Essential Gardening Tool Basics

However small your plot of land, when you set about turning it into a garden, you will find that some tools are basic necessities. It is important to have a sharp spade to open the soil, a garden fork to break it up, a shovel to dig holes in it and a level-head rake to crumble its surface.

Then you will need a trowel for small-scale digging, a garden hoe and a scuffle hoe to keep down weeds and a long-handled and short-handled cultivator to keep the surface loose and friable. You will also need a good long garden hose, equipped with an adjustable nozzle and a garden line to ensure you have straight rows.

If your garden space is larger than a few square yards, a rotary tiller is a good investment; it makes deep cultivation a quick and relatively effortless job. A wheelbarrow is in order, as well as a light roller. Other tools that may come in handy include a crowbar for lifting large rocks and a mattock or pick for breaking hardpacked surfaces.

When buying tools, look for the best–cheap tools are always more expensive in the long run. Lift each one to be sure the handle fits your hands comfortably and the tool is well balanced. Carefully examine the way the handle is joined to the working end; this is the weak point. Round handles should be fitted into long metal shanks and riveted firmly in place. Make sure all cutting edges are solid, sharp and well aligned.

Good tools deserve good care, so make sure to clean them off after use. Remove rust spots with a solvent and steel wool and use a file to smooth out nicks as soon as they occur. Tighten anything that is loose and occasionally apply a drop of oil to moving parts. At the end of the season, rub down all metal parts with an oily rag before storing tools for the winter.

by the Editors of Reader's Digest

What Makes For A Good Gardening Tool Set?

The question "What makes for a good

gardening tool

set?" is frequently asked by people who are just getting into building up a garden for the first time. This is a good question to ask, because creating and then maintaining any sort of garden will necessitate the use of a set of garden tools most of the time. Besides, having a good garden tool set will help make the tasks involved in gardening much easier.

The items that make up a good gardening tool set are pretty standard, and there are several of them, generally. The decent sets all include a garden trowel, for one. This implement comes in handy for when it's time to do a bit of weeding and digging in the dirt prior to putting down any plants. It's just about mandatory, in fact, that any good set include one of these versatile tools.

A second kind of tool which good sets include is a gardening fork. This item is extremely useful for various activities involved in mixing in compost into the garden's soil to increase its nutrient density. It also serves a purpose when it comes to breaking up hard-packed dirt before putting down new plants or bulbs and the like. It's good for detail work in between all of the different plants in the garden, too.

Two good tools which a better garden tool set will include are the weed cutter and the garden cultivator. Both play useful roles in the garden environment, with the first one being used to hack down and cut away weeds. Make sure it has a sharpened edge, though. And the cultivator is great for soil aeration, the activity of which helps makes it easier for plants to grow more robustly in a shorter amount of time.

Taken all together as a collection, the question "What makes for a good gardening tool set?" is easily answered by taking a moment to look over any of several of these sets available on the market for purchase. Make sure the handles are sturdily-constructed and of durable materials, and that the bodies are at least made of stainless steel, for long life. If they have all of these characteristics, the matter of worrying about a good set will have been eliminated.
by Leeanne Dobbins