Chapter 20: Ten Tools of the Trade

In This Chapter

Identifying essential tools for your vegetable garden

Using the right tool for the right situation

You've probably heard this saying at least a hundred times: "Use the right tool for the job." It's as true in vegetable gardening as it is for any other project. The right tool allows you to finish a job faster, and even more importantly, make working in your garden easier on your body. After all, most people garden not to labor and sweat but to enjoy the vegetables and the relaxing environment.

As a new gardener, however, you may find that knowing which tools to pick is often confusing. You can spend hundreds of dollars buying tools for every imaginable use, but you may end up spending more time in your tool shed than in your garden. So when you're selecting your tools, my solution is to keep it simple — that's why I chose to highlight only ten tools in this chapter. And keep in mind that even these tools may not be appropriate for all garden situations.

Many of the items you need are probably already around your house — especially if you're working on other outdoor projects. Here's a short list of some useful gardening gear:

Gloves help you grip tools better and help you avoid hand blisters. Cotton gloves are the cheapest, but the more expensive animal skin gloves — made of goat and sheep skin, for example — last longer.

A good straw hat with ventilation keeps the sun off your skin and allows air to move through and cool your head.

A good pocketknife or pair of pruning shears is great for cutting strings and vines.

Sturdy rubber boots, garden clogs, or work boots repel water and provide support for digging.

Bug repellent and sunscreen help keep you comfortable and protected while working in the garden.

Now on to the specific garden tools that you need. Depending on the size and type of garden you have, the "right tool" can vary widely. In this chapter, I describe ten essential tools and talk about the garden situations for which they're best suited. Many gardening tools are ergonomically designed to work more efficiently and put less stress on your joints. I highlight these ergonomic tools as well as provide helpful tips on how to use the tools and put less strain on your back, arms, wrists, and legs. So get ready to start digging in your garden!

To keep your metal hand tools functioning for years, clean and store them properly. After you're finished using a tool, wash all soil off it. Yearly, sharpen the blades of weeders, spades, and shovels; oil wooden handles with linseed oil; and tighten any nuts and screws on the handles.

Watering Hoses and Cans

Plants need water to grow, and if Mother Nature isn't cooperating, you need to water regularly (see Chapter 15 for watering techniques). For a large garden, you may need elaborate soaker hoses, sprinklers, and drip irrigation pipes. But for most small-scale home gardeners, a simple hose and watering can will do.

Rubber hoses are less likely to kink than vinyl or nylon hoses, but they tend to be much heavier to move around. Whatever material you choose, be sure to get a hose that's long enough to reach plants in all areas of your garden without having to shoot water across the beds to reach distant plants. Choose a hose that has brass fittings and a washer integrated into the hose; these elements make the hose less likely to fail after prolonged use.

Watering cans can be made of simple, inexpensive, brightly colored plastic or high-end, fancy galvanized metal. Plastic is lighter, but galvanized metal is rustproof and more attractive. Watering cans also come in different sizes, so try a few out for comfort before buying. Make sure you can easily remove the sprinkler head, or rose, for cleaning.

For watering tender seedlings, buy a can with an oval rose that points upward and applies water with less pressure. The traditional round rose is better for watering more mature plants.

Hand Trowels

Hand trowels are essential for digging in containers, window boxes, and small raised beds. The wider-bladed hand trowels, which are scoop shaped and rounded on the end, are easier to use to loosen soil than the narrower-bladed, V-pointed ones. These narrower blades are better for digging tough weeds, such as dandelions.

Hand trowel blades usually are made of steel or plastic. Steel blades are more durable, but plastic blades are lighter. Although stainless steel versions are more expensive than plastic ones, they're easier to clean and easier to find if you lose them. The handles may be steel, wooden, or plastic. Choose a trowel that's forged as one piece of metal or that has secure attachments between the blade and handle.

Try different hand trowels before buying, choosing one that feels comfortable and that fits your hand well. Ergonomic versions of hand trowels have forearm supports and cushioned grips.

Hand Cultivators

A three-pronged hand cultivator is a handy tool to break up soil clods, smooth seed beds, and work in granular fertilizer. Plus, after you plant your small container or raised bed, the weeds will come whether you like it or not; a cultivator serves as a great tool to remove these young weeds as they germinate. When you're digging a planting hole, a hand cultivator breaks up the soil more easily than a hand trowel.

As with a hand trowel, be sure to choose a hand cultivator that feels comfortable in your hand and that has a handle securely fastened to the blade. The steel-bladed types are the most durable.

Garden Hoes

Hoes are available for all occasions — hoes for digging furrows, hoes for weeding, hoes for wide rows, hoes for tight rows, hoes that scuffle, hoes that oscillate, and even hoes for specific vegetables such as the onion hoe. What you need largely depends on the design of your garden. The best hoes have long hardwood handles and single-forged steel blades strongly attached to their handles. Here are three favorites:

Common garden hoe: This classic hoe has a broad, straight, 6-inch steel blade that's good for all types of gardening, including digging, weeding, chopping, hilling, and cultivating. Longer- and narrower-bladed versions, such as the collinear hoe, are good for weeding in tight spots.

Oscillating hoe (also known as a stirrup hoe): This hoe, shown in Figure 20-1, is primarily used for weeding. Unlike other hoes — which cut weeds on the pull stroke — this hoe cuts weeds on the pull stroke and the push stroke, enabling you to weed faster. The 4- to 7-inch-wide steel stirrup is hinged so it moves back and forth, digging about 1/4 inch deep into the soil and scalping off young weeds. This hoe works well in gardens with clearly defined rows and spaces between plants. Like all hoes, the blade works best when it's sharpened regularly.

Tined hoe: This hoe is my favorite. It has 3 or 4 steel tines attached to the bottom of a 5- to 6-inch-diameter steel head. Tined hoes are good for weeding, cultivating, digging, chopping, hilling, and breaking up soil clods. They're lighter, more versatile, and easier to use than common hoes.

If hoeing gives you a sore back, try the Swan-Neck hoe. This wooden-handled, metal-bladed hoe is curved at its neck in such a way that you can stand straight up (not bending) as you work your way down those rows of beans.

Spades and Shovels

Spades and shovels are two of the most commonly used gardening tools. The difference between the two is simple: A spade is designed for digging, and a shovel is designed for scooping and throwing. Shovels traditionally have rounded and pointed blades, whereas spades have flat, straight, almost rectangular blades. A good shovel is essential in any garden for spreading compost, manure, or fertilizer. A spade is essential for edging or breaking new ground. However, many gardeners use spades for anything from cutting open fertilizer bags to hammering in stakes. Good spades are rugged.

Both spades and shovels come in short- and long-handled versions. A long handle gives you more leverage when digging holes, so keep that in mind if you're purchasing a new spade. I find that I use a short-handled shovel with a D-shaped grip more often in my garden than a spade. Choose a spade or a shovel that has a single piece of metal attached to a wooden handle with either a single socket or a single socket that runs 1 foot up the handle (referred to as a solid-strap connection). These models are heavier, but they're much more durable.

To get a more comfortable grip on long-handled tools like spades and shovels, try low-cost foam grippers that fit on the handles. These grippers make the diameter of a handle larger and more cushioned, reducing the amount of blistering and cramping in your hands. They're available at local garden centers or on the Internet.

Garden Forks

As handy as a spade is for turning fresh garden soil, I find that an iron fork is a better tool for turning beds that have been worked before. The fork digs into the soil as deep as 12 inches, and at the same time breaks up clods and loosens and aerates the soil better than a spade. Iron forks look similar to short-handled spades except that they have three to four iron tines on their heads. The best ones are those forged from one piece of steel with hardwood handles firmly attached. They're great not only for turning soil but for turning compost piles and digging root crops, such as potatoes and carrots.

Garden Rakes

After you dig soil, you need to level it, break up soil clods, and smooth the seedbeds (especially if you're growing raised beds, which are described in Chapter 3). An iron rake is the right tool for the job even though you may use it for this purpose only a few times a year. A 14-inch-diameter, iron-toothed rake should have a long, wooden handle that's securely attached to a metal head. You can flip the metal head over to really smooth a seedbed flat. For a lightweight but less durable version of an iron rake, try an aluminum rake.

Buckets, Wagons, and Baskets

Okay, you don't have a 1,000-square-foot garden. But you still need to carry seeds, tools, fertilizer, produce, and other items around. I love talking about storage containers because this is where the tools of the trade get really simple. Here are three essential containers:

Buckets: For fertilizers, potting soil, and hand tools, a 5-gallon plastic bucket is the perfect container. You can probably get one free from a construction site; just make sure to clean it out well. For a more durable but smaller bucket, buy one made from galvanized steel.

Wagons: For bulkier items, such as flats of seedlings, use a child's old red wagon. Wagons are great for moving plants and small bags of fertilizer in your garden, and the lip on the wagon bed helps hold these items in place when you cover bumpy ground. If you're interested in a wagon to move yourself (and not just equipment) around the garden, a new invention is a wagon with a seat. This type of wagon usually has a swiveling seat and is perched on four pneumatic tires, allowing you to sit and push yourself through the garden as you work (see Figure 20-2). It has storage space under the seat as well.

Baskets: To gather all that great produce you grow and harvest, invest in a wire or wicker basket. Wire baskets are easier to use because you can wash the produce while it's still in the basket. Wicker and wooden baskets, though less durable than metal, are more aesthetically pleasing and stylish in your garden. Piling your produce in either basket is a lot more functional than trying to balance zucchinis in your arms while carrying them from your garden to your kitchen.

Wheelbarrows and Garden Carts

Invariably you need to move heavy items such as soil and fertilizer from one spot to another in your yard or garden. The two main options for moving stuff that's "larger than a bread box" are wheelbarrows and garden carts. The basic difference between the two vehicles is the wheels. Wheelbarrows have one wheel and an oval, metal tray; garden carts have two wheels and a rectangular wooden tray.

Wheelbarrows are maneuverable in tight places, can turn on a dime, and are easy to dump. A contractor-type wheelbarrow has a deeper box and is worth the extra investment because of its superior quality. For a lightweight wheelbarrow, try one with a box made out of plastic.

Garden carts are better balanced, can carry larger loads, and are easier to push than wheelbarrows. A larger-sized garden cart can easily handle loads of compost, soil, rocks, and bales of hay. Some garden carts have removable back panels that make dumping easier.

Power Tillers

The old-fashioned rear- or front-tined power tiller was designed to help large-scale gardeners save time turning their gardens in spring and fall. The large power tillers (more than a 5-horsepower engine) are best if you have 1,000 square feet or more to till. They also can be indispensable tools for forming raised beds and breaking sod.

If you only need to use a large tiller once a year, consider renting one from a local rental store or hiring someone to till for you.

Because home gardens have become smaller in recent years, tiller manufacturers have responded by designing a new group of tillers called minitillers (see Figure 20-3). These two-cycle, 1- to 2-horsepower tillers weigh only 20 to 30 pounds, are easy to handle, and can till in tight places. Not only do they have tilling tines, but they come with other attachments such as lawn aerators, edgers, and lawn dethatchers.

Minitillers work best in previously worked, loamy soil without large stones. Unlike their larger cousins, minitillers are easy to handle when you're weeding between rows of vegetables and close to plants. However, they aren't good for breaking new ground or tilling stony or heavily weeded areas in your garden. Because they're lightweight, they till raised beds and small gardens very well. Electric models are available if you don't like the noise and smell of a two-cycle engine.

Though not essential for your garden, if you like power equipment and need a little help keeping your garden looking good, check out minitillers. (See the appendix to find out where you can get minitillers.)