Three garden tools that everyone should have
Do you enjoy gardening? Can you answer this question with a clear “Yes” – if not, it is definitely because you are using the wrong tools. These three gardening tools are worth their weight in gold.
Everyone knows spades, shears and rakes. They are part of the basic gardening tools for digging over, planting, levelling and pruning. But there are other tools that are super practical, handy and better suited for many purposes. These three gardening tools that everyone should have make gardening much easier.
1. The hand fork is an all-rounder
The hand fork is the more grippy sister of the planting shovel and is characterized by three flat prongs. This garden tool, also known as a flower fork, is used wherever you need to dig up and turn over, loosen or incorporate soil in a small area. For example, you want to dig out a rooted perennial in the bed. The area is too small for the spade and it is difficult to penetrate the heavy soil with the planting trowel. Thanks to its three tines, the hand fork, on the other hand, loosens the soil effortlessly and not only makes transplanting possible without damaging the plants. With this handy garden tool, you can even get at and dig up creeping weeds such as giersch and quackgrass.
What a fork does on a large scale, a hand fork does on a small one. The tines can be used to loosen soil between plants just as quickly as in the planting hole. You can also use the hand fork to smooth out footprints in the flower bed. The small tool is just as useful when harvesting vegetables. For example, while you may break carrots when cutting them out with a planting shovel, you can use the hand fork to loosen them all around and then pull out the root vegetables whole. The hand fork is perfect if you change your flower arrangements in pots and planters on your balcony and terrace. It works like a powerful hand when you mix your own soil in the wheelbarrow and can even replace the three-pronged fork if you want to lightly incorporate compost.
2. The pendulum hoe removes weeds easily and effectively
There are a lot of gardening tools that can be used to get rid of those unwelcome plants in the wrong place. One ingenious invention is the Swiss pendulum hoe. By pulling and pushing the double-edged blade, the device cuts the roots without penetrating deep into the soil. The clippings can be left on the beds as mulch. The pendulum hoe is also particularly suitable for weed control on unsurfaced paths. The weeds chopped up in this way are then raked up together with the hoe. In the Dutch variant, the blade, sharpened at the front and back, is also serrated at the front. This increases the functional working surface of the Master Weeder, also known as the Dutch King's Hoe or Royal Holland Hoe.
3. A hand leaf rake saves the plant
Anyone who has ever gone over their flowerbeds with a rake and brush to remove leaves, plant debris and other dirt deposits will surely have noticed that large gardening tools are often too bulky. A hand leaf rake is ideal for small home gardens. Without harming the plants, you can rake everything from plantings that take away light and air with the handy leaf rake. The hand tool is also useful for reaching corners or spaces in a rock garden. Make sure that the ends of the spring tines are angled upwards. This allows you to remove leaves and other debris blown onto planting beds with seedlings without disturbing the young plants.