garden tools you could not live without

[me&thegals]

I see so many ads for different tools like diamond back hoes, cobra-head hoes, etc. I have such very basic tools and can't help but feeling that maybe there are some really cool ones out there that could save me a lot of back-breaking work. I really rely almost exclusively on a metal rake, hoe and hand shovels.

How about you? What can't you live without?

 

[beavis]

I rely on hand tools primarily. Spades, shovels, metal rakes.

For weeding if I don't pull them out by hand I use a hula hoe and a battery-powered weed-whacker.

I would like to invest in some new shovels this year.

 

[Rosalind]

Mattock with a pick end. We have clay, clay and rocks. And boulders. I'd never plant a single perennial if I had to use a regular shovel. And really really good sharp pruning shears.

I had a hoe once. The weeds thought it was hilarious. Eventually I got tired of being laughed at by thistles and creeping jenny.

You know what will save you a lot of back-breaking work? Making your spouse do it while you supervise.

 

[allabout]

It's the green one. J.D. is his name and you should see me ride him down the road with my flashers on!!

 

[obsessed]

Dang, I wish I had a chicken.

 

[vfem]

I got plenty for ya obsessed.... you wanna come take some off my hands... I'll throw in a rooster who never shuts up! :happy_flower

 

[allabout]

Obsessed, you really don't have a chicken??? I can fix that for you. (You know that Nifty wants a chicken in every backyard!!) That is Malik (Ma-leek) my Serama and he makes purdy golden babies not much larger than a quarter that makes a great gardening tool. They forage around to ariate the soil, pest control and they make a great compost "mixture" for your plants, oh, and don't forget breakfast. Chickens, another garden tool that I could not live without. Now, will that be eggs or day olds?

 

[rockytopsis]

I could not do without my front tine tiller, my mantis tiller and my triangle hoe.

 

[patandchickens]

I =need= my shovel (regular ol' digging shovel, not some sissy square spade or anything like that (well ok I have one of those too ) and my scalloped bread knife (for stripping turf to enlarge beds under shallow-rooted trees, pruning, deadheading, making holes for transplants, dividing, root pruning, you name it), and large containers (such as muck buckets, galvanized washtub, wheelbarrow) to transport bulk stuff to the garden and to the compost pile and chickens.

It would be inconvenient to have to go without a trowel, work gloves, metal bow rake, digging fork, pruners (hand and pole) and stakes; but I would survive.

I own a few other things, mostly @$1 from garage sales and auctions, which are useful occasionally but mostly sit in the garage: a hand hoe, pulaski, digging bar, the aforementioned square garden spade, pruning saw, etc.

Note that I do not own a regular hoe. I prefer to mulch and hand-weed. Never been much good with a hoe, I seem to lop off the 'good' plants and not be able to get at the weeds very effectively. (Of course, my real problematic weeds are *perennials* anyhow, for which a hoe doesn't do a huge amount of good). A few scrapes with the hand hoe (for perennial beds) or back of the metal rake (for veg garden) early in the season, plus mulch and hand-pulling, takes care of it pretty well for me.

My suspicion is that most of the funky hoe styles are better tried out in a friend's or neighbor's garden than bought on spec for your own Then if you find one you really fall in love with you can get that one.

Pat

 

[SewingDiva]

Dang, I wish I had a chicken.

Oh be careful what you wish for! Many of us belong to Backyard Chickens too.

Resistance is futile...

Phyllis