Outfitting Your Garden with all the Necessities
Gardening is a great pastime to have, it not only turns your yard into a beautiful area that can produce healthy foods and flowers, but it is also proven to be a great way to improve your health and reduce stress. While it might seem like a daunting thing to start, gardening can actually be an easy and enjoyable part of your life, especially if you make sure to get your hands on all the necessary tools and materials. If you’re considering starting a garden in your yard or in a local public garden, here are 6 tools that you won’t want to be without.
1. Garden Shears
While you might not need them until your plants start to really takeoff in size, garden shears are an important tool to have. This is especially true if you’re creating a garden out of a wooded area, where you’ll be forced to trim back overhanging branches and leaves to insure that your plants receive the necessary sunlight. As time goes on and your garden grows, you’ll notice they’re a part of your everyday gardening life.
2. Spade
If you’re creating flower and plant beds then you will absolutely need a spade, which is important not only for digging up the earth to create your garden, but for edging your beds to insure that foreign plants aren’t sneaking their way in. The larger your plants and beds, the more likely you are to be using your spade.
3. Garden Scissors
Before the shears become an everyday part of your garden life, you will most likely be relying heavily on your garden scissors, which will come in handy for opening packages of fertilizer, trimming plants, and a whole host of other things.
4. Hand Trowel
Once you’ve created your plant-beds your hand trowel will come in handy for planting smaller plants such as annuals, herbs, and vegetables. If you can afford it, look for a trowel that is one piece of forged stainless steel, to avoid the potential of a broken handle.
5. Hoe
While you can maybe get away with using a spade or shovel, having a hoe to turn soil and to weed between your plants is easiest and best. If you have a vegetable garden you will want to purchase a standard or stirrup hoe. If you have a garden full of perennials, you may need to be more delicate, so look for one of the super-thin models.
6. Hose
For your garden to be a success you will absolutely need a hose. While you can water your plants with a watering can it will certainly become tedious and time consuming. Purchasing a retractable hose will ensure all areas of your garden always have access to water.
Starting a garden can be a learning process, but with a few key tools and some patience you’ll soon find it’s well worth your time.
Images by rkramer62 used under Creative Commons License.
