Every gardener has a different list of necessary and favorite tools, and surprisingly lively discussions ensue when the topic comes up at local gardening groups. Here's my list.
Digging fork. I don't use it every day, but a digging fork is the best tool when I need to loosen soil before planting or transplanting or to create raised beds. I often use it in place of a manure fork for moving mulch and turning compost because I prefer the D-shaped handle. The best digging forks have tines with a square cross-section.
I love weeding, but since I mulch my garden, I don't get much chance to weed. A digging fork is one of my favorite tools for digging up weeds (only during the wet season) in other people's gardens, but I broke a digging fork by (mis)using it as a lever to remove some blackberry roots. A crowbar or prybar, or a mattock, would be a better choice for dislodging woody roots.
Hori-hori. Also called a Japanese weeding knife, this tool looks like a cross between a trowel and a knife, with a broad, thick blade that has one coarsely serrated edge. It's a general-purpose tool for planting and dividing, as well as my favorite hand-weeding tool. For heavy-duty or repetitive tasks, well-made tools are a pleasure to use.
For light use, inexpensive rustproof trowels are a good alternative. I leave them scattered around the garden where they're close at hand for digging up and potting the odd volunteer or spreading compost.
Bypass pruners. The crescent-shaped blade makes clean cuts in live plant material. For everyday tasks such as light pruning or chopping up materials for compost, as well as aesthetic pruning, my most important criteria are light weight and a good fit for my hands. Ideally, pruners should be sharpened regularly with a file.
Warning: stay away from pruning tools unless you've taken classes, read books, and know what you're doing. If it were up to me, I'd require a pruning license for pruners, loppers, and pruning saws. Bad pruning has inspired an organization called Plant Amnesty.
Garden snips. The thin, tapered tip of this lightweight tool enables me to make precise cuts and maneuver in spaces where bypass pruners can't. Garden snips are my favorite tool for deadheading and seed collecting, as well as harvesting.
I tried kitchen shears when my first pair of garden snips broke, but they lacked the precision and control of garden snips, and the looped handles were hard to use with garden gloves.
Garden gloves. The gloves that stay on my hands the most are thin rubber-covered cotton or nitrile gloves sized to fit my hands. Gloves should fit like a glove, so avoid generic one-size-fits-all gloves unless they happen to fit your hands. Gloves are a necessity when handling compost or doing any pruning, and they make other tools easier to use because they enable you to grip the tool more firmly.
Finally, keep an eye out for unlikely tools that can simplify your tasks. Much as I like good tools, I found a $2 garden rake hard to resist, and I wasn't surprised when it broke within a month, leaving me with a 4-foot garden stake and a small hand tool. I was surprised that the sturdy metal rake, without the wooden handle, has since become one of my most-used hand tools! It's the ideal size for gently breaking up clumps before sifting compost. I also use it for raking mulch aside in a single stroke before I add new plants or plant seeds in a section of a raised bed.
© 2007 Tanya Kucak