Do you know what tools every serious gardener swears by? In this article, I’m going to give you all the essential tools .There’s a lot to get through, so let’s get into it.
Number one
Shovel and Spade. A shovel and spade have long handles. These give you good leverage. A spade is best for digging, and a shovel is best for moving stuff. You can dig with this, break through roots, break through tough ground. This is mainly used for when you’ve got loose gravel or loose dirt that you want to dig and move somewhere else. I like the long handles because it gives you good leverage, especially if you’ve got, say, a trailer and you want to reach down the back and get that manure or dirt into the garden bed. But it’s also handy to have a spade or shovel like this, a nice short one for those short jobs, whether you’re shoveling in a garden bed or from close proximity, getting nice and close. I don’t have any specific brand, but get a good brand that’s good quality. Of course, you don’t want it snapping in half. And I know you guys always told me, “Mark, you need to look after the handles on these things, give them a good linseed oil, and they will last a lot longer.” This one here is a fiberglass-type plastic handle that I’ve been trialing. It’s alright, but I think I prefer the good old wooden handles. They just seem tougher and better to dig with.
Number two
This one here is my old army machete, and look, I used to use it to cut through Lantana and the jungle, but now I use it to cut and push over banana trees. It really does come in handy for trimming banana plants or other soft-tissue-type foliage. But with the current crime wave here in Australia, it might be worth whacking this fella underneath the pillow. And speaking of army tools, this here is called an ET or an entrenching tool. Some say ET tool, which is incorrect because you’re saying entrenching tool tool, but that you used to get that a lot in the military. Gone are the days where I would use this to dig a 6-foot trench with your hands bleeding at the end of it. That was tough. A fighting pit with this? Yes, I’ve done it. But nowadays, I use it in the garden. It’s both a shovel and a pick. It’s got that there, that there. You can shovel out, you can use it as a spade. It is a really great piece of kit. You can sometimes get these from army disposal stores, but you can also pick up just the generic ones even at garden centers now. But make sure you get a really good quality one.
Number three
Secateurs or secateurs, however you want to say it. I like the powered ones because I’ve got a bit of a bung arm and it takes no effort. After doing this for a long time, it gets pretty tedious and sore. But I also like these manual ones, little ones, bigger ones, ones that have a ratchet on them. Whatever you want, whatever brand. I’d recommend get a good brand, of course. But these are totally worth it and necessary in the garden.
Number four
The prong. You might have seen the livestream that I did with Peter, the inventor of the prong. I really do love this garden tool. I’ve been working with Peter for a number of years now. He’s pushing 80, and I know in that livestream you would have seen that we discussed a little bit about the old needle for the CV that happened a few years back. Well, he had a bad reaction to that and it stuffed his body up. Consequently, he’s been in the hospital for the last couple of months, and I kid you not, two months in the hospital. He just got out, but in the meantime, he was running his prong business from his mobile phone, from his hospital bed. That’s how mad keen he is to keep this prong dream of his going and for every household to own one. He has finally got the prong into the USA, so there’s stock there now, and there’s stock, of course, in Australia. If you want to hear more of the backstory, go to that livestream that I was talking about. But what I wanted to say and what Peter wanted me to let you know was that these are now in country in Australia and in the US and are available. And the other thing that Peter wanted to say wasn’t a plug on the tool. It was, after his stint in hospital, and hopefully he doesn’t have to go back anytime soon, he hasn’t got a lot of time left, and he wanted me to say that what has kept him going over the last several years, he could have easily given up the ghost, but what has given him purpose in life is running this business and having something to do that he’s passionate about. And so he’s urging people, especially seniors, get passionate about something. It could be gardening, it could be running a business, it could be inventing something. Just be passionate about something and keep yourself active.
If you’ve got an orchard or fruit trees or indeed ornamentals, you want to saw, either a hand saw or a power saw or both. I love this thing here, though. It is really easy to use and abuse. With it, you can dig things in the ground you’re not supposed to, of course, but you can dig out stumps and roots, and you can chop with one hand. And I’ve just used this for so many different things, steel, wood, whatever. And then, of course, you’ve got these hand saws that don’t need to be powered but are very versatile and excellent on their own. This one here’s a pretty cheap-branded one. I know you can get some really expensive, good handsaws. Some of my friends have told me that I’ve got to get hold of some of the really good up-market branded ones. They last for years and are really exceptionally sharp. But yeah, this is all that I need.
Number five
Number Five is alloy forged gardening tools, the little ones that you use to potter around the garden. So handy. They’re made right here in Australia, Sydney, in fact, and they’re very comfortable and virtually indestructible. Did you know that they found one of these tools, well, not these ones, but they found one of these trails in a saltwater lake, and they estimated it to be decades old, and it was still perfect? So they’re made to endure. They’re costly, however they’re made to endure.
Number six
A bow saw. It resembles a hand saw however unique. You can involve it for those off-kilter slices that you can’t get to with your trimming tool, or perhaps you don’t have a trimming tool. In any case, I would suggest having one of these in your shed.
Number seven
A rake. A decent, tough, metal rake is fundamental for evening out soil and preparing it for planting. A decent rake will last you for quite a long time.
That’s essentially it, the main seven apparatuses I use in my nursery. Presently, obviously, there are numerous different devices that can be useful relying upon what you’re developing and the size of your nursery, however these are the basics that each serious landscaper ought to have in their armory. Cheerful planting!
