Garden Tools

Gardeners may not agree on the best mulch or the perfect fertiliser, but there’s one thing that every gardener agrees on: when it comes to buying tools, buy the best. Quality garden tools are an investment that yield dividends over time. Here are the top ten gardening tools every community garden should own.

1. Trowel: A well-made trowel is your most important tool. From container gardening to large beds, a trowel will help you get your plants into the soil. Every gardener should have one.

2. Hand fork: A hand fork helps cultivate soil, chop up clumps and work amendments into the soil. A hand fork is necessary for cultivating in closely planted beds.

3. Hoe: A long-handled hoe is a gardener’s best friend. Keeping weeds at bay is the purpose of this useful tool.

4. Secateurs (Hand pruners): Invest in a pair of quality pruners, such as Felco, which is clearly a cut above. This sturdy pruner is used for clipping rose canes, cutting back perennials, and any other trimming jobs.

5. Watering can: Haws are the best in the business. This English watering can creates a fine even stream of water that delivers with a gentleness that won’t wash seedlings or sprouting seeds out of their soil.

6. Fork: You can’t dig and divide perennials without a heavy-duty fork (and some dividing methods even suggest you own two).

7. Shovel: The sharper the better. A shovel is a requisite tool for planting larger perennials, shrubs and trees. The most basic act in the garden is breaking ground, so it stands to reason that a sharp shovel will be a key player.

8. Wheelbarrow: Wheelbarrows come in all different sizes (and prices). They are indispensable for hauling soil, compost, plants, mulch, hoses, tools…everything you’ll need to garden.

9. Gloves: Unless you want to ear your favourite hobby under your nails, use gloves. Leather gloves hold up best. If you have roses, get a pair that resist thorn pricks.

10. Hose: This is the fastest way to transport lots of water from your water source to your garden.

Tool Care Tips

Clean up: Clean all soil form digging tools after each use. If soil has dried, use a wire brush or even a knife.

How to handle handles: If wooden tool handles are damp, set the tools in the sun to dry before storing. At the end of each gardening season, rub linseed oil or tung oil into handles.

Stay on the cutting edge: Don’t forget to sharpen cutting tools and blades of shovels and spades during the garden season. Frequently used tools dull quickly, so keep a whetstone or a sharpener in your tool arsenal.

Chase rust away: Damp tools welcome rust. After each use, wipe down metal parts of pruners, shears, and loppers with an oily rag. This will help keep rust at bay.