You shouldn’t garden without the right set of tools. It’ll be a lot harder. A lot of people will frustrate themselves right out of gardening by not being able to set up their plants for success, lacking common garden tools that every one of us should have on hand.
Here is a quick list of some common garden tools for beginners and how to use them.
Poker
A poker is used to remove things you don’t want in your garden, i.e. weeds. Dig it into the soil, lifting upwards. This will quickly dislodge the weed you’re targeting and you can toss it in a garbage bag afterward.
Aka a garden poker fork, this can also be used to dig through hard soils, compacted soil, or gardening clays.
Hand Fork
A must-have garden essential is a hand fork or spading fork. This is used to aerate soil or safely transplant seedlings.
More commonly perhaps, a fork is the only way to dig out and split perennials without damage. You can do this with ornamental grasses as well. A fork will ensure your plants are less likely to struggle in their growth and will remain strong through the season.
Hand Cultivator
A hand cultivator is used to break apart and mix soil. A cultivator to break up hard pieces of ground will let you plant seeds easier and re-design your garden. It is inspired by larger farm cultivators which are used to stir soil around crops to promote growth and kill weeds.
Although you may not think you need a hand cultivator, it helps to mix in compost and is a weeding strategy you can use during the growing season.
Narrow Trowel
A narrow trowel is the perfect garden tool to use when you want to plant seedlings. The narrow design is meant for tight areas where you don’t want to disturb the root structure of surrounding plants.
A trowel can also be used to dig up weeds that refuse to come out or to remove small chunks of soil.
Broad Trowel
A broad trowel is like a narrow trowel except it works for larger areas. It is essentially the best handheld shovel a gardener can have. You can quickly dig in and remove larger plants or dirt that’s diseased or contaminated in some way.
It can be helpful to have both a narrow and broad trowel which is why both are often included with any garden tool set.
Whether your garden is on your deck, in the backyard, or a part of a community garden, these gardening tools can help with trimming, planting, digging, and cutting. You don’t need a large collection but you certainly need at least a few of these to help. Shop gardening tools and accessories at ShopperPlus.ca today.
