Basic Gardening Tools
There is an absolute array of garden tools available to the home gardener. But which ones do you really need? How do you get the best use out of them? To help you start we put together a list of the most basic tools any gardener might need in the home garden, large or small scale.
A great way to begin is to make a list of your common garden tasks and the tools you may need to accomplish them. With an idea of which tools you most need, our friendly staff at Mitre 10 can help you decide on quality, versus budget tools.
Top-quality garden tools are an excellent investment, they are designed to reduce discomfort to the user, and makes the difference between a gardener who works daily in the garden and one who cannot get out of bed in the morning.
If you buy the best quality tools you can afford, and look after them, they will perform well for years. Perhaps do your tool maintenance on that rainy day when you can’t get into the garden. Look after timber handles with regular oiling (50% mineral turps and 50% raw linseed oil). Clean blades carefully and sharpen where necessary. Squirt oil on saw-blades and anything else that might rust, you will thank yourself the next time you use them.
Gloves
Probably underestimated in value when you are gardening. A sturdy pair of gloves will keep your hands mostly clean while protecting them from bugs, splinters, thorns, and blisters. Water-resistant and breathable styles are highly recommended.
Mattock
Comprised of two different ends, the axe end (vertical blade) is used to chop through roots in the ground and to break up the hard ground for cultivation, lever and dig out rocks. The adze (large horizontal blade) is used to dig trenches, further cultivate soil after it has been broken up. This great combination of the adze and axe or pick make the mattock two tools in one.
Spade or Post Hole Shovel
A spade is generally straight, has a squared-off blade, a shorter D shaped handle, and is used for cutting into the soil and lifting dirt and plant material. The critical thing with spades is to keep them sharp by bevelling off the back edge of the blade with a bench grinder or sharpening stone.
A post hole shovel typically has a curved blade and a long-angled handle which makes it ideal for lifting, shifting and any general garden digging jobs. Choose a size, handle length and weight to suit you – usually dependent on the size of the user.
Garden Fork
Forks are used for breaking up clumps of soil, aerating compost and digging over soil that has already been loosened. Contrary to popular belief, most forks are not able to dig up large roots of plants or lever large rocks without taking on some sort of damage, either bending tines or breaking handles. A fork with the tines drawn from a single piece of carbon steel and hardwood handles are generally stronger.
Rake
The main type of rake is the leaf or garden rake. Leaf rakes are generally lightweight, have a broad head or easy leaf collection and will be plastic as the movability of the tines helps gather the leaves. The garden rake has a metalhead and its most common use is to help move or level out soil or stones.
Hand Trowel and Weeding Fork
For the close and more refined work in the garden, a hand trowel can be used for planting into pots, transplanting plants and digging over small garden beds. They are light and easy to use in conjunction with the weeding fork, as the name suggests to lever and dig out pesky weeds before planting.
Wheelbarrow
At some point, most gardeners, need a wheelbarrow to complete certain garden tasks, which type of wheelbarrow you should buy depends on the tasks you need it for. If you are only doing lighter garden jobs such as moving mulch, compost, garden debris and smaller plants you will probably only need a plastic trayed wheelbarrow. Wheelbarrows with plastic trays are much lighter and usually much cheaper than a steel tray. Steel wheelbarrow trays can bear more weight so can be used for heavy-duty jobs such as moving rocks, bricks and large plants.
Come into Mitre 10 and talk to our friendly staff, we have plenty of garden tools to suit your garden jobs and keep you well in budget. With our offering of good, better, best product ranges you can invest in the best quality tools for those you use the most, save a bit on those you hardly use or take the middle ground. Our staff are always on hand to offer great advice.
Discover these great garden tools in-store!
Our garden tool range includes a price point for every budget, concentrating on good, better, best quality products.
Our GOOD range of tools includes those from Buy Right and Rally, offering customers great garden tools at a cheaper price.
Included in our BETTER range of tools are those from Gardenmaster, Kelso and Spear & Jackson. These are a middle price range of tools with limited warranties for those customers who aren’t using them all the time but want to use a reasonably high-quality product.
Cyclone, Fiskars and Bahco tools are considered to be our BEST range of tools. These tools are high quality, forged steel, hardwood or fibreglass handles with long warranties all of which attracts a higher price point. Consider purchasing better quality tools on those you use repeatedly and which take more of a beating.
