8 Essential Garden Tools for Beginners

Inside: There are some essential garden tools for even beginner gardeners. These tools can help to make gardening easier for you in the long run.

Gardening can be a simple, relaxing activity. It's a great mood booster. A source of food for your family or community. There are some essential garden tools for even beginner gardeners. These tools can help to make gardening easier for you in the long run.

garden tools in the grass with text overlay

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Table of Contents

Essential Garden Tools for Beginners

Gardening is just one more way to be self-sufficient on your homestead. I try to only grow things we eat and will use. There isn't much use in growing anything that you aren't going to use. Now, this year, I did attempt to grow two new things and ended up a flop – luffa and birdhouse groud.

Here are some of the tools that we find essential around our homestead as we grow our food.

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Gloves – No, I'm not afraid of getting my hands dirty. But it can quickly turn into a thorny and splintery mess without the right pair of gloves. Fabrics that are water-resistant, but also breathable, will help keep hands cool and comfortable.

Blisters are no joke and happen quicker than you might realize.

Pruning Shears – Hand pruners, also called secateurs, help reign in plants that are getting out of control and taking over. Pruners should fit easily in the palm of your hand.

Hand Trowel – The essential hand tool, trowels are wonderful for transplanting bedding plants and herbs, planting containers, and taking out weeds.

Trowels forged from stainless steel are more durable and will last longer. As a bonus look for ones with measurements on them for when you start planting.

Rake – When leaves and debris fall, your sturdy rake is there to whisk them away. Rakes come in a wide variety of styles and sizes, but a great starter is a standard leaf rake.

Steel tines are stronger but maybe rougher on delicate lawns than plastic tines. But those metal tines are great for clearing dead garden debris.

And get a hand-rake while you are at it! You never know when that little thing is going to come in handy (no pun intended). Ours is mainly used to clean door tracks of chicken coops to make sure that the doors close tightly.

garden tools laid out on wooden table with text overlay

Hoe – Your type of garden will dictate what type of hoe is best for you. A vegetable garden may require a sturdy, wide hoe.

If you have perennial gardens, a more delicate touch and a thinner hoe may be required. Hoes are useful in preparing garden and flower beds and cutting down weeds.

Garden Hose with Adjustable Nozzle – Water is the foundation of your garden’s life and it’s important that your garden hose can reach and spray every area. An adjustable nozzle puts you in control of the water pressure and spray radius.

Watering Can – There are 2 basic types of watering cans, plastic and metal. There are hundreds of styles, colors, sizes, and nozzle options. Plastic cans can be lighter than metal, but won’t last as long. Metal cans should be galvanized to resist rusting.

Wheelbarrow or Dump Cart – If your backyard has extra soil or chicken manure to be moved around or any other heavy lifting and moving project, a wheelbarrow can help you haul hundreds of pounds.

Those are just the tools that we use for our gardens and greenhouse. The larger your gardens get, the more things you are probably going to need, or if you are like me, you are determined to not need more and keep things basic.

These are the basic tools that you are going to need to get you started and growing your best garden.

Frequently Asked Questions

What to look for when buying garden tools? Choose quality over price. Consider the handle of the tool. Easy to clean and maintain. Product Warranty.

What is the most versatile gardening tool? The hoe is known for its versatility; it's used to cultivate the soil, remove unwanted debris, create clean edging on the lawn, and dig around in the garden.