All of these tools are inexpensive, hand-operated, easy to use, and widely available. There are plenty of tools out there, but this list covers the necessities for performing all of the basic tasks when building and maintaining your garden.
Hori-Hori
A Japanese soil knife. This concave steel blade functions as a garden trowel but also has some uses that a traditional trowel does not. Indispensable and practically unbreakable, this handy tool has measure marks on a slightly sharp blade with serrations on one side making it good for scooping soil, weeding, transplanting, dividing, as well as sawing or chopping through tough plant material.
Garden Hoe
Some type of garden hoe for weeding and cultivating the soil surface really is a necessity if you garden more than 100 square feet. This is especially true if your rows or beds are at ground level. With high raised beds or large containers the hori-hori works for chopping down weeds, but a weeding hoe will save you a lot of bending and reaching in a traditional garden. There are several styles of hoe that we like for this purpose including the wing hoe, the warren hoe, and the stirrup or hula hoe. It is important to choose a tool that you can easily and comfortably use. As with any tool, finding something that gets the job done more easily means the work gets done more frequently. Keeping edges sharp helps too. Read this article for more information on which hoe to use.
Large Watering Can and/or Hose Sprayer
A watering can with a fine rose (water diffuser) is a useful thing to have even if your garden is quite large. You will occasionally find yourself watering one small patch, a group of transplants, or newly sown seeds. Get the largest one you can carry easily when full. A 2.5 gallon can is usually manageable (20 pounds). Some type of nozzle and/or lawn sprinkler for your garden hose also makes life easier if you have a larger space.
Soil Tillage: Digging Shovel and Spading Fork
A shovel with a rounded blade is the best tool for breaking up soil when starting a new garden. The long handled version allows you to stand upright while using it, making it a little easier on your back. A well made shovel with a sharp edge will cut through even the heaviest clay soil, allowing a gardener to turn it over gently without mechanically pulverizing it the way a rototiller does. For softer soil, a spading fork or broadfork should be used to gently loosen the soil without turning it. Click here to purchase a Bully Tools 12-Gauge Round Point Long Handle Shovel.
Wheelbarrow and Flat Shovel
These are the tools we use to move large quantities of soil amendments to our cultivation site. They are often handy for moving a number of other useful products such as mulch and compost materials. A good wheelbarrow is an absolutely necessary piece of gardening equipment, especially when applying very large quantities of compost or other soil amendments. You can opt to use your digging shovel for filling the wheelbarrow, but a shovel with a flat blade (often called a “transfer shovel”) makes it a little easier and more efficient to move large quantities of loose material.
Bow-Rake
A bow rake is a great tool for pushing dirt or compost around and smoothing beds or rows into a fine, even seedbed. Click here to purchase a 16-Inch Bow Rake by Bully Tools
