Gardening can be such a fulfilling hobby—a way to relax, get exercise and bring beauty into your life. But it can also be overwhelming when you first start. There are so many different kinds of tools available at different price points. And if you’re not sure which tools you need or how to take care of them, it’s easy to get lost in the details and become discouraged.
But getting started doesn’t have to be difficult. Whether your garden space is indoors or out, certain tools will help you achieve the most success with minimum effort. So we've put together a list of the three most important things to have on hand as a beginner gardener:
1. Pruning shears:
We think pruning shears are one of the most useful tools in a garden's arsenal. They cut back overgrown bushes and trim unruly branches, saving your hands from getting nicked and keeping plants looking neat and tidy. There are two basic types of pruning shears: anvil-style and bypass. Anvil-style pruners have a sharp blade that comes down onto a flat surface, like a knife on a cutting board, while bypass pruners have a sharp blade that goes past a sharp-edged flat surface, like scissors. For green stems and branches or live plants, bypass pruners are best; for dead wood or tougher branches, anvil pruners are better.
Prune shears should be comfortable to hold in your hand. When shopping for pruning shears, think about how you'll hold them: are they heavy? Do they fit well in your grip? Are they smaller or larger than average? If you're buying for someone else, keep in mind their hand size and shape to make sure they'll be comfortable using the tool.
2. Garden Fork:
A garden fork is a classic tool that's been used for centuries. You can find them in any gardening or landscaping supply store, and even in some hardware stores.
The garden fork has many uses beyond the obvious one of digging and turning soil. Its sturdy tines are perfect for scooping and turning compost piles, and its curved shape works well for scooping mulch into piles. It's also good at cutting roots in turf grass, which makes it great for aerating lawns.
If you're looking to do more than just dig holes, there are two main types of forks to look into flat tines and square tines. Flat tines are good for breaking up compacted dirt and loosening hard, rocky soils; they're also useful for welding because the flat shape allows you to pull the weed's roots out of the ground without bending over or kneeling. Square tines, on the other hand, are sturdier than flat ones and work better on rocky or root-filled soil.
Whether you have a small vegetable garden or a large plot of land to take care of, you'll find that a garden fork is a useful piece of equipment for your arsenal.
3. Spade:
A spade is a versatile tool for any gardener, from the novice to the expert. This basic gardening implement is a long-handled square shovel with a broad, flat blade. Spades come in two handle styles: long and short. Long-handle spades are more difficult to use because they have less handle grip and their weight makes it more challenging to exert force and lift the blade, but they are more powerful due to their longer leverage. Short-handle spades are easier to use because they provide more leverage, but they require more arm power to dig efficiently because they are lighter.
The most popular spade on the market today has a rectangular ash wood handle that’s designed to absorb shock and vibration while you work. The blade is made of stainless steel so it won’t rust and so it holds an edge well. Most spades have treads on top of the blade for holding onto the tool when applying extra force like when breaking up tough soil or cutting through thick grass or roots.
When you're a gardener, you can't just pick up your tools and head to the nearest hardware store to buy what you need. Gardening tools are highly specialized, and if you want them to work well for you, it's important to know what to buy. That's why I go straight to the source. I buy all my gardening tools from Damam Hardware, because they have such a large selection of high-quality Harden gardening tools at affordable prices.
I love that Damam Hardware carries more than just the basics—you won't find any hoes or trowels here. They have some of the more obscure items that I wouldn't think of buying anywhere else, like a shovel with a long wooden handle that makes it easier to dig deep into hard soil, or this brilliant watering backpack that can stay on your back while you're bending over in the garden.
If you want to be a true gardener, you've got to invest in quality tools that'll last. Damam Hardware is where I go to get the best gear around.