kit guide
tried and tested. Let us guide you through the essentials to turn your outing into the urban/rural wilderness into a roadside-style Road trip.
First, we all need good snips; ours live in our pockets for those unplanned moments. Choose a pair with slender blades that can get right in for careful snipping. Any will do, but if you’re in the mood to invest, you can’t beat a pair from Niwaki.
Foldable step ladder - preferably light, stable, and functional. A 4-step is excellent for getting you up to the highest overhead branches; however, a simple 2-step is often sufficient and accessible to sling over a shoulder or tucked away at home when not in use.
Purely functional, a good bucket is a sublime design object worthy of an exhibit at the Design Museum. We use ours filled with water to give cuttings a good drink and as a clean-up receptacle for a hand wash-up after all the messy fun of arranging.
Chicken wire is excellent for securing and supporting stems in floral arrangements of any size—a good eco-friendly alternative to floral foam. We always keep a small amount on us; it gives us a bit of structure when needed, especially with heavier arrangements.
Keep a couple of sturdy vessels in your boot - we love old Victorian marmalade pots, thick glass jars, earthenware jugs, coloured plates and vintage bud vases. Don’t be afraid to be nonconventional, too, and use a vessel you wouldn’t expect - an old washing bottle, a mug, a basket - anything you have to hand.
We always love to keep a sheet of fabric with us - it helps provide contrast and a clean background to whatever we’ve created. Linen is always lovely - wrinkles are good - or a Kantha quilt for added interest. We’ve even used bedsheets!
Rugged shoes. We’re guilty of not following our advice and suffered the consequences. This work means that sometimes we’re in and out of ditches, brushing against stinging nettles and scrappy thorns. Avoid the ouch with a pair of long socks.
Used for ikebana flower displays, Kenzan or Frogs, as they’re sometimes known, help us do away with the foam entirely in arranging. The brass pins are strong enough for woody material and soft green and grass stems.
A pressure-sensitive paper tape that will stick to itself when stretched. We use floral tape to conceal wires and other hardware or to bind wires to flower stems together. We always keep a stash of Japanese Washi Tape with us, too - repositionable and available in an enormous variety of colours - it’s excellent for all uses and situations.
A smartphone. We use ours to help us identify flowers and ensure we are not picking anything rare, at risk or protected. We also use our phones to document what we find, create, and share.
Toolbox. Holds all sorts of things - including some of the above. To customise your box, the dividers in the top trays can be configured in various ways. We love a brightly coloured one, so it’s easy to spot on the roadside.
