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Everyone’s yard is different, and as such, the tools you need are likely to differ from garden to garden. Perhaps you have a lot of concrete and could go nuts with a weed burner, or you’re gaga for bulbs and could benefit from an auger. Still, for most people, the basic tools will more than cover all your needs. These are the tools I have multiples of, as I use them so ten I am prone to leaving them around the yard. Any of these tools will make a delightful gift to a gardener, as they can always use another well crafted version.
A high-quality spade shovel
Shovels come in lots of shapes, like flat edge, which are fantastic for scraping the ground, and scoop shovels for moving mulch or compost. But a basic spade, with its triangular shape, is meant to dig into any ground, no matter how soft or hard it is. A good shovel will allow you to put all your weight into it, and even give you a little purchase to stand on it. I don’t personally enjoy wooden handles: I find they are prone to cracking and aren’t comfortable on my skin. I have really come to enjoy the Radius line of tools, with the ergonomic handled short shovels. These remove a lot of the weight from a traditional shovel, making it easier to move around the garden. If you like a traditional shovel with a long handle, choose a sturdy steel one.
A hand trowel
The handheld version of the above, a hand trowel is meant for getting up close to the soil and digging as much as you need to plant your basic start. These are also useful for moving a small amount of potting soil or fertilizer. The hand spade can dig in, but also hold about a cup or two of dirt. A good handle is essential, here. Rubber can decay in the sun, and so many hand spades have weak metal and snap in half. This is where it’s worth it to spend a little money. I probably own 20 spades that I leave all over the garden so much that I stand in the center of my garden, spinning around, desperate to find one. Of the ones I own, none performs as well as the Burpee wooden hand spade, which I’d have never chosen for myself, but turns out to be my One True.
A hori hori
A hori hori is like a jackknife for the garden. A straight, long hand tool with a serrated edge, a hori hori doesn’t hold any soil but can cut through almost anything. Use it overhand to dig into soil that can’t be broken up by a trowel; use the serrated edge to cut through iris tubers or roots. I use it in fall to quickly get bulbs into the ground, since it can take out soil with such a small circumference that it doesn’t interfere with plants nearby.
A pair of pruners
Before I walk out the door every day to go into the garden, the last thing I grab is a pair of pruners. Like all my basic tools, I have several of them tucked around the garden. Pruners are how you cut flowers, deadhead, trim berry branches, cut twine or prune tomatoes. The best garden pruners are made by Felco, who have a wealth of models; ideally, you’d go to a garden supply store and test them. I love a pair with a swiveling handle to reduce hand stress. Whatever your model, these Cadillacs of garden tools are well worth the money. If you’re looking for simple, I always have a few pairs of Fiskars around, too.
Several buckets
I am highly suspect of a garden without a few buckets around—specifically, the five-gallon plastic buckets you get at box stores. They have infinite uses—I carry them around the garden to weed and actually stash them in corners for that purpose, so there’s always someplace to put weeds. You can move a bucket of soil by hand, fill the bucket with water to quench a plant, create a batch of fertilizer or use it to wash something. You can collect berries or move rocks. They’re not the most resilient, so you’ll end up replacing them over time, but I love that whenever I simply need a vessel for a random garden chore, a bucket is usually the answer.
