The Best Tools for Maintaining a Healthy Garden

Starting a garden is easy – you need some plants, a patch of land and some tools. It gets trickier when you have to maintain your garden and ensure that it continues to grow.

If you’re thinking about starting a garden, or you recently bought a home with a garden, but you’re not sure what you need out of the multitude of products out there and what to use it for, don’t go and buy every tool on the shelf.

The following list will break it down for you and save you from buying tools you probably don’t need, or from buying different tools that serve the same purpose.

Shovel vs. Garden Spade

These two gardening tools are often mistaken for the same thing, which they definitely are not. The differences lie in their shapes which makes them more suited for specific garden tasks.

The angled blade shovel is perfect for moving piles of soil and sand. It is also ideal for digging out plants for replanting. The garden spade has a flat, squared-off blade and is perfect for edging garden beds and slicing into the ground. It is also ideal for working soil adjustments into the garden.

Both of these are gardening essentials. They are also more useful when the blade is sharp.

Trowel

A trowel is a smaller handheld tool used for planting seedlings, bulbs and other vegetation. Some trowels have a serrated edge which makes it useful for slicing through small roots. It is also useful for digging out weeds with shallow roots like plantains. Choose a trowel with a rubber handle for better grip.

Garden Fork

The garden fork is also referred to as a spading or potato fork. This tool is perfect for turning the soil and letting air into the soil. It can be used to break up soil clumps and to work organic matter such as compost and fertilizer into the soil. It is also the perfect tool for dividing clumps of perennials.

Garden Hoe

This tool is perfect for preparing the soil and removing weeds just like the shovel. It is also used for breaking up clumps of soil.

It can be used to make planting furrows in soil that has been prepared by dragging the hoe through the soil at a slanted angle. This tool is more effective when the blade is sharp so make sure to sharpen it regularly.

Garden Rake

Garden rakes have tines that break up small clumps of soil and round up small stones and debris. The flat rake technique can also be used by turning the rake around and smoothing out the soil for planting.

Watering Can vs. Watering Hose

A watering can is suited for watering small-scale gardens. If your garden consists of mostly potted plants and flowers that do not cover a large area of the yard the watering can is the tool for you.

They also have some ornamental value so don’t throw them away when they become old. Just put some soil in them and use them as planters.

A watering hose is more suited to watering larger yards or gardens. It saves you from carrying around a heavy watering can because it covers a larger area faster and easier if you attach a spraying nozzle.

Pruning Shears

Pruning shears are used for harvesting fresh produce but also for aesthetic purposes like cutting back bushes as well as trimming long grass and small hedges, and shaping shrubs and bushes.

Wheelbarrow vs. Leaf blower

Gardens can create lots of debris and part of maintaining your garden is removing weeds and leaves from the it to keep it looking neat and tidy.

A wheelbarrow is used for easily removing and moving garden debris to the compost pile. The wheelbarrow may be heavy but it is an easy solution for transporting the debris.

A leaf blower essentially does the same thing by propelling air out of a nozzle to move debris. You can look at thebestleafblowers.com for information on the different types of leafblowers available as the different types serve different purposes in the garden.

The right tools will make gardening easy and fun. At the end of the day, you can sit back with pride and enjoy the fruits of your labor.