Garden Equipment
A Necessity For Gardeners

Garden equipment is a must as evidenced by the fact that nearly every gardener has some type of gardening tools. In fact, it's almost impossible to have a garden without using some kind of equipment. What kind you will use will obviously depend on the size and extent of your garden, what you are able to handle, how much time you will spend in your garden, and finally, how much money you are willing to spend.

While many gardeners do not have expensive or high-tech gardening tools, they all have some equipment for cultivating, both hand-held tools and power tools. What kind you buy will depend on how dedicated a gardener you are.

Hand tools include your everyday items like shovels, spading forks, rakes, trowels, and diggers. These can all be used to get a garden ready for planting, are relatively easy to work, and do not require much strength to use. Other tools include a wheel cultivator, pickax, and mattock.

While power tools are a little more expensive than hand tools, they really cut down on the hard labor. The most essential piece is undoubtedly the tiller. The tiller will break up the ground and get it ready for planting, chop up any debris, and help mix in fertilizer and compost. If you don't want to spend money on a tiller you can hire someone or rent a tiller for a one-time use. Other power tools that are very popular include chippers, garden shredders, and chain-saws.

If you have shrubs, hedges, or small trees in your yard, pruning tools are a vital piece of garden equipment. Pruning shears are good for small branches, while lopping shears can handle branches from a half inch up to about 2 inches. Pole pruners are on a pole and can reach branches about 15 feet above ground. Hedge shears and pruning saws are both larger, more heavy duty pruning tools for the serious gardener.

Since your plants must be watered in order to survive, and lets face it, it doesn't rain whenever we want it to, garden equipment for watering is a must have. The one thing you can't get along without is a water hose, everything after that is optional. Many gardeners use sprinklers or a drip irrigation hose. There are even timers you can purchase for sprinklers or drip hoses, if you are willing to drop the extra cash.

Gardening without the necessary tools would be a nightmare. Sure there are some people who enjoy getting a little dirty while they plant their flowers, but even those types of people have the most basic of gardening tools, like a rake or a hoe. Garden equipment is a part of gardening as important as the dirt and the seeds.