Sotheby's finds there's no tool like an old tool

Forget old cars and tin toys – the wise money is taking a stroll down the garden path and into the shed. That's where the latest historic must-haves are to be found, gently rusting and caked with the dried mud of springs and summers long gone.

Fine old gardening tools and ephemera – "gardenalia" to the cognoscenti – are fast becoming the latest indulgence of Britain's collecting classes. Cleaned and polished, these cherished wood, brass and steel relics hark back to the days before the ancient craft of horticulture gave way to the age of Alan Titchmarsh, timber decking and the plastic hover mower.

Such is the current market interest in authentic quality gardening implements that, later this month, Sotheby's is to auction a unique collection of watering cans. The collection, comprising 18 vintage examples dating back to the 18th century, was assembled by John Massey, a director of the Haws company, the Rolls-Royce of the watering-can industry.

The Massey collection, which served as a design inspiration for the current Haws range, includes ornate English and French models from the 1900s, and a decorated brass example from Holland, believed to be more than 200 years old, and featuring an exotic female head motif. The collection is expected to fetch more than £5,000, with an average of £277 per can.

For Tim Williamson, who has traded in veteran garden gear for five years, the current interest is not just a matter of nostalgia. He says, decades after it is made, a good old tool remains superior to any modern counterpart. "People like the old wooden handles, and they're fed up with plastic. These tools are ash, elm, English-made, original."

The list of garden gadgets supplied by Down to Earth Gardenalia – Mr Williamson's company in Ilminster, Somerset – has everything great-granny's garden would have had. The onion hoe for turning soil around young plants, the daisy grubber for keeping lawns pure green, as well as the turnip chopper, the rhubarb forcer and the trusty 1900s dibber, perfect for planting bulbs.

For the hard-core retro-gardening fan, however, only the wheelbarrow hits the mark. "The wooden-spoke wheels get people excited," said Mr Williamson.