If getting yourself from A to B presents problems, then getting yourself plus a longhandled hoe, a bag of fertilizer and a watering can to the furthest reaches of your garden may seem unattainable. Yet gardening normally needs tools and other bits and pieces and they all seem designed to be awkward to hold, impossible to stand up independently and phenomenally heavy.

Before looking at how to move tools around, do you have problems moving yourself around your garden? If you do, there may be changes you can make.

Are the paths in your garden wide enough for you and your sticks or crutches? Can you get enough grip, or are they slippery in the wet? Are there slopes that you find difficult to negotiate? Are the step surfaces deep enough for your whole foot and are the risers shallow enough to be able to walk up without strain?

If you use a wheelchair, are the surfaces hard enough? Do you have enough cornering room in tight spaces? Are there parts you cannot get your chair to?

If you have visual impairment, are edges adequately marked so that you are confident where they are?

Does moving from one part of your garden to another tire you? Do you have sufficient seats or perching places where you can rest on your way or between activities? Would a few handrails or posts to pull up on help with steps or slopes?

These questions might suggest areas where improvement to garden design could help your mobility.

There are, however, other problems: you may be able to get about, but find that your balance or ability to stretch or bend make gardening very difficult.

The prayer book offers three alternatives; some people add LIE DOWN and this has its advantages if you can get up and down, do not mind being near the soil and enjoy an occasional snooze. However, many people need to change from the standing and bending position to sitting or kneeling, to cope with balance or stiffness problems.

If you have strong legs and reasonable balance, an old fashioned shooting stick or more modern lightweight folding seat may be all you need. There are many varieties of these; the National Trust and most garden centres sell them. Remember, though, that the seats are not very stable; if the soil is soft, the thin legs will sink in and capsize is not far away. Advantages are that these seats can double as walking sticks (try to find one long enough for you) and are fairly cheap and easy to find.

Gardeners who can bend quite low to sit and have a sense of excitement might be interested in the Unicar or one of several similar products available - a very low seat on wheels which allows you to get down to soil level and then scoot about without getting filthy. It has a useful tray underneath, but no brakes: not for the fainthearted, or anywhere but a flat surface.

You may need more stability and a proper perch from which to attack your garden. The problem here is having a seat at the right place, at the right time. If you nave a small area that requires regular attention, consider building a perch, or something to lean over, from which you can work. A raised bed might provide a broad edge to sit on.

In most cases, however, you will need a stable but portable seat. The most well known are the 'easy kneeler' types: these are lightweight wide bench seats, usually with broad legs that help stability. They can be turned upside down for kneeling on and the handles help you to lift yourself up from the kneeling position. There are a number of manufacturers of these, for example, Hozelock and Standard.

While the kneeler seats are a godsend for many, if you need two sticks or crutches, then you may not be able to carry your seat with you. You really need a mobility aid that will also provide you with a seat. The most obvious is a wheelchair and by far the most fun are electric buggy wheelchairs. These are powered chairs designed for outdoor use which can take you up country paths, shopping, in and out of castles and cathedrals - anywhere in fact you want to go. The disadvantage is the cost (although second hand models are readily available via the disability press).

If you do not need that level of investment or your garden is not really suited to a wheelchair, there is a halfway house. Walking frames and 'rollators' can be the answer. It is a great shame that Zimmer frames, in particular, are associated in many people's minds with decrepitude and dependence, because in reality they are just another way of getting from A to B.

There are numerous types of frames, walkers and rollators available. Some have four wheels (controlled with bicycle brakes so they cannot roll too fast), some have two wheels and some have none. You need to choose depending on how quickly you want to move and whether you need to be very stable, in which case the frame without wheels is probably the best.

Within each range are types with baskets attached, with flat surfaces to use as tables or seats, or all three. The latter can be invaluable - a really easy way to move yourself and your tools about safely and without effort and then a solid perch for doing your gardening (or shopping or sightseeing).

If you want to use the frame or walker outside your garden, make sure it folds up, for transport in a car; this will also help with the storage. There are various catalogues that include these - it is worth investigating thoroughly before you choose, because they cost between £100 - £200 (although your local Red Cross may know of spare or unwanted frames that you could hire or buy secondhand). Many people use a very simple frame and then add baskets or bags that they make themselves, to reduce the costs. Contact your local Boots and ask to see their catalogue, or one of the firms listed at the end of the article.

'Organiser belts' allow you to carry secateurs, trowels, handforks, twine and numerous other bits and pieces in pockets and strapped to the belt. These are splendid as long as you are strong enough to stand up under the weight! The temptation is to overload; it then becomes extremely heavy and you have to lug the lot around all the time instead of putting the tools down when you are not using them. In practice, you might find that you use the belt for storing your tools in the toolshed.

Most of the other solutions are wheeled transporters of various sizes. Consider first whether your surfaces are suitable. Are the paths hard enough, are there unnavigable corners or slopes, is your grass too long or too wet most of the time for wheeling a heavy trolley about with ease? Also ask, will you be able to pull or should you push and lean on the trolley?

Equipment for moving large tools tend to be unstable and fairly expensive. There are combined tool storage and transport systems some of which convert into a wheelbarrow You can reduce the problem by using the multi-ranges of tools, with several snap-on heads, which only require one handle. Then at least you only have to carry one or two handles and the equivalent of many small tools, but things like spades and forks are sometimes inevitable and often heavy.

Remember ...
However you eventually solve your transport problems, watch out for weight, stability and balance and take your time and work within your capacity. Electric buggy wheelchairs are extremely useful, but costly. Gravel surface is suitable for these and for a person using crutches; stepping stones set into the gravel make wheeling barrows much easier. Gravel is a fairly inexpensive surface to lay. Unless it is laid on an impervious membrane that keeps the weeds at bay, regular weeding is necessary.