Proper tools make gardening much easier. Different gardening practices require different tools. Following is a list of gardening tools for specific tasks.

Digging and Dividing

Two types of tools help digging go faster: shovels and forks. For digging larger holes or double-digging in preparation to plant, shovels with long handles and curved metal digging areas with a point are the best type. Dividing plants is easiest with a fork and a flat shovel that has been sharpened. A fork for digging and dividing should be about four feet tall, with a handle on one end, and a flat, four-pronged, sturdy fork on the other end.

Mulching

The best tools for mulching are a broom, a four-five tined pitch fork, and a large 10-15 tined mulch fork. The best broom for the job is a non-push broom. You will use the broom to brush mulch off of the plants. Ten-tined fork should be as wide as a snow shovel, but with 18 inch long, curved, closely spaced tines. You will be able to move the most mulch from pile to truckbed with such a fork. The five tined pich-fork is best for spreading mulch, as it will hold small piles of mulch for mulching in between small plants. A small leaf rake is handy to have in order to rake out foot prints and even out mulch in between plants.

Planting and Weeding

The best all-around gardening tool to have is a soil knife. If you can only purchase a limited number of tools, a soil knife is the best. With it you can plant, weed, dig and divide plants. A soil knife has a wood or plastic handle that is about six inches long, and a heavy blade that is toothed on one side, and sharper on the other. You can also weed large areas with a fork, by turning over the soil, or lifting the weeds.

Pruning and Hedging

Pruning requires hand-pruners, which are small and hand held. Felco, Corona and Fiscars all make good hand-pruners. Loppers have the same pruning fixture as hand pruners, but have arm's length wood or fiberglass handles. For pruners and loppers, a bypass pruning structure makes the cleanest cut. The blade passes the fixture that holds the branch. Pruning saws are handy. Most homeowners can get away with a hand-saw that folds up for carrying in the pocket. A pole pruner can have a saw blade or a lopper attachment on the end of a telescoping pole. This is useful for pruning high up. Snips or scissors are all you need for deadheading, or cutting dead flowers off of plants.

Hedging works best with hedging shears or automatic trimmers. Shears for trimmers have long, flat blades and handles that are roughly the same length. Automatic and string trimmers also work for large jobs.

Watering

Depending on the type of plants you have and water restrictions in your area, some basic watering tools make the job easier. Soaker hoses are great for establishing plants, as they deliver a slow, continual source of water to the plant. For hand watering, watering cans with a good "breaker" on the end are great for containers. A breaker is a device much like a showerhead that goes on the end of the hose or the watering wand and breaks up the water pressure. A watering wand is a solid attachment for a hose that allows you to water further back into flowerbeds without having to step in the bed. A high-quality garden hose is worth the price, as is a big, rubber-wheeled hose cart for transporting the hose around.

Feeding

Rubber gloves are the most important tool to use when feeding plants. It is not a good idea to reach in a bucket of slow-release fertilizer pellets unprotected. The strong concentration of salts will burn your hand. More is not better with feeding, so measuring tools like measuring spoons and cups are handy. To liquid-feed large areas, invest in a hose attachment specifically for plant feeding. Never use the same container to feed your plants as you use for herbicide! Otherwise, you might end up with dead plants.