Whether you are just getting into gardening or you’ve had a green thumb your whole life, there’s a set of essential tools you will need. If your fingers are green, you’ll know the tools you can rely on for each job. But if you are just starting out, it can be confusing working out what you need for a solid selection of yard tools.
You may have picked up gardening out of interest, or because you’ve moved to a house with a garden. Maybe it’s that you have an even a bigger garden thanks to a move or renovations. With this privilege comes a challenge: To keep your garden in great shape, to address its various needs, and to cultivate the dream garden you desire.
On the one hand, you need to keep the lawn trim and the leaves from piling up on your neatly cut grass. On the other hand, you may have a vision for a vegetable patch or a garden full of beautiful plants. Each task requires different tools. But this handy guide will break down all the yard tools you’ll need, and what you’ll need them for, in no particular order of importance. Read on to understand the types of garden tools you’ll need for your property.
1. Lawn Mower
Unless you are handy with the world’s largest scissors in a tiny garden, a lawnmower is about as close to a necessity as you will get. Without it, your lawn is going to get out of hand, unless you are willing to splash out on a gardener semi-regularly.
Lawnmowers don’t have to be expensive ride-on machines. You can find mowers relatively cheaply from any good gardening store, powered by electricity or petrol.
2. Rake
A rake is essentially a broom for outside, but with metal or plastic prongs. Use this to collect debris or leaves that have accumulated on your lawn. Rakes are made in a variety of different materials, depending on your needs. Sturdy steel rakes can help with tougher jobs — maybe clearing out underneath a large shrub — while an adjustable rake with plastic prongs is kinder on your lawn, and enables you to clear out narrower spots.
3. Leaf Blower
One problem with rakes is they can get annoying to use. They can churn up your lawn, or prongs can get stuck in the grass. Depending on how many there are, clearing up leaves can take a while, too.
Having the best leaf blower can save you all that time and effort, which you may want to save for more arduous jobs in the garden. You can blow leaves into one convenient pile to bag up instead. Even better, many leaf blowers have an in-built vacuum setting — so you don’t have to pile up the leaves yourself.
If you are wondering how to save time on leaf removal, consider looking the brands and models of leaf blowers over at thebestleafblowers.com.
4. Pruning Shears
Also known as secateurs, hand shears help you to chop down plants and bushes. Their relatively small size lends itself well to trimming a shrub for style, but their toughness means you can chop down an out-of-control bush.
There are various styles of pruning shears depending on the task, for dead wood, green and live plants, and ratcheting shears for strength. For many gardeners, their shears don’t leave their side as they make their way around the garden.
5. Loppers
The larger blades on loppers will enable you to cut down larger branches than shears allow and to reach higher. Many loppers have a ratchet, so you can lock into the branch and adjust yourself without having to remove the loppers.
6. Gloves
Gardening gloves are sturdy and designed to protect you as you get stuck into tricky bushes and lop down branches. While you use your pruning shears, you may be wary of thorns and brambles, but most good gardening gloves will protect you from stings and pricking. Get yourself a good pair of gardening gloves or even leaf scoops if you want to last a day in the garden without a thorn or cuts in your hands.
7. Hose and Watering Can
The need for these is probably a little obvious: To water your plants. (And to keep your birdbath topped up if you have one.) A watering can is excellent for watering raised beds, plants, and parts of the garden out of the reach of your hose.
Similarly, a hose enables you to reach hanging baskets and reach properly into the obscured roots of a large shrub. A hose also saves you lugging around the heavy watering can. Consider getting a changeable nozzle, which enables you to adjust the stream as you water your garden, from misting to full blast.
8. A Shovel and Spade
People often confuse them or use the names interchangeably. The truth is you need both. So it doesn’t matter what you call them.
A shovel has a flat bottom edge, while a spade’s bottom edge rounds off into a point. For a shovel, this means it is better for moving loose materials such as gravel or soil. A spade is designed for digging. You can use them to edge the grass, dig holes for plants, or dig out bushes, plants, and shrubs you want to remove.
You can probably use a spade as you would a shovel, but we wouldn’t recommend using a shovel for a spade’s tasks. Get both, and you don’t have to worry.
9. Wheelbarrow
One of the toughest parts about gardening can be moving the debris you’ve chopped down or moving in gravel and turf. This can be back-breaking stuff.
Save your back by getting a wheelbarrow. Load up your stuff and then wheel it in. Make sure the tires are pumped, and the wheels are screwed on tight.
10. Hand Trowel
Essentially a small spade it’s an excellent tool for any work you are doing on a smaller scale. You can use it to shift plants and herbs and to help bed in new plants. They are also great for removing weeds, as you can get close to the roots to make sure nothing is left.
Conclusion
All of these handy tools can help bring your garden ideas to life. Having them readily available is a time saver. From a lawn mower, gloves, leaf blowers to a wheelbarrow, do some research and make observations about your garden. Find the yard and garden tools that’ll work with you, not against you, and start creating the beautiful garden of your dreams.
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