Bev's Favorite Garden Tools

Gardening is work and good tools can make all the difference. I’ve spent a lot of money on garden tools through the years between rummage sales and buying new. Sometimes you think you have exactly what you need and you get it home and work with it, and well, it just doesn’t perform as expected.

Tools are also very personal to the individual. Your height, weight, strength and how you garden. I thought I would share some of my favorite tools and why they are my favorites.

First off, I love flower gardening with perennials. I have a lot of shade so I have a lot of hostas and hostas have wicked root systems. I also love daylillies and they too have some really tough root systems. I have several raised bed gardens for veggies, several square foot gardens, and have gone back to row gardening for certain crops. And a small greenhouse (although I wish I had the space to have this one). I do not have a rototiller or power cultivator – I do everything by hand.

I wish I would have bought this hose sprayer end a long time ago and am considering buying a couple of more when they come on sale. It is a shower wand. It turns on and off with a lever – yeah when you have arthritis! It sprays a gentle shower that doesn’t wash your seeds out, or your young plants, and yet soaks them to perfection. It reaches 4′ and has a rubberish grip so your hands don’t get cold either. I love it!

This little hand weeder is a surgical instrument in the garden. I actually have two of them. That dandelion or thistle in the middle of your strawberry patch or asparagus can be removed easily and quickly without hurting any of the plants you want to keep. The V in the middle lifts the tap root on plants easily.

Besides weeding it does a wonderful job of lifting individual strawberry plants (often in the aisles in the spring), small raspberry plants for transplanting, individual flowers or small groups for transplanting and will even work to plus in plants in an already established bed.

Another advantage is that it will act as a “mini-cultivator” in a square foot garden. Drag it between your mini rows and it pulls out the little weed seedlings quickly and easily. Extends your reach too.

For row gardening, there is nothing like the standard arrow head hoe. Chop, hill the potatoes, drag sideways across young weed seedlings, get in narrow spaces. I have a half dozen hoes, but this is my favorite.

Second favorite hoe is the stirrup hoe. You can drag it through the rows and it just slices off the young weed seedlings. Work it back and forth and you can almost dig a hole. Perfect for row gardens with open spaces.

Absolute favorite shovel in all the world! Went to a garden sale of daylillies and hostas and the guy was using this shovel to split and dig huge hostas! Yes it is pricey at $40 for a shovel, but well worth it!

Stainless steel one piece construction I believe. Can’t break it! I have broken a lot of shovels, even the expensive ones that say they won’t break. This one doesn’t break! It has a narrow, tapering blade with a SHARP end – perfect for cutting tough root systems. And I LOVE the cushioning on the handle.