When buying landscaping equipment, it’s simple to overspend. Although they might be expensive and take up a lot of room, concentrating on the essentials can prevent your shed or storage area from being overcrowded. There will always be larger and better, but investing in the highest-quality tools your budget will allow and keeping them in good working order can help you get the most return on your money.
Gloves
Even while gardening can be a beautiful activity, it can quickly become a difficult task if you don’t have the correct set of gloves. When handling seeds or transplanting seedlings, gloves should be strong but not overly cumbersome. Fit is crucial since ill-fitting gloves can lead to mishaps from falling off or blistering.
Hands will stay cool and comfortable if the fabric is both water resistant and breathable. Longer cuffs prevent soil from entering while shielding the wrists and forearms from abrasion.
Gloves should be kept out of direct sunlight, away from moisture, and insect-free. Foxgloves is suggested by botanical photographer Ellen Hoverkamp. They are constructed from a form-fitting, water-resistant, high-tech sport fabric.
Shears
Hand pruners, commonly known as secateurs, aid in containing out-of-control and invasive plants. Similar to a knife on a board, anvil-style pruners make cuts by bringing a sharp blade into contact with a flat surface. With a sharp blade gliding past a flat, sharply edged surface, bypass pruners cut more like scissors. Anvil pruners work best on dead wood but can damage young, green stems and branches by crushing them.
For live plants and green timber, bypass pruners are preferable. Pruners should comfortably fit in your hand’s palm. Ratcheting pruners have more cutting power, making them ideal for people with arthritis or weak hands. Pruners need to be sharpened frequently for cleaner cuts and less damage to plants.
Loppers
Loppers, another cutting device, are essentially long-handled pruners used to cut thicker branches and trim difficult-to-reach regions. The lengthy handles provide you the leverage you need to cut through branches with a diameter of at least an inch. Similar to pruners, there are anvil and bypass types. Typically, handles are between 16 and 36 inches long.
Compared to anvil style, bypass loppers offer more precise cut placement.
Lops with longer handles can be quite hefty. Get the right length by being aware of what you’ll be cutting and how far you’ll need to reach. Handles made of light aluminum or carbon composite might be more lightweight.
Keep lopper blades sharp and in good condition, much like you would pruners.
Gardening expert Habibur Rahman advises Tabor Tools’ GG12 Anvil Lopper for anvil-style loppers. It is ideal for dry or woody growth and can chop branches up to 2 inches in diameter. Cutting is simple since the carbon steel blade maintains its edge.
Kitchen Fork
Garden forks are a useful tool for turning soil and may dig deeper into compacted soil than a shovel.
Similar to a pitchfork, forks with a little spine curvature are helpful for turning compost piles and scooping mulch.
Digging is improved by straight tines; they work best in compacted, rocky, or clay soil. In contrast to flat tines, which can bend when they contact a rock or root, square tines are more durable.
Vincenzo De Luca, a landscape architect, suggests the Radius Garden 203 Pro Ergonomic Steel Digging Fork. The ergonomic handle has a non-slip grip, and the square stainless steel tines resist rusting.
Spade
These square shovels with short handles are powerhouses in the garden. They are adept at moving small dirt mounds from one location to another, edging, lifting sod, and digging holes for plants. Even though this instrument can be more expensive, a decent spade will serve you for the remainder of your gardening career.
When you need an extra push, the treads on top of the blade provide a firmer and more pleasant foot surface.
Handles made of ash hardwood are strong and dampen vibration.
Typically offered with either long or short handles. Longer handles are heavier but offer more leverage. Strong and resistant to rust are stainless steel heads.
The King of Spades Model 38 Balling Spade is advised by William Cullina, executive director of the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens.
Water Wand
Use a water-breaking wand to gently pour down water on your plants. Reaching awkward containers, hanging plants, or the back margins of borders is made easier by the longer reach. The lengths of watering wands range from 10 to 48 inches.
For high hanging baskets, choose a length that is longer; for smaller settings, use a length that is shorter.
Water is conserved and the flow can be changed thanks to built-in shut-off valves in the handle. Jeanne Kelley, a recipe author and kitchen gardener, suggests the Dramm One-Touch Rain Wand. You can reach into hanging baskets and under the foliage of delicate plants thanks to the angled arm. With simply the thumb, the valve is easily slideable.
Wheelbarrow
A wheelbarrow may assist you move hundreds of pounds if your backyard needs extra dirt moved, compost or mulch added to plant beds, or any other heavy lifting and moving operation!
Heavy or irregularly distributed loads might make it more difficult to balance traditional dual-handle, single wheel versions. Two-wheel variants with a single handle are simpler to balance, suitable for weaker people or when pulling over uneven ground. Wheelbarrows with a single handle can be propelled or drawn by one hand. To avoid rust, keep everything dry and clean in storage. Maintain correct tire pressure to make wheeling easier.
The Marathon Dual-Wheel Yard Rover is suggested by our editors. Its overall weight is only 29 pounds, which is 25% less than a typical wheelbarrow.
Hand Rake
Trowels are an essential hand tool that are great for weeding, planting pots, transplanting herbs and bedding plants, and removing weeds.
Choose a long, narrow blade to dig out weeds or for rough soil and a broad blade to move more soil.
Your hands should have no trouble holding the handle.
The durability and lifespan of trowels that are made of stainless steel, or at least have a stainless steel head, is increased.
Additionally, Schmidt advises using the Garrett Wade Tulip Trowel. It’s perfect for planting bulbs or around trees because its sharp blades easily cut through tough roots.
Hats
Summer gardening can be challenging since your skin is exposed to the sun’s damaging rays. However, by donning a gardening hat, you may protect yourself and work at the same time. To prevent sun damage to your skin, they are often made with a wide brim and UPF 50 fabric. The top gardening hats that can be used for other outdoor activities have been narrowed down by our team.
Garden expert Jean Bloom advises that the perfect garden hat should snugly fit your head so that it is both functional and comfy. In order to avoid heat entrapment, it should also be portable and well-ventilated. The most important quality to look for in a gardening hat is a wide brim because it provides the most sun protection
