Hand Garden Tools
Are you a gardener? I know I certainly am. Or do you like to dabble in the garden and leave the heavy stuff to someone else? Either way, I know that you have a favorite Hand Garden Tool or three that you like to use.
I’ll start off with my favorite tools that I could not live without:
Hand Bypass Pruner - This is one of my most used pruning tools. They are perfect for pruning out some of the smaller twigs inside a shrub. I even use them to cutting flowers and snipping off the end of the thorns of roses I pick. However, I don’t use them to prune the large canes of the roses. One of my top “must have” garden tools.
Bypass Loppers are what I use to prune my roses and larger branches. The reach is pretty good, and I can avoid the thorns. They get used carefully with the very thorny barberry, however, and I am usually tempted to pay someone to do that job. The benefit of the loppers Is the long handle and the ability to do more forceful cuts. Of course, the control is not as good as with the hand pruners.
Garden Snippers -- These are a great pruning tool for those very tiny places that you can’t get to with an ordinary pruning tool. I don’t use mine often, but I am certainly glad I have one. They are also good for cutting flowers.
Garden Trowel -- This is my prime digging tool. I use it for digging weeds, planting bulbs and just cultivating a small patch of soil, measuring out small amounts of potting soil and a lot of other tasks. This is also one of my top “must have” tools.
Bulb Digger -- This round little tool is great for digging holes for bulbs. You just shove it in, pull out a plug of dirt, plant your bulbs and release the dirt back into the planting hole. And you are done. They come in a long handle variety also so you don’t need to be on your knees to do the job. This is a tool which is also good for taking a plug out of a perennial which needs division. I use them on my hostas.
Long Handle Bulb Diggers make the job easy if you want to work standing.
Garden Knife -- If you have deep rooted weeds, this tool can help you get down to the roots. It is good for doing a lot of other digging tasks as well.
Hand Weeder -- This tool with a tong at the end of it is really one of the weeding tools on my wish list. They would be great for hand digging deep rooted weeds like dandilions. There are also other weeders with a hook that cuts under the weed which are also effective.
Long Handle Weeder -- There are an assortment of long handled tools that you can use standing up to either pluck weeds out or cut under the roots. My favorite is the wing weeder which you can use to scuffle in both directions.
Garden Gloves -- This is one of the “must haves” Even if you like to get your hands dirty, you sure don’t want to prune roses without them. In fact high top rose pruning gloves would be the thing here. There are lots of other different kinds of garden gloves. We have lots of kifferent gloves. I have light weight summer gloves, some heavier ones, warm winter gloves and some leather rose gloves. And I hate dirt under my fingernails.
Garden Spades -- This is my favorite shovel. Mine is narrow with a rounded tip and can dig fairl deeply. It is very easy to work with. This is definitely one of my “must have” digging tools.
Garden Shovel -- I have several different shovels. Aside from my spade, my favorite shovel is a small one which I can use for getting into narrow spaces and for those small digging jobs.
Garden Fork -- I could not live without my Pitchfork or Gaden Fork. This is perfect for loosening up the soil. I use it for more digging jobs than anything else. It loosens up the soil without harming the soil structure. I can slip a large plant out of the ground by making digs into the ground from four sides and then just slip the plant out of the ground. I may never need a shovel. A real “must have” tool for me.
Garden Rakes -- Of course, you use them to rake up your garden. Just be careful not to pull up the things you want to leave. This is perfect for leveling out a bed when you are getting it ready for planting.
Collapsible Rake -- My favorite rake for light jobs is the collapsible rake which has very light tines and is perfect for delicate raking. Both the handle and space between the tines are adjustible.
Other good hand tools to have:
Garden Hedge Shears -- These are very useful for doing shaping pruning on shrubs. You can prune to the shape you want and then go back and make thinning cuts as you need to.
Garden Hoe -- Everyone needs a good garden hoe for chopping up dirt clods, cultivating, and digging a small furrow for planting seeds.
Hand Pruning Saw -- This handy saw us useful to prune larger branches than your loppers or hand pruners will handle.
Hand Cultivators -- You may also find these small bent fork hand cultivators useful for cultivating a small patch of earth.
Other useful garden equipment:
Soil Thermometer -- This lets you know what the temperature of your soil is so that you can determine whether to plant certain types of seeds or evaluate other soil conditions.
Remay Garden Fabric or Floating Row Covers - This lightweight cloth is perfect for covering your planting beds and helping to protect tender plants from cold, insects and disease.
Collapsible Garden Bags -- Great to have by you to pitch clippings, and other yard waste which can easily be carried away.
Wall O Water -- just fill these plastic walls up with water and set them up around your young plants in spring. The water absorbs heat and helps keep the plants warm. Make sure there is adequate ventillation so that the plants don’t get too hot and so that disease doesn’t have a chance to get started.
Plant Supports -- There are all kinds here. Consider what kind of support your plant needs. Is it a trellis, a tomato cage, or other. What is going to work for the job you want to do.
Sharpening Hand Pruners
These are just some of the hand tools available. There are many others. Remember to consider what you need the tool for, what is your own body size and the quality of the tool before selecting them. You want a tool that is going to do the job and last, not just one that hangs on a peg in the garage. Of course, if it is a handy tool, you may want more than one of them for different parts of the garden and for other people in your family who like to garden too.
Happy Gardening!
Don’t forget to keep your tools sharp.
Also, remember to clean your garden tools before you move on to working on another plant. This prevents the spread of plant diseases.
If you need advice on your particular gardening needs, Master Gardeners or your Extension Agent can advise you.