Essential Gardening Tools
Acquiring your first property with a garden may be a little daunting but there really is nothing to worry about. All it takes to keep your garden tidy and beautiful is a little effort, a little time and a few essential gardening tools. Don’t rush off to the hardware store until you’ve read this article – you could end up spending much more money than you really need to.
1. A pair of scissors is the first thing you’ll need – they don’t have to be anything fancy. An ordinary pair of kitchen scissors may do the trick but “real gardeners” have a pair of scissors in their pocket at all times. They are great for snipping herbs, dead heading flowers, harvesting smaller vegetables, cutting string, opening compost bags – don’t forget your scissors.
2. A water hose with a wand – gardens need plenty of water during those long, hot summers so it is essential that you can water your garden easily and quickly whilst wasting the minimum amount of water. A water hose with a wand, a trigger type fitting – means that you don’t waste valuable water between plants and you don’t have to keep dashing back to turn the water on and off when you’re doing something else. You can turn the water on and off in an instant – many of them have a variety of spray actions too which is handy.
3. A shovel – essential for digging and turning over the soil. You need a shovel with a narrow, long blade for digging holes although something like a snow shovel is great for scooping debris, spreading mulch and spreading out the top dressing.
4. A rake – rakes are not one size fits all, there are many different rakes which are all perfect for their respective jobs. Think about the type of garden you have. A fan rake is fantastic for raking up the leaves from the law, a smaller shrub rake can do the job in the borders around the shrubs and trees and a hard rake is brilliant for smoothing out soil whilst blending it in with the rest of the garden bed.
5. Pruning shears – just like the rakes and the shovels there are lots of different types of pruning shears so the type you choose depends upon your garden and the plants you have which may need to be pruned from time to time. Small, lightweight shears with sharp blades are good “all round” pruning shears great for trimming back bushes and hedges, longer handled edging shears have smaller blades and are ideal for edging the lawn. Think about what you will actually use them for before deciding on what type you need.
6. A soil knife – is another essential gardening tool which many gardeners could not manage without. Soil knives can be used for many different things including transplanting, cutting through roots, slicing through sods, dividing perennials – a soil knife can tackle many garden tasks.
This selection of just a few essential gardening tools can help to make your life much easier in the garden which in turn will encourage you to spend more time in the garden and help your garden to be a truly beautiful place.
