During the Pandemic, approximately 18 million people took up gardening. Now, more than half of American families are involved, to some degree, with their gardens. It’s estimated that last year we spent $48 billion on equipment for our gardens and lawns.
Whether we’re do-it-ourselves gardeners, or we rely on the strong arms and backs of professional gardeners, we need to keep a few tools on hand for our personal use. Additionally, we sometimes covet the handy-dandy gadgets we see friends using or those advertised in our favorite gardening magazines. Or, maybe we’re looking for the perfect gift for a friend who loves gardening.
So, let me review the basic gardening tools you may have or need. Also, I’ll introduce you to a few tools that you may want to add to your gardening equipment just for the fun of it.
First, the basics:
There are tools that even the occasional gardener wants to have on hand. Whether you’re looking after pretty tomatoes and geraniums in colorful pots on your deck or keeping up with flower beds of daisies, roses, and forsythia, you will need:
1. Gardening gloves:
Canvas or leather. Try to find a pair with reinforced fingertips and thumbs. Also, choose gloves that come up over the wrists—protection from thorns and twigs. If you’re buying them as a gift, gardening gloves are usually designated as “small,” “medium,” or “large.” If you’re buying canvas, go a bit large. For leather, you’ll want to choose a pair that fit fairly snuggly; otherwise, leather gloves can interfere with dexterity.
2. Hand trowel:
A trowel is a small, narrow shovel-like tool. The narrow version, with a 1–2” wide blade, is great for planting bulbs; the wider trowel, 3–4,” is handy for general digging and planting in the flower beds. In either case, choose steel with a rubber-coated handle designed for steady gripping.
3. Bypass pruners, also called secateurs:
Short bladed clippers that are handy for trimming among flowers and shrubs. Hardened steel is used for the best secateurs; they’re easier to sharpen and hold their edge. Usually, you can buy right or left-handed versions.
4. Watering can:
Choose a 1–2-gallon watering can unless you’ve been really faithful at your gym workouts! One gallon of water weighs over eight pounds! Heavy plastic or galvanized steel will give you a can that lasts through one season, at least. Be sure the watering can you choose has a detachable “rose.” That’s the piece you can add to the spout that allows the water to spray rather than pour out.
5. Spray bottle, also called a mister:
Usually of plastic, choose a mister that is clear so it’s easy to see how much and what type of water (fertilized or unfertilized) you’re using.
6. Anvil pruners are another type of secateur:
Moving up from the bypass pruners that work like scissors, this tool is for cutting off small branches and makes a clean slice, similar to a knife blade. Look for a sturdy pair with replaceable or easily sharpened blades. Anvil pruners can be bought for right or left hands.
7. Loppers:
These long handled (18–24”) pruners can trim off 1–2” diameter branches. The length of the handles provides the strength of the cutting blades.
8. Shovel:
Rather than buy a spade, with a rectangular blade, I prefer a shovel’s curved blade that comes to a point making it easier to penetrate hard-packed soil. A sturdy shovel will have a blade of forged steel with 44–48” handle of fiberglass or wood.
9. Cultivator:
You’ve probably seen these spikey tools—long handles with 6–8 barbed wheels that move independent of each other. Here again, be sure to choose a tool that’s got a sturdy handle and securely attached spikey blades. Remember, you’re going to run this thing over the hard-packed ground to break it up and allow air and water to get below the surface.
10. Wheelbarrow:
Old or new, big or small, a wheelbarrow is a cherished companion to a happy gardener. You’ll choose the size and character (and there are many types, indeed) based on your requirements. Narrow paths? Small open spaces? No space to store your wheelbarrow? Whatever characteristics matter most, your 3-wheeled companion will be the first thing you’ll drag out in the spring, and the last thing you’ll put away in the fall.
And now, for a bit of the fun stuff:
Here are some tools, aka “toys,” that you may want to consider purchasing.
1. Automatic lawn mower:
Even if you have a lawn service, there are those scraggly areas that seem to reassert themselves the moment the mowers drive away! These automatic mowers are similar to automatic vacuums. They’ll wander around the lawn, clipping down overgrown areas. There’s even a model available that looks like a sexy, little, Italian sports car!
2. Plant moisture alarm:
Something a bit less grand but equally handy is a gadget you can stick in the pots of your favorite plants. It will indicate the moisture content of the soil and let you know if it’s time to water. There’s one called “Flowering App” that lets you put a device in each pot, then notifies you on your cell phone when a particular plant needs a drink. (“Ficus calling!”)
3. Low-glow, HD outdoor camera:
Here’s a gadget I certainly covet. It’s a camera activated by movement, that can capture in the dark images of the wild things that visit your garden—deer, raccoons, cats, and dogs.
Whichever tools you find indispensable in your garden, I’m sure you’re oiling, sharpening, and organizing them now for the busy spring gardening season about to get underway. Let the fun begin!
