My Top 5 Garden Tools

Are you thinking of growing a flower garden? If so, this lens may help you get started. I am not an expert but I do have a large flower garden and have learned by experience that there are some tools that can make flower gardening much easier which in turn makes you much happier.

The rewards of flower gardening are numerous. But, there is time and energy involved. You don't just plant a flower or seed and step back to watch it grow. No....it involves getting down and getting dirty! For me, time spent in my flower garden is therapy. Something on your mind? Get out there in the flower garden and start pulling some weeds or transplant one of your plants to another area. Before you know it, all you are thinking about are your flowers.

This lens will give you some ideas on what garden tools you will need to start your beautiful flower garden and begin enjoying all the rewards of gardening.

Tool #1, The Garden Shovel

There are lots of garden shovels and you need to find the one that works for you but, you must have a good garden shovel. It will make gardening so much easier and once you get the right shovel you will know exactly what I mean.

My shovel of choice is a Fiskars square headed shovel. It is all steel and has a sharp blade. Once I started using this shovel all others just didn't meet the needs of flower gardening. I use it to edge my flower garden and with it's straight edge and sharp blade it edges wonderfully.

I also used this shovel to clean out my flower bed before even starting my flower garden. The area I chose was near a tree line so it was heavily rooted but this shovel worked like an axe and in no time I had a large area cleaned and ready for planting.

My shovel is made of steel so it is sturdy and will last a lifetime. Buy a good quality shovel and you wil have it for years. I'd rather spend a little money now than to be replacing a shovel every few years. This garden tool is one that you will reach for often and you will be glad you chose a great one.

Tool #2, The Garden Shears

Garden Shears are a must have garden tool. It should go out to the flower garden whenever you go. Even if you are just giving your friends a tour of your flower garden, take your garden shears with you. Make this a habit. Always take your garden shears to the garden with you. Always!

This garden tool will be used in so many ways you will wonder how you ever got along without them. A regular pair of kitchen scissors will work great for dead-heading flowers but to do the job of trimming back your bushes or cutting other thick stemmed flowers you will need garden shears.

Again, you will want to spend a little more money and get a good pair of garden shears. There are several types on the market but again I would suggest get a sturdy, heavy duty pair of garden shears that will last you a long time. You won't regret it and you will be amazed at how often you use them. Many flowers, such as Lillies or Iris's, have woody stems after the plant has flowered and these garden shears really come in handy when it comes to keeping your garden looking neat and clean.

Remember that many flowers will continue to blossom for you if you keep cutting off the dead blooms.

A good set of garden shears are needed by every gardener. I carry my shears with me whenever I head to the garden. They are useful in so many ways. They are great to dead head plants or to cut a root.

Books are a great way to get ideas on what to plant and under what conditions. You don't want to buy a plant that grows well in sun when you have a shady area. Be informed so that you don't waste money. I had to learn this the hard way. I have a mostly shady area for my flower garden and kept buying plants (because I thought they were pretty) that were meant for sunny locations. Of course, you know the results....disaster and death. Nothing worse than seeing your expensive plant die.

There are several flowers that I love: phlox, California poppies, Lavendar and Iris' to name a few but my all time favorite is the Cosmos. Tall, elegant looking flowers that sway in the breeze and an extra bonus of reseeding themselves so they come back year after year. However, gardening is a lot of work and only for those who love to play in the dirt. This is a picture of my garden.

Tools #4, gloves and a hand held spade

These are garden tools you cannot live without. Your garden gloves will be used every time you are in the garden no matter what you are doing. Pulling weeds, planting or dead heading your flowers you will want to be wearing garden gloves. Also, I have come across a critter or two and it is comforting to know I have on gloves.

There are many different kinds of garden gloves from all cotton to all rubber and you might want to have several types of garden gloves on hand depending on the particular job you are doing. You don't want all cotton if you are planting and using water because they will get soaked and muddy and the next thing you know your hands are the same way. Use cotton if you are just pulling weeds or dead heading flowers. There is a garden glove that has cotton on the back of the hand but the fingers and palm are a soft rubber or latex. These garden gloves are great! If you find them on sale get 2 pairs.

The hand held spade is a must have garden tool when weeding or planting. Digging deep around deep rooted weeds makes it easier to get all the root and not leaving some only to spring up in a few days. This garden tool is also used when planting small flowers. It will dig the perfect size hole and make planting much easier.

Tool #5, Garden Shoes

I love shoes. No matter what style, kind or use. I just love shoes. Garden shoes are no exception.

You do not want to be in your flower garden with bare feet. Garden shoes are a must. Flip flops don't work, you might just as well be bare foot. I tried crocs but if you are doing a lot of digging the dirt gets through those little holes and again, you might as well be barefoot. Why not be barefoot, you might ask? Going barefoot in the flower garden will give you the dirtiest feet EVER. It will take hours of scrubbing to get all that dirt out of the cracks and crevices of your feet not to mention the hazard of stepping on something sharp.

A good garden shoes provides protection to your whole foot. Protection from the shovel when digging, prickers or sharp objects that you might step on as well as the dirt which will turn the bottoms of your feet black. Get a good hard soled rubber shoe that does well in the dirt, mud and water. My favorite is the Sloggers boot. They are great in the rainy Springtime and wonderful when it is Fall clean up time.

Look around and find the garden shoe that has your name on it....you won't be sorry you spent the money or time selecting your garden shoes.

A large variety to choose from.

An all time favorite flower of so many and very easy to grow in many soil conditions.

My favorite flower, at this time, is the Blue Indigo. It is very bushlike and has long beautiful spikes of cobalt blue flowers. Gorgeous.

Do you have a favorite and why????