New garden tools are usually designed far away from the people who will use them. At Sneeboer, a good part of that work happens out in the open, at garden events where visitors can pick up a prototype, try it and say what they think. One of the places where that happens every year is the artisan plant market at De Wiersse, a country estate in the east of the Netherlands.
A market for growers, not for garden centers
The market brings together independent growers, makers of garden tools and other craftspeople, and draws gardeners from all over the country. You do not just shop there. You talk to the people who raised the plants, ask how to care for them and pick up advice on soil, composting and planting bulbs, often in short workshops given by the growers themselves. Many exhibitors also use the day to show something new and hear what visitors make of it.
Sustainability runs through the whole event. Most stallholders work with natural materials and ecological methods, which makes it a natural home for a smithy that forges tools to last a lifetime.
Two prototypes on the table
Sneeboer has a stand at De Wiersse every year. In 2024 the smiths brought two versions of a new compost shovel and asked visitors to choose: a larger model that moves more compost per scoop, or a smaller one that is easier to handle and more precise around plants.
Plenty of gardeners gave their opinion, but the deciding vote came from Hans Kramer, owner of the nursery De Hessenhof and a well-known name in Dutch gardening. He chose the smaller model and suggested one small change to the design. Sneeboer took that feedback back to the forge.
Why this matters for the tools you buy
A tool that has been tried by hundreds of gardeners before it goes into production tends to fit the hand better and do its job with less fuss. That habit of testing with real gardeners, at markets and shows, is one of the reasons Sneeboer tools feel the way they do. When you pick one up from our hand garden tools, you are holding the result of that kind of conversation.
Sneeboer thanked everyone who stopped by the stand and has already said it will be back at De Wiersse for the next edition.
Tools for life and generations to come.