Choosing Basic Gardening Tools

Gardening is both rewarding and relaxing, seeing your greenery, flowers, and foliage grow each day. Having the right gardening tools is important to ensure a pleasurable and easy experience when tending your garden. There are tools for almost any garden project; bulb dibbers, dandelion poppers, loppers, and pruning saws.  Make sure to have the essential gardening tools first. Some basic tools that every home gardener should have in their shed are:   

1. Spade- Used for removal, digging, or breaking up the soil, spades have a sharp metal tip.
2. Garden hoe- This tool has a lot of uses that include weed removal and working up the soil around your plants.
3. Rake- A garden tool with long handles attaching toothed bars, used in weeding, loosening, and leveling the soil.
4. Pruning shears- For trimming the thick branches of rose bushes, shrubs, or small trees. A parrot-beak shaped pruning shears will trap branches, which makes for easier cutting.          
5. Trowel- This gardening tool has a scoop shaped metal blade with a short handle and used to break lumps of soil and to dig small holes.
6. Watering can- Select a watering can with a long nozzle, it allows the water to flow out gently and reaches a long distance.          
7. Wheelbarrow- A small vehicle with one wheel and operated by hand that is very useful in moving plants, soil, pots, equipment, and anything too bulky or heavy to move.   
8. Shovel- Choose a shovel rounded on the end for big projects like planting trees and shrubs.
9. Digging fork- A spading or digging fork should be one of the first tools to purchase. It is similar to a pitchfork but much shorter and useful for breaking up soil before planting.
10. Tool caddy- Tool caddies are handy to use for toting tools and seeds, usually canvas, and fits over a 5 gallon container.

When purchasing gardening tools, check for balanced, comfortable weight so it won’t tire you easily. You can find a wide variety of tools at nurseries, hardware sores, department stores, or you can shop for them on the internet. If on a tight budget, you may want to pick up used ones at rummage sales or estate auctions.