That said, I've picked up some good hints from other garden blogs and thought I'd share some of my own favorite tools. (Some of them are obvious; this list is geared toward absolute beginners.)
Oh, and here's the standard disclaimer: I'm not being reimbursed for saying nice things about products in this post, though I do include a few Amazon affiliate links. These are my honest, considered opinions.
Sharpshooter
My mother turned me on to this type of shovel back when I first moved away from home. I have no idea what brand I own, but it's been with me for years and is still going strong. (I can't recall, but we may have replaced our sharpshooter once since we married in 2001.)
This type of shovel-- spade, really-- is sometimes known as tile spade, drain spade, or transplanting spade. Mine has a relatively short pole with a D-handle and a long, narrow... head? Whatever the technical term is for the metal part. ;o)
This spade/shovel is great for digging in between existing plantings, but it's my favorite for any type of digging (unless we're talking post holes, which is best done with post hole diggers), even if it's not close quarters. I only use the wider, typical shovel when transferring large amounts of a material from one spot to another (or if both of us are digging at the same time and the sharpshooter's already taken).
Trowels
Different trowels are good for different tasks. I have a lightweight plastic one that's an excellent scoop for adding compost or other soil amendments into the planting hole. (If you want to save a few dollars, you can make a serviceable scoop from a handled plastic bottle. Look up "milk jug scoop" for a visual aid.)
My favorite trowel for digging is the Wilcox All Pro 12" Digging Trowel. It's incredibly powerful and makes digging by hand much easier than any other trowel I've tried. In soft soil, when digging small holes for annuals or perennials, I often don't even need the sharpshooter; I'll just use this trowel. For harder soils, though, I'll dig the hole with the sharpshooter but keep the trowel nearby for slight adjustments (widening the hole just a bit, roughing up the edges, scraping soil back into the hole).
This is my go-to all-purpose gardening tool. I also use it for digging up stubborn weeds. It's a very sturdy tool-- heavy-duty stainless steel, with a sharp point and a comfortable red plastic handle. Some people find the leather strap annoying and cut it off, but so far, I've left mine on. There are a variety of different lengths/shapes of trowels in the same line, but the 12" is the only one I own, so far.
The cherry on top is that it's made in the U.S.A.!
Foam Kneel Pads
With our gravel paths, a fair bit of my gardening is done kneeling on sharp-edged gravel. I'm a wimp about things like that, so I use foam pads to kneel on. (Actually, I use them on the soil, too. A little extra padding probably makes all that kneeling easier on the joints.)
There are plenty of products made specifically for gardeners, but the ones I use are those "puzzle piece" foam pads made for children's play rooms!
I originally bought these to use in connection with my crochet/knitting hobby (blocking pads), but once I bought a nicer, thicker set for that (from Harbor Freight), these thin, cheaper ones were made redundant. Well, they work great for kneeling in the garden! I usually double them up, two per knee, and one of these days, I might go ahead and duct tape them together...
Those knee pads that you strap on might be more convenient when you're moving around a lot, and I may upgrade to those eventually, but my cheapo kneel pads are sufficient, for the time being. (They came several in a pack and should last for years.)
Pruning Shears
I've only tried a few of these, so I don't feel I have any hugely valuable brand recommendation to make... I'll just say that, in my opinion, hand-held pruning shears are a must-have for anyone who wants to grow roses. They also come in handy for pruning other shrubs and small trees, as well as for cutting back or deadheading many annuals and perennials.
I prefer the "bypass" type. We had one pair of the anvil type, and I didn't like those as much. I'd suggest not buying the cheapest of the cheap, because you'll want something that's built to last. They need to be strong and sharp enough to work properly or you'll end up hating them and not wanting to use them.
Loppers
These are basically a larger, heavier-duty version of pruning shears. I use them mainly when pruning limbs that are too large for the hand-held pruning shears, but they sometimes come in handy for pruning parts of plants that are just a little out of reach.
Pruning Saw
Just as the loppers are good for pruning small branches that are too wide in diameter for the pruning shears, a folding pruning saw is one step up from the loppers. The one we have isn't anything fancy-- just a simple folding saw-- but it works wonders on small limbs that are too big for the loppers. This is a nice tool to have if you grow small, ornamental trees, but I've also used it to limb up larger trees, such as oak and bald cypress. (Just be careful if you need a ladder! Ideally, have a helper hold the ladder steady.)
Gloves
Um, yeah. I said some of these were obvious... But seriously, though most people probably don't classify them as a "tool", they are one of my must-haves. I rarely garden without gloves. (The main exception is when I'm planting seeds.) There are gloves to fit every hand... er, task. Thin cotton gloves (with or without those little rubber dots on the palms and fingers). Rubber-palmed gloves. Elbow-length gloves for doing battle with roses. Leather gloves. My favorites are leather, because they provide more protection than cotton, and yet are more breathable than the plastic/rubber gloves.
Some people probably hate wearing gloves, but it's a good idea to have a pair for certain jobs-- such as handling thorny roses or pulling briars.
If you leave your gloves in the garage or barn or shed in between uses, don't forget to check them for spiders before pulling them on. (Personally, I keep mine in the house, but if they do get left out, I rely on the "stomp and shake method". Step on the gloves repeatedly, shake them out, then look inside them before putting them on. It's worth the extra trouble to be safe.)
Hat (and Bandana, Sunscreen, and Insect Repellent)
I practically never garden without my trusty straw hat. It provides protection from the sun, which is serious business-- especially for anyone who spends a lot of time outdoors. (I also wear a rolled/folded bandana tied around my head, under the hat. It makes a huge difference in keeping sweat out of my eyes, and it also makes the hat fit more comfortably-- just a tip for my fellow sweaty gardeners who may not have thought of it... You could also use a jogger's headband instead of a bandana.)
Because it falls into the same category, I'm sticking sunscreen in with the hat. Sunscreen is a must. Even on cloudy days, I put some on, because you can burn on a cloudy day. Whether you use lotion or the handy spray-on type, just be sure to wear some sunscreen.
One more for this catch-all category: insect repellent. I don't like using repellents unless I need to, but once mosquito season kicks into gear, I find it's worth doing. Mosquitoes love me, and spray helps me avoid them as much as possible. These days, it's not just a matter of itchy bites; there are a growing number of mosquito-borne illnesses to consider, too.
We have two types of sprays. One is just a standard mosquito spray, but the other has a higher concentration of DEET, which I sometimes use when I'm going into the woods to gather mulch. I like to think that this stronger spray offers some protection from ticks. Maybe it's just a fantasy, but it keeps me happy.
Buckets
I love my buckets. I use them for hauling or temporarily storing soil/compost, collecting weeds for disposal, carrying plants during transplanting, and corralling tools. I can never have too many buckets. Reusing buckets that products came in is ideal, but you can also buy them empty.
Pitchfork
This is another thing that I learned from my mother. It's more of a specialty item and definitely a "nice-to-have" rather than a "must-have". I use mine for gathering pine straw (for mulch) off the floor of the woods, then again to take it out of the wheelbarrow and deposit it in the flower beds. You could make do with a rake, but the pitchfork makes the job easier and faster, in my opinion. Since I have to gather a lot of mulch every year, I appreciate anything that streamlines that process. (Plus it gives you a lot of instant "Rural Cred" if you have your own pitchfork.)
Wheelbarrow
In a small garden, a wheelbarrow might be cumbersome, but in my larger garden ("big yard" as some might call it), it's very handy. As mentioned earlier, I use it when gathering and hauling mulch, but it also comes in handy when moving around anything heavy or otherwise awkward. We've used it to haul compost, gravel, pavers, potted plants, monkey grass and other transplants-- and probably more besides.
Our current wheelbarrow is a two-wheel type, but the previous one was a more traditional single-wheel version. Both work just fine. Some report that you can haul more with the two-wheel type. I'm not sure I've noticed a difference, but then again, I'm not the type to keep tabs on that kind of thing. I can say that the 2-wheelers are more stable on level ground-- much less likely to tip over when the load isn't perfectly balanced. However, if you have a hilly, sloping property, two wheels might be awkward.
I do remember that there was an adjustment period when I first switched to the new one. It steers differently-- less "on a dime" maneuverability, I'd say-- but you can push it with just one hand. (You might not think that matters, but I frequently use the other hand to hold my pitchfork or other tool steady, to stop it bouncing around, sliding out to the side, or slipping off the top of a pile of pine straw.)
We also have a Gorilla garden cart. While a cart can perform many of the same tasks as a wheelbarrow, it has its own strengths and weaknesses. It's better than the wheelbarrow for moving pots, since it stays level. (The wheelbarrow tends to tip them over.) It can also handle heavier items than the wheelbarrow. On the negative side, with the type of cart we have, it's not as easy to unload things like soil or gravel. With a wheelbarrow, you can just tip it forward to unload, but the cart doesn't work that way. (However, there are garden carts that are made for fast unloading. Those might be worth looking into, if you want a hybrid wheelbarrow-cart.)
If I could only have one, I'd choose a wheelbarrow. A cart is nice to have, but for most new gardeners, I'd say that a wheelbarrow is more versatile.
Plastic Leaf Rake
Unlike a standard garden rake, a plastic rake is specially designed for gathering up leaves (and works just as well with pine straw). When the straw is too thin on the ground to make the pitchfork practical, it's helpful to have one of these rakes.
In my garden, the plastic rake gets more use than the metal rake, but the metal one is good for preparing the vegetable garden and leveling out the gravel.
Weeding Tool
For a while, I had a weeder that looked a lot like a long screwdriver with a V-shaped tip and a wooden handle. The idea is to stick the tool into the soil, get the "V" in the vicinity of the weed's root(s), and pull it up. Admittedly, I wasn't as committed a gardener in those days, so maybe the user was the issue, but I don't remember loving that tool. I also didn't take as good care of my tools back then, so it got left out and eventually fell apart.
The most recent addition to my garden tool arsenal is the CobraHead Mini Weeder and Cultivator, which works on the same principle as the screwdriver-style weeder, but with some serious tweaks. First, the shaft is not straight, but curved. Second, instead of a V-shaped metal notch, this tool has a sharp, pointed, flattened bit for a head. I was surprised at how sharp those edges are! You need to be careful with this tool, as you could easily cut yourself with it. Finally, the handle is made of recycled plastic and has an ergonomic shape for easy gripping.
The mini version of this tool is a fairly recent introduction. The standard version has been around longer, and I'd had it on my wish list for a while. When I finally decided to order one, I saw the mini type and thought it looked better suited to my needs (more compact, lighter-weight, handle placed where you're most likely to grip it).
I haven't had this tool long enough to give anything but my first impressions, but so far I like it a lot. It's comfortable to hold and looks like sturdy, solid construction. Again, I was surprised by how sharp the head is. It makes short work of a lot of weeds-- and I found it very useful in digging out patches of grass that had popped up in a flower bed.
On the negative side, the sharpness of the tool also means that with something like torpedo grass, rather than prying it up, it cuts through the stolon, leaving most of the root underground (where it will resprout). However, I never really expected it would perform a miracle and pull up something like torpedo grass. That's too much to ask of any tool, unfortunately!
Back to the positives, It rips through the soil with the greatest of ease, which is probably why it's called a "weeder and cultivator". I can see how this could be useful for loosening up soil prior to planting.
This is another American-made product!
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Well, that's (more than) enough on that topic! I think I've covered all the tools I use most often in my garden (not including things like water hoses).
If you're a new gardener, start with the basics and gradually add items as you go. It's better to have a few carefully chosen, quality tools than a vast collection of poor ones. Every gardener has his/her own budget. Some tools are out of my price range-- I simply won't spend that much on them-- but I've also learned that it's worthwhile to save for something nice. The very cheapest option is rarely as effective, as comfortable to use, or as durable as something that costs a bit more.
And finally, a reminder (to myself, as well): We should endeavor to take good care of our tools so they can last us years. (I at least try to keep my tools under shelter-- either in the garage or in a dish pan by the backdoor. It only takes an extra minute or two to put them away when I'm done.)
