The Essential Gardening Tools Everybody Needs

Growing your vegetables, fruits and flowers is a rewarding experience. To do it well, you’ll need some basic gardening tools. A wheelbarrow or cart to tote compost, mulch, plants and other supplies—a garden fork, a shovel and a leaf rake are all recommended.

Hand Trowel

A hand trowel is a little instrument with a handle and a blade in the form of a pointed scoop. It is employed for weeding, planting, and breaking up dirt. Choosing the right tool for your gardening needs can make all the difference. A good quality hand trowel can last long when you select one made of metal rather than plastic, which breaks easily.

Shears

You can maintain the health of your flower and vegetable gardens by using a reliable pair of shears. Look for a pair with a sharp blade, strong handle and solid union where the shaft connects to the head. Another hand tool that every gardener should have is a long-handled hoe. It can help you clear weeds, shape the soil and turn compost without breaking your back. The hoe style best used in vegetable gardens has a long handle and a wide paddle. The appropriate equipment can make gardening for novice gardeners less chore and more enjoyable. Thus, to save money without sacrificing the quality of your tools, check out coupon codes at https://www.retailmenot.com/view/amazon.com before purchasing a new set of gardening tools.

Digging Shovel

A shovel with a flat blade is useful for scooping and moving dirt or other materials like compost, mulch and sand. It also works well for digging holes or making edgings in the garden. An edging shovel is specific to putting neat edges around lawns and flower beds. They look a half-moon and have rounded tips, unlike pointed ones that damage the shallow roots of plants placed nearby. A hori-hori is a Swiss Army knife of garden tools. It can dig holes, cut roots, and chop open compost bags or twine. It’s an essential tool to keep in the shed. It’s also great for digging out small weeds without uprooting nearby plants.

Digging Fork

Almost every stock image of a gardener shows them holding a trowel – for good reason. A good quality trowel can dig into any soil, even heavy clay. If you’re planting and cultivating a lot of ground or digging out large root vegetables, a garden fork is a must-have tool. They have solid, forged tines designed for easy ground penetration. A slightly lighter option is a border fork, ideal for getting into tight spaces. They also work well for aerating and turning compost or lifting perennials from cramped borders. For a larger job, try a broad fork. It is a two-handed tool with long, wide tines fitted shoulder width on a steel bar. Step onto it, and the tines will break up compacted soil like nothing else.

Secateurs

Secateurs are vital for cutting and trimming plants, flowers and trees. They help keep your garden healthy by removing overgrown branches and leaves and allowing young offshoots to grow.

The best secateurs are ergonomically designed for less hand strain. When using them, always aim at the fulcrum of the blades to get the strongest cut and reduce hand fatigue. To stop the transfer of bacteria and spores that cause disease, wiping your secateurs between plants is crucial. Some have soft handles that reduce wrist strain and are suitable for right- and left-handed gardeners. They have a durable, carbon steel blade that can be resharpened, and they come with a warranty.

Pruners

Pruners, or gardening shears or secateurs, are garden tools for cutting plant stems and branches. They’re essential for controlling plants and stopping them from becoming lanky or unruly. They come in two styles; bypass pruners have blades that move past each other like scissors, while anvil pruners have a sharpened upper blade that presses against a flat bottom piece. The more popular bypass pruners make a clean cut with little damage to living tissue, making them ideal for trimming flowers and small branches. A hoe is a great tool for aerating, weeding, and loosening the soil to help plants get the necessary nutrients to thrive. It’s a garden must-have for any home gardener!

Gloves

A pair of gloves helps prevent scratches from thorns, rocks and other hard landscaping materials. They also keep dirt and gardening debris from getting under fingernails — which can cause that icky feeling when working in the garden. A good pair of gloves is made from leather, nitrile or latex and comes with long gauntlet cuffs to shield the wrist and lower arm from thorns, debris and sharp tools. They should fit well to allow free movement while gardening. A soil meter is a handy handheld device that lets you quickly check the health of your garden’s soil, Truini says. It measures the three key factors in nutrient-rich garden soil: water, sun and pH value. It’s an essential tool for any gardener that you can purchase online.