Creating and maintaining a beautiful lawn and garden is easy when you have the right tools for the job. That’s why I created the ultimate guide to the 15 essential gardening tools and their uses. So whether you’re a newbie gardener or an experienced landscaper, read on to find out which tools you absolutely must own to create a lawn and garden that will be the envy of all your neighbors.
1. Hand Trowel
The hand trowel is a precision digging tool ideally suited for working in small spaces, like planters, pots, and raised beds. It’s perfect for digging holes for plants, flowers, and vegetables. It’s also great for transplanting, weeding, and mixing spoil.
2. Digging Shovel
The iconic digging shovel is like a hand trowel on steroids. It’s main purpose is for digging, lifting, and throwing soil. Perfect for planting everything from small perennials to large shrubs and trees. Don’t forget to use a digging shovel for mixing compost and potting soils.
3. Lawn Mower
Lawn mowers keep your yard clean, tidy, and looking great. They’re also great for making amazing compost for your flower beds and garden. I’ve used this Greenworks electric mower for two seasons now. And to be honest, it’s far and away the best mower I’ve ever owned. It’s easy to use, cuts grass to the perfect height, and requires no gasoline. Definitely worth it’s weight in gold.
Greenworks Electric Mower with Battery and Charger- $267
4. Pruning Shears
Here is another one of the most essential gardening tools to add to your arsenal. Pruning shears are designed from the ground up to cut thick stems and small branches with ease. They’re also great for cutting down plants for a compost pile, as well as harvesting herbs, fruits, and vegetables.
5. Hori Hori (Soil Knife)
The Japanese hori hori, also known as a soil knife, is the original “jack of all trades” gardening tool. It’s a trowel, knife, saw, and measuring device all in one. Perfect for planting, weeding, cutting sod, severing roots, and dividing perennials. You can even take it camping because it’s great for digging in hard packed dirt and prying up rocks from under your tent.
6. Hose & Spray Nozzle
Keeping your lawn and garden healthy and beautiful requires water. Lots of water. If you’re an urban gardener, you may be able to get by with a watering can. But if you have a yard or even a small garden, you definitely need a garden hose. I highly recommend this light-weight pocket hose with spray nozzle. It’s super easy to maneuver and provides the perfect amount of water pressure.
Expanding Hose with Nozzle – $29
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7. Pruning Saw
The iconic pruning saw is the tool you need when you have branches that are too thick for your pruning shears. This Corona pruning saw cuts through shrubs and branches up to 8 inches thick like a hot knife through butter. It’s the gardening tool you may have never thought you needed, but you do.
8. Hand Cultivator
The hand cultivator is a clever gardening tool designed to break up soil prior to planting. You can also use a hand cultivator to aerate soil around plants and flowers, as well as to remove weeds while tilling the ground.
9. Leaf Blower
This Greenworks leaf blower pairs perfectly with the Greenworks lawn mower. That’s because they both use the same battery and charger. So for only $47, it’s one heck of a deal given all the projects you can do around the home and garden with a leaf blower. I’ve found that not only is it ideal for cleaning up leaves in a snap, it works like magic for cleaning out my garage, driveway, sidewalk, and even my gutters. It’s a real time saver.
Greenworks Electric Leaf Blower with Battery and Charger- $109 or without Battery and Charger- $47
10. Sprinkler
A good old-fashioned oscillating sprinker is the most trusted “set it and forget it” gardening tool. It’s simply the easiest way to keep your lawn and garden well hydrated during those scorching hot summer months. Just hook it up to a hose, set the dial to cover the size of your lawn or garden, and let the sprinkler do all of the hard work for you. Plus, it’s super fun for the kids in the summer too.
11. Bow Rake
The bow rake makes our list of essential gardening tools for good reason. This rake has rigid steel tines that make it an absolute lifesaver for cultivating and prepping soil in your vegetable garden. It’s also great for spreading mulch, compost, and gravel, as well as leveling soil before seeding your lawn.
12. Hedge Shears
Hedge shears are essentially giant scissors. And a good pair of hedge shears are just what the doctor ordered for shaping and trimming shrubs, hedges, and bushes. They’re also super helpful for cutting back perennials and “deadheading” flowering plants.
13. Hand Rake
The hand rake is a pint-size rake made of soft flexible metal that allows you to gently remove unwanted debris without disturbing your soil or mulch. It’s a truly indispensable tool for removing leaves and other materials from grass, garden beds, planters, and hard to reach places around trees and shrubs.
14. String Trimmer
The string trimmer, otherwise know as a “weed wacker,” is designed to slice through weeds and grass in very tight spaces. You can also use it as an edger to give you lawn a beautiful, finished look. I highly recommend this Greenworks string trimmer to go along with your Greenworks mower and leaf blower. The perfect trifecta of electric gardening tools.
Greenworks Electric String Trimmer with Battery and Charger- $124 or without Battery and Charger- $52
15. Digging Fork
Trying to loosen rocky or hard packed soil can be a real nightmare if you don’t have a digging fork. It even works well in existing garden beds when you want to mix in soil amendments or break up clumps of soil and plants. You can also use a digging fork to mix compost and aerate soil.
Related: 15 Essential Painting Supplies And Tools For The Home
Final Thoughts
It’s never been easier to build and maintain the lawn and garden of your dreams. With a little patience, practice, and these 15 essential gardening tools, you’ll soon have the greenest lawn and most beautiful garden in the neighborhood.
All the best,
JD
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