August 04, 2005
Garden Tools save Time, Energy, and Improve Results.
The serious gardener will have many tools at their disposal and professional gardeners and landscapes even more. For most home owners there are only a few vital tools needed to do the job sufficiently. In this Garden Tools section you’ll learn more about basic hand held tools.
15 Tools Important Gardening Tools:
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[1] Shovels
There are many types of shovels that come in all shapes and sizes and each one is designed to perform a little differently.
Round Point – When you envision a shovel this is the style that’s most common. It has a round point and is best used for general digging.
Contoured Square Head – This shovel is best used for scooping and moving compost, gravel, mulch and loose dirt.
Flat Head – This shovel has a straight edge which makes it good for cutting borders and landscape beds but not for moving dirt.
Narrow Head – This shovel has a long narrow head so it is ideal for digging into dirt, for transplanting, and for digging narrow drainage ditches. In this category also look for a Trenching Shovel.
[2] Rakes
Rakes are as indispensable as shovels in your gardening activities. There are many different kinds and each serving a distinct niche in its function.
Bamboo Rakes – These have been on the market a long time and are still available in several widths.
Spring Rakes – Spring rakes literally bounce on the ground as you use them. This bouncing feature can actually make the raking action easier.
Plastic Rakes – This mass marketed rake is available in multiple sizes and styles and of course plastic will last for a long time.
Short Handled Rakes – This is great for getting leaves & debris out of your flower beds because it is small, relatively narrow and easy to maneuver between plants.
Steel Bow Rake – This rake is great for light grading, removing small stones, spreading mulch and tamping your soil down. A heavier duty version of this is called the rock or road rake.
Grading Rake – As the name implies, this is for grading surfaces.
Thatch Rake – Great for build up problems of thatch in your yard.
[3] Shearing & Pruning
When you are gardening or landscaping there will be many opportunities to use pruning or shearing devices to remove unwanted overgrowth or shape up your favorite shrubs. Here are some of the more common options:
Hand Pruners – These are the mainstay of pruning. The different versions of hand pruners work like a pair of pliers with blades to cut branches and stems.
There are 3 basic types: (1) Anvil Hand Pruners have a single sharp blade coming over a blunt edge to cut. (2) Bypass Pruners (most popular) cut with 2 curved blades that bypass each other like scissor blades. (3) Ratchet Pruners are designed like the Anvil type with 1 sharp blade but they ratchet for great leverage. This is by far the easiest to use especially for thicker stems.
Hand Shears – Hand shears have much longer blades than hand pruners and are great especially for hedge trimming. Most types of hand shears have straight blades and a notch at the base for cutting thicker stems.
Sheep Shears – This might be a little harder to find but they work great for pruning shrubs, cutting back flowers and plants, and even to trim grasses.
Lopping Shears – As the name suggest these are great for lopping off thick sticks and stems. They are essentially like hand pruners but with longer handles to act as leverage for tougher jobs.
Power Shears – These can be purchased in gas or electric versions and can make shearing faster and easier (especially for larger areas to care for).
Pruning Saws – This is a must have for any gardener. It basically looks like a thicker version of a hack saw and is great for cutting medium to thick branches. They come in curved or straight blades of various lengths, and most with replaceable blades.
Pole Pruners – These look like a pipe wrench but with a longer handle and a cutting blade inside where you would place the branch for pruning. Many have telescoping poles to reach higher and they can cut branches up to 1-1/4 inches thick.
Power Pole Pruner – This tool is more for heavier duty jobs and usage. If you have a large landscape to deal with power pole pruners can save a lot of time and energy. They are basically a small 12 inch chainsaw on a pole.
[4] Wheelbarrow
Unless you essentially have no yard, a wheelbarrow or yard cart is in your future. You’ll use this tool all the time for hauling yard debris and carting around flowers, plants, potting soils, mulches and bags of about everything else you can think of. Some of the styles are:
Take a look at all the options and decide what’s best. You may be limited on space or know you’ll need a heavy duty wheelbarrow to do the job. Tip: There are 2 types of actual wheels for your cart or wheelbarrow. You can get tires in flat free versions or ones with regular tires (if you don’t want the worry of fixing a flat go with flat free).
[5] Garden Hose
Along with a shovel and hoe, a garden hose will be a priority (if you want your flowers, plants, and grass to live). When making this purchase, consider the length of hose needed by looking at the size of your yard and especially how far you’ll need to travel from the source to water.
Cost usually is a factor of hose diameter and quality of the hose. The hose diameter is worth considering because it affects water flow. The quality is important to think about because very thin hoses not only wear out quicker but get kinked easily (kinking equals frustration and the hose wearing out faster).
[6] Spreaders
You basically have 2 ways to deliver bulk materials like fertilizers, seeds and other materials: (1) By Hand & (2) With a Spreader. The oldest method is by hand but you have the challenge of throwing the material out evenly. The only sure way of even distribution is to use some sort of spreader which are available in 3 basic versions:
Bag Spreaders – These are cloth type bags that held by a shoulder harness, cranked by hand, and good for smaller projects.
Hand Held Spreaders– This spreader uses a small plastic hopper, held out in front of you and cranked by hand. These are good for smaller to medium size projects.
Drop Spreaders – The next upgrade from this are commercial motorized spreaders that are expensive and more for professionals. Drop spreaders have a hopper that is lower to the ground on 2 wheels. As you push it forward the material you are spreading is cast evenly with little effort. These are great for small, medium or larger projects and are worth the small investment if you will be doing this kind of activity fairly often.
[7] Leaf Blowers
These can be purchased in electric or gas and will save you hours of time and backaches. Blowers can be used for blowing leaves or debris off your sidewalk, driveway, porches, decks, or out of gardens. You can even move piles of leaves across the yard into a woods, ditch, or a manageable pile.
Your choices of electric or gas have mixed advantages and disadvantages. The gas versions are more powerful and you don’t have to drag around cords. The electric ones are quieter, lighter weight, but you manage electric cords.
[8] Hoes
There are many styles of hoes with a variety of blade shapes and sizes to handle garden work. The reason for so many styles is that each are designed to handle specific types of garden work to make your job easier as well as more effective. Here are 12 of the more common hoe types:
1- Garden Hoe – This is the standard hoe most people think of. It’s an all purpose hoe good for weeding, making furrows and cultivating.
2- Nursery Hoe – These look like the common garden hoe but are more heavy duty for tougher jobs. It is great for all the things a garden hoe does (weeding, cultivating, etc) as well as for working close to your plants or underneath low growth shrubs and plants.
3- Cavex Hoe – This hoe is harder to locate at stores but is unique in design with a rounded point. It is good for cutting weeds and roots which you’ll be doing sooner or later when gardening and it’s a hard task without the right tool.
4- Pointed Push Hoe – This hoe is designed forward and flat with a pointed v-shaped blade. It is good for pushing through lighter soil and can be pulled backwards to make small trenches as well.
5- Onion Hoe – This hoe has a wider and narrow blade and is used typically for onions. It is sharpened on the sides and bottom and because of it shape is also good for grading work.
6- Action Hoe – This neat hoe looks like a large cooker cutter with a pole attached. With its hollow design you can easily weed back and forth as you push and pull through the ground.
7- Grub Hoe – This hoe almost looks like an ancient weapon. It is long and rectangular and will do a great job cutting tree roots, digging trenches, or working in clay soil.
8- Raised Bed Hoe – This hoe looks a little like the onion hoe with a larger blade. The wide blade makes it perfect for forming and shaping raised flower and plant beds.
9- Dutch Scuffle Hoe – As the name implies this is poplar in Holland and England. It is shaped somewhat liker the action hoe (cookie cutter design) but I much more substantial. It makes a great tool for edging and prying things like large rocks or roots.
10- Korean Hoe – The blade is somewhat triangular in shape and curves inward some making this hoe great for slicing through the dirt.
11- Warren Hoe - This hoe looks like an arrow head attached to a pole but perpendicular like a general hoe is. It is great for weeding, cultivating, and making furrows.
12- Collinear Hoe – This hoe looks like a window squeegee but made of metal. It has a small, sharp, replaceable blade and is cuts through weeds like hot butter.
[9] String Weed Eater / trimmer
Just like with leaf blowers you have both gas & electric versions available to purchase (as well as loads of time and energy to save). There are also battery operated weed trimmers that can hold a charge for a very long time. They have the advantage of light weight, and quiet operation. The advantage of gas powered version is higher power and longer operating times.
[10] Trowels
Hand trowels resemble small hand shovels but can perform unique functions because of its shallower shape on the blade. It can be used for planting, mixing, scooping and you can create a planting hole by moving it back & forth without having to dig a hole.
[11] Lawn Mower
This is covered more substantially in the garden equipment section. For most gardeners this is the most expensive piece of gardening equipment you’ll purchase so it’s worth taking your time and considering several options. You’ll want to consider how large your lawn is, do you want it to do more than mow, do you need self-propelled, and what about mulching capabilities. Finally, price is all over the board with mowers from a few hundred dollars (less than a $100 for a small used one) to thousands for some including riding mowers.
[12] Gloves
A lot of people don’t bother with gloves but it makes the job so much easier and pleasant. There are many brands of gloves and hundreds of styles available. Basically you want a glove for gardening that is comfortable, durable and it’s your hands well. If you accomplish these 3 goals you’ll be very happy with your glove choice.
[13] Watering Can
This is not rocket science. Watering cans come in various shapes and sizes and can be something as simple as a bucket if you were desperate. They generally have small holes at the end where water comes out to spread the flow out evenly for better coverage.
[14] Sprayers
Sprayers for your yard or garden can prove to be a valuable time saver. Sprayers are also the best way to deliver the right amount of certain materials to the right spots. Sprayers can be used for fertilizers, pesticides, insecticides, fungicides, and other synthetic or organic materials for lawns and gardens.
Note: It is recommended you do not use the same sprayer for fertilizers and poisons because you chance killing your plants and flowers. If you must use the same sprayer make sure it is cleaned completely using soap, hot water, and be detailed.
[15] Safety Glasses
If you are doing general gardening, safety glasses are not a necessity and may even be a nuisance. On the other hand, if you are pruning, mowing, weed trimming, and other activities where debris can hit you in the eye, then safety glasses are a smart idea. It only takes one little piece of debris to cause a serious eye injury and possible blindness.
There are as many brands, price ranges and styles of safety glasses as there are gloves. Choose ones that are truly safety & impact resistant, comfortable, and stylish if you like.
Caring for Garden Tools:
Storing – Organizing and storing your tools indoors or in a garden shed will add life to them. Weather conditions such as rain will rust and create many performance issues otherwise prevented. Not to mention, if organized you’ll actually be able to find them at the time needed.
Cleaning – Spray metal parts such as blades with a penetrating oils like WD40 (not the only choice but most known). Tools with wooden handles should be rubbed down with linseed oil to keep them from cracking.
If any tool or equipment has been used to spread fertilizers, lime, pesticides, etc, make sure you clean them with hot water & soap and then let them dry.
Gardening equipment like lawn mowers and the like should be maintained regularly and checked for oil and lubricants. Use the correct types of fuel and oils and have them checked out professionally if you are unsure of a procedure.
Sharpening – Your cutting tools such as clippers are only as good as the blade. If allowed to go dull you’ll be working twice as hard on projects. To sharpen your blades use a hone, and If your blades are nicked or gouged use a heavy metal file to first smooth out the edges.
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The right garden tool for the right job will save you time, energy, and improve the results in your garden.