After working with saltwater for as many years as I did (do), my skin on my hands are pretty torn up. I have a permanent bacterial yuck on my fingers that, every once in a while, will flare up & and my skin will peal off like a banana. That grossness said, I wear gloves all the time out in the yard. And, seeing as I primarily do only roses, it's a lot less bloody, too. I buy the el cheapo gloves from Home Depot (http://www.homedepot.com/webap...) as I chew through them so quickly with rocks/bricks/pavers/roses. But makes my fingers that much less grungy when I go to work the next day.