Gardening tools are very crucial for performing all gardening activities efficiently and flawlessly, including digging, planting, pruning, weeding, and cutting. Having the right-hand tools will save time, money, and energy making gardening a pleasant experience.
There is an extensive variety of hand tools for gardeners. But you don’t need your entire gardening tool shed stocked up full of tools.
A few essential tools which are sturdy and of good quality will be sufficient enough to do all your work.
Hence, with proper research and taking needs into consideration, we have come up with the 13 must-have gardening tools from the wide range of tools available to make your search easy.
What tools you need for your garden is determined by what you grow, where you grow, and how you grow.
But, these selected 13 tools will be sufficient enough for almost all the work you do in a garden irrespective of what, how, and where you grow.
For your ease of reading and understanding, we have listed down the essential gardening tools with names and pictures. So don’t skip any point.
Let’s dig in!
Must-Have Gardening Tools
Gardening tools are the gardener’s best friend. These best friends of yours will help you in all means to make your work enjoyable and to relax you.
1. Hand Trowel
A hand trowel is the first tool you should buy. You can use it to dig up the earth for planting. This tool is wonderful for transplanting seedlings, bulbs, and small perennials. It is also useful for digging out weeds.
They come in all kinds of shapes and sizes with different combinations of handles made up of plastic or wood. I would suggest you get 2 trowels.
You can have one with a broad blade to dig and move soil, and another with a narrow blade to dig out weeds or clayey and rocky soil.
Consider buying a trowel made of stainless steel if you want your trowel to be more durable and last longer. Also, choose ones with bright handles as they will be easy to spot in the soil and greens when you lose them.
2. Hoe
Plantation takes place with a lot of preparation. A hoe is a versatile tool with a square or rectangular blade at the end that helps you cultivate your soil, edge your lawn, and for cutting down roots and weeds.
It can also be used for creating furrows for seedlings and covering seeded furrows.
This tool comes in a lot of variety. However, you don’t need many of them. A regular Dutch or Draw hoe will meet most of your requirements.
Always look for long handles to have a comfortable reach. Go for a wide and sturdy hoe if you have a veggie garden otherwise, you can go for a narrow lightweight hoe if you have a perennial garden.
3. Shovel
A shovel is similar to a hoe with a sharp point at the end to help you scoop up large chunks of soil and rocks at once.
They have a ledge on top of the head for resting your foot to exert a greater amount of force when pushing it into the ground.
When there is no rain for many days, the soil becomes tight and tough to dig. This is where a shovel comes in handy.
You can use it for digging holes for new plantations, scooping soil, Unearthing rocks, and making a new bed for plantations by loosening the hardened soil.
4. Rake
You have dug up your soil, prepared your bed, and cleared up all the weeds. Now it’s time to clear up the debris. Here you will be needing a rake.
Using a rake is the best way to clear rocks, twigs, and clogs from your garden before plantation. Also when leaves fall from your plants, your rake can whisk them away.
You don’t need to research the type of rake you need. A standard leaf rake will do all your work. In case you need to reach into narrow areas too, you can go for a rake with an adjustable head.
5. Pruners Or Secateurs
Whether you own a vegetable garden or a flower garden, a good pair of pruners is a necessity. If you walk through your garden you will always find something to prune.
Gardeners can use it to remove dead growth for maintaining the health as well as the beauty of their garden by trimming and shaping plants, herbs, and shrubs.
Also, it serves the purpose of controlling plant overgrowth. Harvesting your veggies using a pruner is a great way to do so.
Always go for a pruner that fits your palm easily. An oversized pruner will require more force and the undersized ones will not be comfortable to work with.
Always remember to sharpen your pruner regularly for cleaner cuts and less injury to plants.
6. Loopers
A Pruner is a short tool useful for snipping off stems not more than 1 /2 inches. If you need to reach distant areas and cut thicker branches, you need a looper. Loopers are basically long-handled pruners.
It is obvious that your garden will have a variety of plants. Some with thin stems and stalks while others with thicker stalks.
Hence it becomes essential to keep a looper in your tool list. Otherwise, you will end up damaging your Pruner if you try cutting thicker branches.
Everyone owns a pruner. But, knowing when to use a looper can save you time, energy, and a new pair of hand pruners.
7. Hand Cultivator
A hand cultivator looks like a fork with 3 to 5 pongs that are bent to form the shape of a claw. It is a small tool that cannot be overlooked.
Breaking up soils, dislodging rocks, loosening underground vegetables like potatoes for harvesting, mixing in soil amendments, weeding without much strain on your back or arms.
8. Pruning Saw
A pruning saw is a tool with sharp teeth on a straight blade or a bent blade each designed for its own purpose.
You sure have your pruner and pruning shear for cutting your twigs and branches. But when you have a bigger garden you sure will be having trees. Peach plump and apple trees are loved to be planted.
Larger branches require more power while cutting. In such a case a pruning saw is a must-have tool. Because it is designed to cut on pull stokes, you have greater power and greater control while sawing a branch.
9. Khurpa Or Khurpi
Every gardener loves planting in pots. It may be on your balcony or on your backyard, you will always find flowering plants or some other plants in pots.
In such a case, your big tools won’t help you in any way when you work with your pots. Here, a khurpa helps you. So, having a khurpa is a must in your gardening tool shed.
A khurpa is a small gardening tool designed specifically for potted plants. It is used to dig the soil, loosen the soil, transplanting, weeding, etc.
A khurpa comes in various sizes. Depending on the size of your pots, you can keep 2 to 3 sets so that you can work comfortably in all pot sizes.
10. Garden Tiller
For sure you can use your shovel and hoe for digging And preparing your soil. But when you need to prepare large areas of land, using a shovel and hoe will consume a large amount of your energy and wouldn’t be efficient enough.
So, you must have to include a garden tiller in your list. This tool is used to dig and break hard lumps of soil to prepare your soil for cultivation.
A tiller has sides. One with a flat edge and the other with a pointed edge. The pointed edge digs deep into the soil and is used on harder land while a flat edge is used for spreading the soil or digging on softer land.
Since a tiller bears a greater amount of force, make sure to get a sturdy one so that it doesn’t break while tilling your land.
11. Hori-Hori Knife
Hori-Hori knife has become a very popular tool among gardeners due to its versatile and multipurpose use.
The tool originates from Japan where it has been for centuries. In the Japanese language, the word Hori means Digging and Hori-Hori means digging sound.
It is famous and must be owned by everyone due to its versatility. It is a mixture of a trowel, a saw, and a knife. So you can use it to dig, weed, saw, transplant, cut, and even measure the depth of soil for planting bulbs.
12. Garden Tool Sharpener
Your tools do get blunt with time and with regular use. Buying tools isn’t just enough. Taking proper care of your tools is a must if you want your tools to last longer and perform better.
Hence is important to have a garden tool sharpener so that you can take proper care of your tools by cleaning and sharpening them on time.
But before sharpening your tools you must know the correct procedure to sharpen your tools. Otherwise, you will end up damaging them.
13. Wheelbarrow
Last but not the least, you must include a wheelbarrow in your list of important tools for gardening. As the name tells, it is an open cart with wheels and handles used for carrying things in a garden.
When you dig out gardens, weeding, transplanting, manuring, or harvesting, you will have lots of heavy loads which need to be carried from one place to another. You are going to save a lot of time and effort when you have a barrow.
There are many sizes of wheelbarrows. Depending on the size of your garden, you can choose one for yourself.
Other Tools You Need For Your Garden
We have discussed all the important hand tools that you must have with you. But working with sharp tools always has a possibility of injury.
Hence it is essential you take good care of your safety while working in your garden. So now let’s look into some safety equipment that you need to use while working with tools.
Also, we will see some other accessories that will help you work more efficiently and productively.
- Gardening Gloves
- Gardening Boot
- Kneeling Pad
- Mosquito Repellent
- Watering Can
- Outdoor Brush
- Bucket
- Hose Pipes
- Moisture Indicator
Garden Tool Care And Maintenance
If you need your tools to be with you, you have to maintain and care for your garden tools. It’s just as simple as that.
A gardener’s job is not only to take care of the garden but a good gardener focuses on maintenance and care of the tools. After all, tools are a gardener’s weapons.
So, it is very important you maintain your tools in a timely manner to protect them from wearing out and getting covered in rust.
These are the steps you need to follow for your tool care.
Step 1: Clean
Take a bucket of water and a bristle brush. Soak your tools in the bucket and brush them to remove all the mud and dirt. Then, rinse them well and let them dry.
Step 2: Sand
You need your wooden handles to be smooth and comfortable to grip. Also sanding our tools will help you get rid of all the rust in your tools.
80-grit sandpaper will work both for wooden handles and for rust removal. Sand your tool till you get a smooth handle and a tool, free of rust.
Step 3: Sharpen
With regular use, your tools do get blunt. So you need to sharpen your tools. You can use a file or an electric sharpener.
Try to sharpen in the same edge bevel that is already there. Too much steep angle will make your tool edge very thin and prone to breakage.
Step 4: Oil
Oiling your tools will keep them away from rust and prevent wooden handles from cracking. Always go for natural oils like linseed oil or flax oil.
Apply a generous amount of oil to your tools and allow them to rest for 30 minutes. Then you can wipe off the excess oil with a clean towel.
Here you go! Now it’s time to organize your tools.
Conclusion
Gardening should always be kept fun and stress-free. These tools and equipment that we discussed can lighten your tasks and make growing more enjoyable.
So make sure you invest in all these 13 tools. They will definitely be a little costly but you won’t regret buying them if you are a serious gardener.
Lastly, before getting any of these tools, you must make sure of the sizes of different tools you want depending upon your garden size, or else you might go wrong.
Also, don’t forget to get all the safety equipment along with your tools.
FAQ: Must-Have Gardening Tools
There are a lot of questions that are asked by people and I have taken a few of the commonly asked questions and provided the best answer.
Q1. Which 3 tools will do almost all the work if the budget is low?
Ans: If you are a beginner and want your own garden, but due to a low budget you can’t afford all these 13 tools. In that case, you can go for a hand trowel, a rake, and a Hori-Hori knife. You would be able to do most of your work using these 3 tools.
Q2. Which Is The Best Method To Store Garden Tools?
Ans: As much as cleaning your tools is important, storage matters a lot too. It is best to have a tool rake for storage and when you want to carry them to your garden you can use a tool bucket.
Q3. What Are The Best Ways To Sharpen Tools?
Ans: For larger tools like hoe and shovel, an electric grinder is best. For smaller tools, you can simply use a file or a sharpening rock. Whenever you are sharpening, remember to use safety goggles and gloves.