Essential Gardening Tools for the Garden

Every gardener needs good quality gardening tools, although the amount and type of tools will vary depending on your garden space. Below is a list of gardening tools which are most commonly used in gardens around Australia.

PRUNING AND TRIMMING TOOLS:
Secateurs, saws and loppers are three essential tools to make pruning and trimming easier.

• Secateurs are great for pruning small woody plants, usually up to 20mm thick.
• Loppers are essentially long handled secateurs and they are perfect for those small woody branches that are just out of reach for the secateurs. Make sure you choose a lightweight lopper because the heavier ones will make pruning that little more tiring.
• Saws can cut almost anything secateurs and loppers cant. Be sure to choose a sharp saw and always clean and store in its case after each use, this will help maintain a sharp blade.
• Scissors are also essential to the garden and you will be surprised how often you will need them. Scissors can be used to harvest herbs, open fertiliser bags, cut twine etc.

MOVING TOOLS:
Moving tools are things like shovels, rakes and brooms.

• Shovels are mainly used to move soil, sand and gravel. A long handled shovel is great for moving larger loads of material. When choosing a shovel pay attention to the wooden grain. By sure to purchase one with the wood grain running lengthways, if the grain runs horizontally the handle is weak and can snap under pressure.
• Metal rakes are good for smoothing soil and they will last a long time, a plastic splayed rake is great for raking up things like leaves.
• To reduce the amount of time and effort it takes to sweep up once you are finished, select a wide, stiff bristled broom.
• A wheelbarrow or even just a garden bucket is handy to have. You can put your cut branches, weeds, and rubbish in it or even move soil.

DIGGING TOOLS:
Shovels, forks and hoes are perfect tools to use when digging in the garden.

• A shovel is most definitely an essential to any garden. It is not only great at digging soil it can be used to mix nutrients into the soil, slice through thick/heavy soil, levering out plants and digging holes. Try a spade with a sharp, straight edge for tasks such as edging your garden beds and digging trenches. 
• Forks do a good job at breaking up compacted soil, they are also great for turning over compost and aerating lawns.
• Hoes have been used for thousands of years and are primarily used as a weeding tool. They are very useful in large garden beds and for harvesting root crops like potatoes.
• It is also great to have a trowel with a strong blade that doesn’t bend with pressure. They are great for digging small holes and for working with pot plants.

Of course there are other tools out there that may make gardening a little easier for you. Hopefully this information will help you work out what will work best in your garden. If you are still unsure, head down to your local garden centre and have a chat with them.