Most Common Gardening Tools and Their Uses

Gardening can be a perfect hobby, especially for people who love to connect more to nature and spend their leisure time outdoors.

When it comes to cultivating a space in your yard, having the essential tools ready in the shed or garage will not only come to your advantage, but it will also be of great benefit to your garden.

How to Use These Common Gardening Tools

Green-fingered Brits can transform their gardens into something a beginner couldn’t. With the right pair of gloves and proper wisdom, these seasoned gardeners can finish their “dirty work” in no time.

However, if you’re a novice gardener, you can be overwhelmed by the variety of planting tools available in the market. Although there’s a wide range of them to add to your collection, you need to determine the best ones worthy of your investment.

To make your research easy, we’ve rounded up the most common gardening tools and their uses.

1. Garden Gloves

This underrated gardening tool may not be the first thing that will come to your mind, but garden gloves are essential as they protect your hands against dirt and injury.

For instance, if you’re dealing with thorny branches or plants, a pair of gloves will guard your hands and wrists against splinters, scratches and scrapes.

2. Wheelbarrow

A wheelbarrow is ideal if you have a large backyard to cultivate, assisting you in a lot of tasks. You can use it to move dirt, compost and even stacks of leaves smoothly across your property.

Not only that but a wheelbarrow, whether it’s made of galvanised steel or hard plastic, is a perfect tool for transporting new seedlings to your flowerbeds.

3. Garden Hand Trowel

One of the gardening tools you shouldn’t forget to add in your collection is a hand trowel. This device is a must-have, especially for beginners and urban gardeners.

Ideal for transferring dirt into pots and planting seedlings, it will be more accessible if you dig soil or transport plants from your vegetable garden using a hand trowel.

4. Digging Shovel

You’ll find how useful a digging shovel can be if you’re gardening in your yard or a raised bed. It makes lifting, digging and shifting soil, coal, snow, sand and gravel a lot easier.

This type of garden equipment is also a great companion when transferring dirt from a wheelbarrow without having to dump the whole load. Not only that, but a digging shovel is perfect for stirring or mixing compost piles and potting soils too.

5. Digging Spade

Some gardeners may think that having a digging shovel is already enough for drilling. Little did they know that a garden spade can also be extremely helpful in the garden bed!

Thanks to its square-shaped blade design, it makes the tool ideal to use in tight spaces and digging holes for plants and bushes. Just like the shovel, a garden spade is also great for transporting dirt and in general, digging in your yard.

6. Bow Rake

A rake is indeed an indispensable tool for people who have a yard. Leaf rakes are one of the most commonly used garden equipment as it can serve various purposes.

However, when it comes to your overall garden, a bow rake can be the best option. You can still use this tool to clear the leaves or even spread mulch.

Also, if you’re looking for a perfect tool that can help you with levelling soil or breaking up some hard garden dirt in the springtime, a bow rake can do the magic.

7. Digging Fork

If you’re planning to dig into rocky or extremely compacted soil, a digging fork is your best bet! Not only this gardening tool can lessen the strain on your body and reduce the back-breaking work, but it also can loosen up the soil easily!

It features four flat and thick tines, making it the ideal tool to break down firmly packed dirt which a hoe or spade can’t get through.

8. Garden Knife

Ideal for cutting and trimming strings and fruits and vegetable plants, a garden knife makes a convenient tool for beginners. Hori Hori garden knife, for example, is popular among gardeners.

The Hori Hori tool acts not only as a knife, but also a piece of digging equipment saw, or measuring device for planting bulbs. Some gardeners are using it as a weeder as well. If you want an alternative for the hand trowel, you can opt for this one.

9. Garden Hose

What’s the point of having complete tools for planting if you don’t have the means to make your plants and the entire garden alive and healthy?

Anyhow, don’t mind this tool if your plants are in self-watering containers. If they’re not, however, let’s continue talking about it.

Watering your plants and the entire garden is a must. For some urban gardeners, a watering can do the trick. But if you have a yard, it will be best to water your plants with a garden hose.

If you’re worried about wasting any water between your garden beds, a spray nozzle will be a perfect addition to the hose. In this way, you will be able to control the water pressure.