You can get started with gardening by the sun, good seeds, and good soil. You don’t have to spend big bucks on equipment when you are doing very small gardening work. However, if you are a hobbyist and planning to get started with a larger yard, then you might want to have a bunch of tools which will make the entire process smooth and enjoyable.
In this article, we have listed 35 best essential gardening tools for your gardening and it includes both manual and electric tools. This is going to be a long article, and you can sit with snacks if you want.
Hope you will enjoy it, cheers!
35 Essential Gardening Tools for your Gardening
1. Weeder
Everyone wants to get rid of overgrown weeds since they make a yard look like a hay garden and using harmful chemicals is not an effective way. The chemical can clearly knock out the growth of weeds but along with that, it will damage the soil as well. And that will result in less effective growth on your other plants.
So the weeder is the best solution. They are just a small lightweight fork headed hand tools with which you can nicely dig and remove the weeds from the roots. Weeders allows you to remove any plants from your yard entirely. That being said, it is a time-consuming process.
2. Gardening Scissors
Scissors are an essential tool, not only in gardening, in our everyday life scissors helps us in many ways. In kitchens especially! Scissors are highly versatile and can help is wide varieties of work. However, they work equally well for gardening as well. From opening seed packets to doing delicate pruning works to pinching, the scissor will sort out everything.
Even, you can use that for digging work as well when a weeder or anything is not available near you! However, try to pick a scissor that is durable and made of top-notch materials.
3. Soil knife
This is another highly versatile tool that you rarely see. Actually, few gardeners are aware of the use of it. Looks similar to the knives. Soil knives came from Japanese origin and are called as Hori Hori in japan. Hori Hori or soil knives are ideal for a lot of tasks. Any task that includes cutting and digging, soil knife will be there to help.
Soil knives come with a serrated blade which has a sharp cutting edge on both side and the top point is also pretty sharp. So be very careful when you handle it and obviously, keep it 1000 miles away from children’s.
4. Hand Trowel
If you have been into gardening for a long time now, then you might know about hand trowels. They are just another piece of versatile tool that will work to make your gardening little more sorted. A hand trowel will help you in digging areas for flowers and plants. Plus, they will help you refilling those holes as well when you are done with planting.
If you have a small number of overgrown weeds on your yard, with a hard trowel you will be able to remove that too. There is a lot you can do with this tool. As for me, I have used it for edging as well, I am not joking. However, there are better tools for all these tasks but with a hand trowel, you can do it pretty nicely.
5. Pruning Shears
Pruning shears are a little bit like scissors but they are made for more heavy-duty tasks. I have a cherry tree in my garden which looks great. But the problem is in every spring and winter the branches of it sprouts all over the area, which doesn’t look nice. So what is do is, I have a pruning shear ready in my garage and it is ready to jump into action whenever I want.
I simply cut all the overgrown branches. But it is important to tell you that, shears can get dull fast, so if you don’t want to get frustrated trying to cut a small tree by pruning shear then it would be wise to sharpen your shears every spring.
6. Water hose
What comes after you have planted all the plants? Obviously watering it, right? Watering a garden yard with a bucket is a very unwise thing. Doing that requires both good time and good energy. Water hose is the solution. Just attach one end to the water outlet and use another hand to water your garden. Not only in gardening, but a good water hose will also help you in many ways.
You can clean vehicles with a water hose, you will be able to clean your house, you can clean the patio, lawn, fence, and I enjoy showering with my children’s outside holding the water hose. Water hoses are all in one thing.
7. Sprinkler
This is another great tool and what it does is watering like a hose but in a different way. In water sprinkler, you don’t have to water the garden by yourself. You just place sprinkler and it will keep sprinkling water all around it until you turn that off. One sprinkler might not cover a large yard, so you have to a couple of sprinklers to cover the entire yard.
8. Digging shovel curved blade
A digging shovel is a multi-purpose tool as well and is a mandatory tool for every serious gardener. Whoever wants a clean beautiful garden must have a digging shovel. There are many duties that a shovel can do. It can be used in planting trees, and large shrubs. You can use it for loosening up the soil so that you can have a clean even ground before you start planting.
9. Flat digging shovel
The curve shovel does most of the work but that being said, that is not enough. There are a few works which curved shovel can’t do. When you are about to transfer a section of grass to a new plot then curve shovel is needed. And when you have dug off a plot, it will require edging which can’t be done by a curved shovel. For little trimming and edging you will need a flat shovel.
10. Leaf rakes
If your garden has few big trees, then once or twice in every year the yard gets covered by the leaves, I am pretty sure that happens. Most newbies use small brushes that they use in the home, to gather all the leaves. But to be honest, doing that with a small brush is so frustrating and consumes a lot of time. And that is exactly where leaf rakes strike.
Leaf rakes are the best tool for removing or gathering leaves. These tools are typically made of bristle soft flexible metal and some are made of plastic material. The soft tool will allow you to rake your entire yard effortlessly. The main reason for using a leaf rake is when you rake the yard only leaves will stick and come with it, the soil will remain in its place.
There are leaf rake models which comes with adjustable head and can be adjusted to 7-inch to 22-inch. And this makes these tools extremely versatile.
11. Garden Rake
Garden rake and the leaf rake is not the same thing and both of these works in different ways. With the leaf rake you will only be able to remove the leaves but what if you have to remove the soil? A leaf rake is not going to work on that and you will need a garden rake for that. Garden rakes are flat blade which is way too much sturdier than the leaf rakes. The sturdiness allows it to break through the soil easily.
12. Pruning Saw
When you hear saw the thing that crossed your mind is probably a big wood cutting saw that you normally see. But pruning saw is no like that, they are smaller than the commercial wood cutting saws. Having a good quality pruning saw is mandatory for serious gardeners, they will save some of your time and will get the job done too.
These saws come into play when you have overgrown branches sprouting and making the tree look bad or blocking other plants way, and you need to get rid of them! With the pruning saw you can effortlessly cut off unnecessary branches. If you have a thicker and large tree, then you might be going to need saw with more cutting power. Small chainsaws can do the work but they could be more expensive than the pruning saws.
However, you will find dozens of pruning saw models in the market but make sure you don’t end up with a cheap and low-quality model.
13. Garden hoe.
Oh! It one is a savior. There was a time when people used to dig holes for seeds manually one by one. That was time-consuming, that gives back pain and super frustrating. Gardener’s life, especially vegetable gardener’s life has become so sorted when garden hoe made a groundbreaking entry. If not anything, this tool has surely taken care of back pain and faster-seen plantation.
This tool now has become an essential part of the gardener’s tool inventory. With a garden hose, you can dig a shallow trench in the soil faster. Garden hoe is must to have for vegetable gardeners.
14. Garden gloves
Some people just love the feel of dirt in their hand when gardening, I am also one of them. But even if you don’t stress about your hands getting super dirty, wearing a good pair of gardening gloves is still necessary.
The reason is, you might love the dirty hands at the beginning but if you are a serious gardener and work every day, then you won’t love that your hands getting dirty every day. And the major reason is when hands remain dirty for longer periods than can cause a blister. And I am sure you don’t want that. Besides that, gloves will protect your hands from pointy items that might hurt you.
15. Wheelbarrow
When you have trimmed a lot of weeds or just cleaned the yard for new seed plantation, then it is must that you have gathered a lot of waste. And these wastes needs to go somewhere, right? Let’s assume you have a compost heap at the backyard but these wastes still need to get there, right?
So what you do in such situations? Carry a large number of wastes into smaller amounts with a shovel? If you do so, then you might keep doing to for hours and also put a strain on your joints. What took so much stress when wheelbarrows are there to sort things out smoothly?
Wheelbarrows are kind of a carrier which has two or three wheels. And with this, you can transfer a large number of wastes, or things places to places easily. All you need to make is little push and the carrier will keep rolling.
16. Small gardening stool.
Before we get to it, let me ask you a question! What is a tool? Well, according to me tool is something that completes the task easily with less effort. The reason for defining it is, people, seem to not include stool in the tools inventory but everything that sorts our life that a tool.
However, moving on. A gardening stool is mandatory for older people. People who work on the garden for longer periods every week, the stool will allow them to put less strain on their joints.
17. Gardening Knee pads
If you are not comfortable with knee stool, then knee pad probably makes your thing easier. Whenever you have some digging work, kneeling down to the hard ground is required which puts a strain on the knee cap. If you want to avoid such issues, investing in a pair of nice knee pad will be a great option. And they come at a super cheap price also.
18. Leaf blower
Leaf blower and leaf rake both do the same thing. Though I am on the rake side because I am pretty satisfied with it. But my other family members are on the blower since they do the work quicker than the leaf rake. With the leaf rake, you have manually gather leaves from all over the yard. On the other hand, leaf blowers blow the leaf to the corner and all the leaves are gathered, the blower machine will such all the leaves. Leaf blowers are effective but they come at an expensive price as well.
19. Brush cutter
Brush cutter or weed trimmer is the same thing. Weed trimmers work faster than manual weeder, well that’s obvious. They work pretty effectively. If you have thicker weeds to be taken care of, then you would like to go for a brush cutter that comes with more cutting power. With a brush cutter or weed trimmer, you will be able to cover the entire yard faster.
20. Lawnmower
Who hasn’t heard of this machine, everyone knows it. If you have a dirty lawn your garden is not going to look good doesn’t matter how hard you work on that. And what can clean a lawn better than a lawnmower? Which is why it is important that you should have a lawnmower in your garden shed. There are different types of mower, gas, electric, manual.
And how powerful and big your mower should be that depends on the size of your lawn. If you have a bigger lawn that needs heavy maintenance, then you are most likely to go with a powerful land mower. A gas lawnmower would be a great choice for that!
21. Digging fork
For breaking up soil, garden rake works well but when you need greater penetration, then a small garden rake is not going to work. And that is when you are going to need a digging fork. When you have planted something deeper, you will find a digging fork to be very helpful.
22. Grass Shears
Grass shear is for people who don’t have space for a lawnmower. Or People who are unable to afford a lawnmower. If you still want your grass to be leveled and neat, then a grass shear is going to help you out. Grass shears come with long blades and are a highly effective and powerful scissor. However, grass shears will take little time to get the job done.
23. Loppers
Loppers come into play when you have the intention to prune items above of your head. You don’t want to risk yourself doing the task on a ladder when with a lopper you can nicely do it. These are like a scissor which comes with a long handle so that you can reach a good height. Plus, also comes with sharp blades which will effortlessly cut through trees and vines of 2.5-inches diameter. The blade is what does the main job, so always try to keep it clean and oiled.
24. Pole pruner
When you have to reach to a great height of up to 8-feet, a lopper is not going to work. You are going to need a pole pruner which is a pruner that comes with an attached pole so that you can reach higher. With a pole pruner, you will be able to cut back branches of the trees that are blocking the sun rays to come inside the garden.
If you own a pole pruner, you are not going to need that very often. So when you store it, make sure you clean it completely and especially take care of the blades. The blades should be properly oiled so that they won’t get dull.
25. Tree pruner
These are way too powerful than a pole pruner. Tree pruners are made of top-notch solid materials and highly durable. This tool comes with a small serrated blade at the end of the pole which can cut through the thicker tree branches pretty easily. And normal plain blades would slip when cutting the branches but that is something definitely won’t happen with a serrated blade. These blades are famous for cutting through things faster.
26. Floral Scissors
Floral scissors are a great tool for cutting the flower stems nicely and quickly. Many people use normal household scissors to cut the stems but the issue is normal scissors can damage it. Cutting the stem with normal scissors can largely shorten the length. However, snips or floral scissors give nice and safe cuts compared to other scissors.
27. Topiary shears.
Topiary owners know exactly how delicate these plants are and careful hands it requires to look at its best. Since they are very sensitive, using regular household scissors will be the worst idea. For cutting topiaries, there are topiary scissors that are spring-loaded and cuts smoothly and evenly.
28. Trailer Sprayer
A sprayer is like a sprinkler that sprinkles things all over the yard. And a trailer sprayer is designed to be attached to the lawn tractor or ATV. These sprayers come with highly efficient pumps and can spray tall items all over the yard.
29. Skid sprayer
This is another type of sprayer and there are more two types left which we have described below. However, skid sprayers are not pulled on the ground by the lawn tractor or ATV, instead, they get attached to the back of the tractor. Skid sprayers also come with a powerful motor hence sprays a good amount of products within a very short amount of time.
30. Backpack sprayer
If you are capable of carrying a lot of products behind your back through a backpack, then you are going to find the backpack sprayer very useful. These sprayers come with a tank which sits behind you in the backpack and you spray the products (seed or anything) through a nozzle. The tank comes with a motor which increases and decreases the pressure of distribution and allows you to control it.
31. Handheld sprayer
These sprayers are suitable for spraying a very small amount of products. And comes at a very cheap price. They are super lightweight which makes it easier for you to carry it. That being said, since they come with a small tank, so if you are spraying over even a medium-size yard it will require a couple of refills.
32. Broadcast sprayer
And here comes the last type. A broadcast sprayer is for those who have a big yard to look after. These sprayers are heavy duty and come with wheels. And they can hold a good amount of products as well. Hence, they come expensive as well. The broadcast sprayer is highly durable and made of top-notch solid materials and can distribute products over a large yard within a very short amount of time.
33. Edging knives
Edging knives are specially made to give you nice edging. There are different types of edger which we have discussed below as well. Edging knives are a handheld tool and the head section comes curved so you won’t get tired easily using this. One benefit of a manual edging knife is, you can get the exact edging as you want.
These knives are highly durable and are lightweight as well, which will allow you to work with these tools for longer periods. And another perk of these knives are, they come at a very cheap price.
34. Electric edger
As we mentioned earlier, here is another type of edger. Though it does exactly the same thing that edging knife does, but electric edger do it in a completely different way. The electric edger is highly powerful and when choosing it, you got to be very careful. There are two types of electric edger one is corded and another one is cordless. If you don’t want a long cord to follow you, then choose a cordless electric edger.
Also, choose an edger that comes with sharper and durable blades. Electric edger makes less to no noise at all and also easy to operate. However, if you have chosen a corded model, you can’t use the machine for long yards, since the cord won’t allow you to go that long. Overall, cordless models are better, since you can go wherever you want.
35. Gas edger
A gas edger is the most powerful edger, more than electric edger. However, they come heavy and at an expensive price as well. The downsides of gas edger are, they make an irritating loud noise which might force your neighbor to complain about it. And gas machines are hard to start. I mean it requires good strength to turn the machine on.
A gas edger is only recommended for large yards, they will get the job done at a short amount of time. There are two-types even in the gas edger. One is a two-cycle engine and the other is a four-cycle engine. The four-cycle engine is highly powerful than the two-cycle engine edger.
Conclusion
Well, that was a huge article. And we have tried our best to provide a list of all the best essential gardening tools for your garden. Hope you liked it!
Let us know your experience in the comment box below!