My Must-Have Garden Tools

I learned quickly to be selective with the garden tools I use as a Landless Gardener. I park my car across the street from the short flight of stairs that takes me to my gardens. The trek is just long enough that I don’t want to carry too much or take multiple trips (unless I am bringing in plants, of course).

List of tools I gladly carry into the park to garden:

Camera- Great for record keeping and sharing the evolution of the gardens with friends.

Lawn bag: Each year I buy a new collapsible lawn bag for about $12. Since I drag it over cement on the way to the compost pile, it gets pretty beat up. It holds a ton of garden waste, and each year it is the one new ‘tool’ I treat myself to.

Cobrahead: I have had this Cobrahead for over five years. I weed, plant, edge and fluff compacted soil and mulch with this tool. Even when I was working with the parks as a gardener, and had a motorized cart to carry all the tools I could want, this was my #1 go-to tool.

Pruners: My Felcos were a very lovely wedding gift a few years back. I had less expensive versions that were fine, but not great. I always feared I would lose the pruners in the gardens, so I never wanted to invest in the best. Truth-be-told, when you have a pair of the best, you are really good at keeping track of them!

Short-handle shovel: My shovel has to fit in the back of my car, so a short-handle one works well for me. Note, I am not planting trees or turning over gardens that are acres in size. If you opt for a short shovel, be kind to your back; take many breaks to rest, stretch and adjust your posture.

Water nozzle: I like to clean off the sidewalks after working in the gardens, and it is quite relaxing to water the gardens in the afternoon after a long day at work. We have built–in irrigation, but as you know, you savvy water-wise gardeners, not all plants require the same amount of watering. With a water nozzle I can selectively water only the plants that need watering.

Deerrepellant: I use Milorganite and store-bought deer repellants to keep our bumper-crop of deer at bay.