How to Know What Gardening Tools You Need

Whether you are a new or experienced gardener, having the right tools is essential for your work. There are few basic tools that most gardeners will want to have in their supply, but there are also some specialized tools for specific types of gardens. You'll want to check that you're getting high quality tools for your money so that you can enjoy working with your tools for several years.
Choose an easy-grip fork and trowel set. For any work starting plants from seed, you're going to want a hand-held fork and trowel to move dirt around, dig holes, and cover your seeds. Some brands come with a grip on top of the handle to keep your wrist in a neutral position while working, but you can buy any style that you like.
Find a sturdy pair of household scissors. While you have the option of purchasing gardening scissors, many gardeners use plain household scissors for snipping dead flowers and leaves, harvesting vegetables, opening bags of potting soil or seed packets, and cutting string.
Buy a steel gardening shovel with a wood or metal handle. You have many choices when it comes to shovels, but you will need one for digging and moving dirt in most types of gardening. Choose a lightweight, rounded tip shovel if you're working mainly with topsoil, or a pointed, heavy-duty shovel to dig deep into rougher, rocky clay.

Look for a heavy gardening rake. Once you're finished digging and turning the soil in your garden bed, you'll want to spread it out evenly with a rake. Flat garden style rakes work well for this purpose, but you can get a bow garden style rake as well, which has a slight curve to it and picks up more dirt with each stroke.
Buy a hoe and spade for vegetable gardening. Vegetable gardening needs well-worked soil that has no rocks or clumps. Hoes work wonders on chopping up large chunks of condensed or grassy soil and finding rocks for you to remove. Use a spade, which is similar to a shovel but with a flat edge, to remove grass or piles of unusable piles of dirt and rock from your garden bed.[8]
Find shears and a pruning saw for trees and bushes. If your garden also consists of trees and bushes, you'll want to prune them each year to keep them in the best condition. You have choices when it comes to both shears and pruning saws.
There is a wide variety of gardening gloves to choose from, such as cloth, leather, rubber or latex, chemical-resistant, or multipurpose gloves. Consider the types of gardening you do most when choosing your gloves.
Gardening hats are usually wide-brimmed to protect your head and face from the sun's rays, and come in many different colors and styles.
Shop online for convenience, or in-store for extra support. If you enjoy shopping from home and feel fairly confident about what to buy, look up the items you need from various online department or garden supply stores.