I always have good intentions and start out playing in the dirt with gloves on my hands but it seems that at some point I always end up bare handed.

I have Atlas Nitrile gloves that I purchased from a co-op here on ATP awhile back and I love them! They are by far the best for flexibility and keeping my hands clean ... when I keep them on. I'm on my last pair and I will definitely purchase more if I ever see another co-op offered for them!

I still have some heavy leather gloves for working on some stuff but for general weed-pullin, re-potting etc. it's usually the Atlas gloves.

Me too. I try to remember to take gloves for general cleanup and heavier stuff, or digging in dark wet dirt. My hands are horrible all summer and I don't wear polish so it shows on and under my nails no matter what I scrub with. And yes, my hands look like alligator skin by June. Oh well.

I was always strictly a no gloves person. Like ShadyGreenThumb I MUST feel the earth, the roots, the stems, the wet or dry & everything in between. When I wear gloves, it's like being blind - hand blind. Besides, it's no fun if I can't feel anything. However, I have grown a bit wiser and more cautious in the last few years and I absolutely do wear gloves for heavy work like when I'm using the shovel, pushing the wheelbarrow or trimming hedges or cutting thorny things and pulling invasive vines -- stuff like that.

I have eczema on my hands and arms. Bug bites turn into rashes. I'm always in gloves--too many bugs and stuff in the soil that causes problems.

The only time when I wear gloves is when I'm pulling stinging nettles. All other times I like to feel everything. I too feel hand blind like @flaflwrgrl.

I do both, tend to wear them, but do take them off for some types of weeding. I probably buy a new pair of snug fitting deerskin ones, from a farm store, every other year. Will grab an extra pair if on sale! I worked as a nurse until retired last year, so tried to keep dirt from looking permanent for obvious reasons
Also, I have a tendency to get blisters just above palm side of thumb when using pruners.
I learned that when they get really muddy and dirty - I toss them in the laundry, let them air dry, remembering to leave them in kitchen drain basket - that way I see them and so pull them on a few times while damp and wiggle to make them more limber. But they usually feel fine after the first hour or two of use, even if they are stiff at first. Not sure why I never thought to do this years ago!

I also start out with the best intentions of using gloves---and I actually keep them on my hands for a while. But eventually the desire to dig in the dirt wins out and the gloves come off. I do wear gloves (thermal) when raking and picking up leaves and doing fall clean up. But when planting in early spring, I need to feel the ground, and tease roots apart and put seeds into tiny holes. Just can't always do that with gloves, even the nitrile gloves (which are my favorite).

I have to say I'm on both teams. Gloves are a necessity working with brambles and Pampas grass. I like soft leather roping gloves the best because they are like a second skin but are strong enough to stand up to the tough jobs. But when planting or potting the gloves come off so I can get a feel for the planting medium.

Oh, I found a neat trick to get the dirt out from under my fingernails. Before dashing in to wash with soap and a brush I shoot a jet of water from the garden hose under each nail and the dirt disappears...back into the garden where it belongs.

Lin, the Atlas nitrile gloves are available in 6 colors and 5 sizes at www.gardeners.com for $5.95 a pair. If you buy more than one pair they are $5. Right now they are offering free shipping, too.

I buy these 20pr. at a time for the school kids because they come in XS size. They're so great.

Thin canvas gloves most of the time; Bionic Rose gauntlet gloves for, well, Roses; and bare hands for delicate jobs...or for when I wander out front thinking, "I'll just take a look around today." {{snicker}} You know what comes next.

I do both. Gloves on when I am working with roses, greenbriers, timbers and manufactured landscaping stones and bricks. When I am working with plants I am too clumsy with gloves no matter what kind they are. I think that would be akin to trying to test if a tomato is ripe with gloves on....

I was no gloves until I found those atlas gloves on a co-op from Daves. I order a 12 pack every year, and somehow, manage to loose, misplace, spill insecticide on them, yada yada. I could not garden without them.
Like you all, there too are some things that no gloves are the only option.

Elaine, thanks for that info and link .... I need to order more gloves!!

Reid, stinging nettle is one of the reasons I try to always wear gloves now when I'm weeding; last spring I was yanking weeds in one area of the yard and not realizing it I grabbed a patch of stinging nettle ... that rash was horrible!!

Both. I like the feel of dirt when I'm planting and my nails are a mess most of the time, even with scrubbing, nail brushes, etc.
I even dip my fingertips in lemon juice in an effort to whiten them! I keep my nails short and don't waste money on manicures.

I do use gloves if I'm doing heavy work or working with rose bushes or thorny weeds, cleaning up debris, etc.

Yup! Team gloves ... most of the time. I wear them mostly for weeding, yard clean-up, raking, or working with planting shrubs or some plants with a bit of weight to them. I usually would leave them off for planting seedlings and small plants, but switched to using surgical-like gloves (the kind in a Doctor's office) for small, fragile stuff. Great finger dexterity and keeps my hands pretty clean.

The only way to garden is feel the soil. Not only feel, but smell it. Be at one with. Great article.

Hemophobic said:Both. I like the feel of dirt when I'm planting and my nails are a mess most of the time, even with scrubbing, nail brushes, etc.
I even dip my fingertips in lemon juice in an effort to whiten them! I keep my nails short and don't waste money on manicures.

I do use gloves if I'm doing heavy work or working with rose bushes or thorny weeds, cleaning up debris, etc.

I was going to type pretty much the same thing, figured I'd just echo Angie's post!

I'm a little late joining in, but this is a fun one, Cheryl !

I was lucky enough to snag a pretty good-size pack of leather gloves from the railroad when my husband was still working; they were provided with work gloves of all kinds, and this batch came in with a whole pack of size small gloves... yeah, right - lots of guys that work on the tracks wear small gloves . So those protect my hands when I'm doing something that I know is likely to involve splinters, rocks, or stinging nettles (although the latter generally catch me unaware at least once every year), but otherwise I'd rather work bare-handed.

One year I was weeding and generally cleaning up the perennial garden in the fall and things were pretty wet, so I put a pair of disposable vinyl gloves under my leather gloves to try to keep my hands a little warmer -- even though I never normally react to that type of gloves, I had one heck of a rash on my hands for quite a while, so I never tried that little trick again.

And then there was the joke that I came up with about how in the summer I could get my hands nice and clean by just baking bread, and the white bread came out looking like whole wheat... (honest, I was just joking!! )

I much prefer no gloves gardening, but being a nurse, I sometimes resort to gloves. I've found that during the daylily peak times, there is just no way to deadhead them without getting stains, so I put a pair of vinyl gloves in my pocket and use them to deadhead. The only other time I always, well almost always, wear gloves is when cutting back the giant miscanthus grass and for that job I wear leather, elbow high gloves. I'll admit, I speed a lot of time scrubing my nails and fingers with a nailbrush, but it's worth it.

PAgirl63 said:Yup! Team gloves ... most of the time. I wear them mostly for weeding, yard clean-up, raking, or working with planting shrubs or some plants with a bit of weight to them. I usually would leave them off for planting seedlings and small plants, but switched to using surgical-like gloves (the kind in a Doctor's office) for small, fragile stuff. Great finger dexterity and keeps my hands pretty clean.

I'm with PAgirl63, but Team Both. I wear the gloves most of the time, mostly for health reasons. But when I must feel the earth/soil/roots, I try to use the surgical-like gloves, especially for the small fragile stuff, but usually, in time, they wind up coming off. There's nothing like feeling nature.

I try to wear gloves but just forget. I don't like them though. Most of the time it is no problem until the grass one is pulling suddenly slides through the fingers neatly slicing the webbing. My pressing problem is trying to remember to wear footwear because damage to the feet can be very inconvenient with slow healing because of diabetes.