortable gardening gloves. They keep the damp out and protect hands and fingers while being extremely easy to work in, compared to other gloves which are either too thin with little protection, or too thick making them impossible to use with many gardening tasks. I wear mine for most outdoor jobs and as a result they also saved two fingers from amputation in an accident.”
All things considered you may have to sample a few gloves to find find your perfect fit. More importantly, like Gill and Joy, you will most likely stick to what works best for you forever.