Most Essential Gardening Tools for Beginners

If you are a gardening newbie, it is easy to get overboard when purchasing your first set of gardening tools and besides the essentials also spend your money on a bunch of things you don’t need. However, besides the fact you don’t need all the gardening tools in the world, they also tend to be pretty expensive and they take up a lot of space, which means that selecting only what you actually need and will use is important. Professionals recommend buying only the most essential and best gardening tools that your budget allows. In order to help you learn more about the different gardening tools and select a basic kit of essentials, here is a list of some of the most popular and widely used gardening tools for beginners and enthusiasts.

Gloves

First things first, the first point in our list is actually not a tool, but an accessory that provides every gardening enthusiast with comfort and safety while working. Choose a pair of gloves that are durable enough, but not too bulky as it will not be that easy to move around and do your job if they are too bulky. You need to make sure that the gloves fit you perfectly. If the fit and size are not the right, you risk ending up with blisters or hurting yourself if the gloves suddenly slip off. Make sure your gloves are made from a material that is water-resistant, but still breathable for extra comfort. In order to protect your wrists and arms too, you can opt for longer cuffs.

Pruning Shears

You can find them as hand pruners or secateurs. No matter how you call them, they are designed to help you reign in plants that are taking over and you need to bring them back under your control. Anvil-style pruners work similarly to a knife on a board, which means that the sharp blade is meeting with a flat surface. Bypass pruners are designed similarly to scissors where a sharp blade is passing by a sharp-edged flat surface. The best tool to use when you want to remove dead wood is anvil pruners. If you use them for fresh green steams and branches, there is a high risk of crushing them. Instead, for live plants choose bypass pruners. Choose pruners by making sure they easily fit into your hand and are easy and convenient to use. Make sure to maintain and sharpen your pruners regularly in order to make sure they are making cleaner cuts that cause less or no injuries to the plants.

Loppers

Loppers are yet another cutting tool you need for gardening. Loppers are pretty much pruners with long handles and they are mainly used when you want to trim all these hard-to-reach areas and corners, as well as cut thicker branches. Just like with pruners, loppers also come in anvil and bypass styles and they are used for the same jobs as pruners. Keep in mind that loppers are pretty heavy, so make sure you are able to work with them before you invest in a pair. If the lopper models you are considering are too heavy, make sure to check for loppers with aluminium or carbon-composite handles that are lighter.

Garden Fork

A Garden fork is one of the most helpful tools you will use around the garden, it is used for turning soil and digging into dense soil when a spade cannot do the job. You can opt for a garden fork with a slight curve to the spines when you need a tool for scooping mulch and turning compost piles. If you need a tool for digging, choose a garden fork with straight tines. Square tine forks are suitable for dense soil as they are stronger than straight tine forks and will not bend when hitting a rock or a dense plant root.

Hand Trowel

Hand trowels are mostly used for transporting bedding plants and herbs, planting containers and for taking out weeds. For removing more soil you need a hand trowel with a broad blade. On the contrary, a long and narrow blade is more suitable for digging up weeds or for rocky soil. When choosing a hand trowel to buy, make sure the handle fits comfortably in your hand. Choose a stainless steel trowel that is more durable and long-lasting.

Spade

Spades are a type of hand trowels. Alternatively to the classic trowels, spades come with shorter handles and a square shape. Spades are used for digging holes for plants and herbs, edging, lifting sod, also moving small amounts of dirt from one place to another. Spades tend to be a bit more expensive, however, they are a very universal and helpful tool and you definitely want to consider them. In addition, spades are very durable and long-lasting. In order to make sure the tool feels sturdier and more comfortable, make sure to choose a design with treads on top of the blade. Choose spades with ash hardwood handles as they are more durable and absorb shock and vibration. You can choose from a variety of models with longer and with shorter handles available on the market. Heads from stainless steel are stronger and more durable and also won’t rust over time.