Favorite Garden Tools

Thank you to member, Sharron Cochran, for this tip of the month! Excellent suggestions!

​Garden gloves- flexible with rubber on palms. Atlas is a popular brand. ​

Trowel and/or soil knife.
My favorite trowel, by Wilcox
Other garden tools by A.M. Leonard Lisa Oswald loves the soil knife, which I have read is an improvement on the classic Hori Hori knife – the soil knife comes with a handy sheath.

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Bypass (not anvil, which are not good to use on live plants) hand pruner. My favorite is the Felco 2, but Felco makes pruners for different hand sizes, and left-handed models as well. Corona products are also good, at a lower price point, according to Strosnider’s

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Large garden tub – ideally 10 gallon or larger size (mine is 14.5). Great to hold debris when you are weeding or planting pots, or for transporting larger plants, and can be folded to hold by both handles in one hand. Various colors/sizes. Brands include Red Gorilla and Tubtrugs.

1. Battery-powered leaf blower. Mine is the EGO 615 CFM, a bit heavy but powerful. Rechargeable battery.

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Garden kneeler/seat (reversible). Helpful if you have trouble getting up and down, or just prefer to sit doing a garden task. Gardener’s Supply makes a particularly sturdy one.

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Weeders. Various models for different tasks. I have one to weed driveway expansion joints, and often  just use my trowel.

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ARS craft scissors. Not strictly a garden tool, although these are used for bonsai, but I keep these in my kitchen drawer and use it to cut flowers from the garden and when doing flower arranging. They are easy to clean and stay very sharp. Very good Japanese brand.

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Bypass lopper to cut thicker branches, ideally with extendable handle so you can reach higher. Light-weight loppers are easier to hold overhead but may be pricier. Check the diameter cutting capacity. Fiskars and Stihl are good brands.

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OTHER TOOLS:

D-grip spade with rectangular blade in line with the handle (I prefer for planting over a shovel)
Folding pruning saw (for branches thicker than a lopper can handle)
Lawn mower
Garden rake (nice to have a small one too, for garden beds, or a steel adjustable-width rake)
Bulb planter or auger attachment for drill
Hoses and adjustable spray heads
Long pole pruner. This looks like an ideal one, no ropes to get tangled, and the head swivels/tilts.



Note: I have, but rarely use, hedge shears, which in my opinion should only be used for hedges, not for other shrubs, which are best pruned by hand, not shearing.
Remember to sharpen your cutting tools! Strosniders Hardware offers tool and knife sharpening.