A green thumb may make your roses bloom better than your neighbor’s, but it won’t make gardening chores any easier. For that you need the right tools. Here’s a helpful list of basic tools and the jobs they do:
Rakes
A level-head rake to level seed beds and make seed furrows
A lawn rake to rake lawn clippings, leaves and other light material
A metal-bow rake to level soil or gravel and collect earth clods
Spades
A spade with a 5-by-9-inch blade for tasks in cramped quarters
A square-blade spade for creating planting holes
An irrigation spade for digging narrow trenches
Trowels
A drop-shank model trowel to transplant seedlings, dig small planting holes and turn over bits of ground
A straight-shank model trowel used for bulb planting
Shovels
A construction grade shovel with a solid shank to work heavy soil or pry roots and stones
A shovel with a large square-point blade to dig holes with vertical sides
A shovel with a round-point blade to shovel and level as well as square off the bottoms of ditches
Spading Forks
A long-handled spading fork to turn over hard soil
A short-handled spading fork to cultivate crowded planting beds or to lift clumps of perennials
Hoses
A 50-foot long 5/8-inch lightweight hose for outdoor watering
A hose fan nozzle to water beds
A hose pistol nozzle to wash foliage
A hose mist nozzle to wash small or delicate leaves
A long, perforated plastic hose to soak soil around trees and shrubs
Mowers
Best choice would be a mower you push forward yourself that has:
An easy-to-remove rear bag
Electric ignition
A blade-brake clutch
Tires with rounded shoulders (and large rear wheels if your ground is hilly or rocky)
Several mowing height options
Pruners
Bypass pruners to cut flowers and remove damaged roots of transplants
Loppers to cut through branches up to 1 3/4 inches in diameter
A curved pruning saw to cut heavy branches
Pole pruners to cut unreachable branches
Pruning shears to trim thin-stemmed hedges
Hoes
A diamond-shaped hoe with a pointed back end to make shallow furrows or dig out tough weeds
