Enthusiasm is fantastic, especially when it comes to gardening.
However, do not let it misguide you while choosing the most essential gardening tools you must have for a successful.
Why is it important to be selective? Well, gardening tools cost money. Besides, some can take a lot of storage space.
Tool quality, your budget, maintenance, and intended use are just some of the many factors to guide you in decision making. Only making the right choice can guarantee you a gainful return of investment.
To make thing simple for you, here are the 9 most essential gardening tools you should have:
1. Rake
The ground where you intend to cultivate needs clearing before you can do the digging. Leaves and debris regularly fall before and after you’ve cultivated and even planted your garden.
A sturdy rake will quickly whisk away such leaves and debris. These tools come in many different sizes and styles. For a beginner, a simple hand rake is just good enough.
It would be a good idea to go for an adjustable rake. Such a tool acts as a multitool since you can use it for more than one task. Besides, it can reach into some of the narrowest spaces in your garden.
The fact that an adjustable rake expands (usually from 70 inches to 22 inches) means you can gather more enormous piles with a single move than you would with a nonadjustable rake. This tool also collapses for secure storage.
2. Gardening tiller
A gardening tiller is a tool gardeners use to ready to ground for cultivating and planting. Tillers can be manually operated or motorized. A manual hand tiller is good enough for tilling minimal areas.
Best rear tine tillers are a bit expensive and ideal for preparing large areas.
You will need this tool to break up the soil (including barren areas) and mulch organic matter. You also need it to blend fertilizer and organic matter within the earth.
High-quality gardening tillers let you adjust the tilling depth. Create time and learn more about how to till a garden correctly.
3. Gloves
Do you dread thorns and pricking materials? I guess no one likes pain. But that’s what you will have to deal with if you start gardening with your bare hands.
High-quality pair of gloves will protect your hands from sharp objects commonly found the ground such as thorns, wood splinters, sharp rocks, metal debris, and many more.
A good pair of gloves should be sturdy and lightweight. This is vital when you are handling seeds or transplanting delicate seedlings.
Buy perfectly fitting gloves because ill-fitting pairs can cause painful blisters. Furthermore, they can slip off, resulting in nasty accidents.
Choose a pair of gloves made from water-resistant and breathable material. This will keep your hands comfortable and relaxed, especially during extended use.
More extended cuffs are excellent in protecting your forearm and wrists from scratches. Such cuffs will also block soil and other debris from entering your hands.
4. Wheelbarrow
A wheelbarrow is one of the most essential gardening tools you must have if you are serious about venturing into this hobby.
It’s what you’ll use to move excess soil around. You’ll also need a wheelbarrow to move compost manure, mulch, and bags of fertilizer to the garden. Heavy tools and objects are also easier to transport with a sturdy wheelbarrow.
These tools can either be a dual-handle single wheel or single-handle dual wheels. The former is the traditional design. It can be challenging to control, especially when carrying a heavy load over uneven grounds.
Single-handle dual wheel models are much easier to control even on rugged terrains. Choose this model if you have limited strength.
5. Shovel or spade
Spades are essentially short-handled shovels. They are some of the most versatile garden tools ever made. You will need it to make holes for planting, lift sod, and edge around the garden.
The tool is also ideal if you need to move a small amount of dirt from one location of the garden to another.
A top quality spade can be costly, but it will serve you for a long time before replacement. A good shovel may help you for the rest of your gardening life if you maintain it well.
The material for the handle should be lightweight, durable, and capable of absorbing both vibration and shock. Spades with more extended hands offer better leverage, but they tend to be heavier.
Stainless steel blades offer the best service because they are reliable and rustproof. The market is full of such tools, so you must make your choice wisely.
6. Hand trowel
Plants propagate in various ways. In most cases, you will plant seeds or seedlings. In both cases, a hand trowel will make your work a lot easier.
A trowel is ideal for transplanting bedding herbs and plants and planting container gardens. The tool is also handy in weeding.
It may be useful to have not one but several trowels for different uses. For instance, you can have a broad blade model for moving more soil and a narrow blade model for digging rocky grounds or removing weeds.
Ensure the handles fit your hands comfortably. Stainless steel is the best material for the blade of the trowel because of strength and durability.
7. Watering can
Watering your plants is essential regardless of your geographical location, weather condition, or time of the season. It makes a watering can one of the necessary gardening tools for an enthusiastic gardener.
Choose either metal or plastic cans. Each of these types differs a lot in terms of size, colour, style, quality as well as nozzle options.
Plastic cans are lightweight and rust-free but less durable than metal. If you decide to go for a metal can, ensure it’s made from galvanized steel to resist corrosion.
Choose capacity according to your strength. The weight of one gallon is approximately 8lbs. You can use this guide when shopping for the right watering can.
Also read: How to reduce the amount of water you use in your garden
8. Secateurs
Also called hand pruners, secateurs is vital for a healthy and productive garden. This tool helps to control overgrown plants. Without pruning, such plants will quickly get out of control and conquer other areas of the garden.
Two types of hand-pruners exist in the market – the anvil-style and bypass pruners.
Anvil-pruners use the same technique you use to cut on board with a knife. They are ideal for deadwood because they can hurt fresh, green branches.
Bypass models, on the other hand, cut like scissors. You will need it for green wood and live plants because it does not cause injuries.
A particular type called ratcheting pruner offer better cutting strength. It is, therefore, ideal for arthritic hands or those with limited strength.
9. Garden Fork
To crown our description of the most vital gardening tools is the garden fork. A good quality gardening fork will dig dense soil with more ease than a spade. It is highly efficient in turning the ground, especially on first time digging.
Go for a fork with slightly curved spines. They do better jobs when it comes to scooping mulch as well as turning compost piles. It is similar to pitchfork in this regard.
Straight spines are excellent in digging compacted clay or rocky soil. Tines can either be square or flat, with the former being stronger. The latter can bend if it hits a tree root or a rock.
Conclusion
Have you learned something? I’m very confident you will find your gardening experience much easier if you collect these tools before you begin to prepare your land for gardening. You will need more tools along the way. For now, however, I believe these nine essential gardening tools will suffice.