Helpful Tools For The Avid Gardener

Gardening is a fantastic hobby, and provides many benefits such as:

. Improving endurance and strength

. Relieving stress 

. Promoting relaxation

Not to mention fresh fruit and vegetables if you choose that route.

But, having the right tools makes life so much easier, so here's a list of tools I'd recommend to never be without.

1. A trowel.

You don't always want to lug around a massive shovel just for some small holes, or potting, this is where a good, reliable trowel comes to the rescue.

I found this beautiful trowel from Etsy But any hardware store or nursery will generally carry trowels.

2. Gloves.

I know not everyone would class gloves as a tool, but to me they are a very important and necessary tool. They protect your hands from anything lurking in the soil, or not so friendly bugs lurking in leaf matter.

Typically, you can get gloves from any garden store, online, Ebay or check out your local Bunnings.

3. Secateurs.

A handy and portable way to chop and hack and prune the plants in your garden. I do suggest investing in a decent pair, cheap ones may seem like a good idea but the blades generally dull quickly, and rust quickly.

I would check out either Bunnings, who generally have a decent range, or head to the Felco website.

4. Weeding Fork.

An odd looking little tool, but extremely useful, especially for pulling out those thick and deep rooted weeds.

5. Pruning Loppers.

A handy tool for those hard to reach tree branches and limbs, these come in a range of styles; standard lopper, ratchet, string pull, there is something to suit every gardener, and the pull loppers will usually come with a saw attachment for those extra stubborn pieces.

I've had a number or Trojan products over the years, and considering their price, I find them to last pretty well.

6. Garden Forks.

Now these come in two general sizes, large, like that of a shovel, or as a hand tool, if you're turning over large areas I would suggest the larger, if you're just pottering and doing small bits and pieces a hand fork will be fine.

Depending on what you are doing, both styles come with or without a hand grip (handle).

Usually you can find a hand fork and trowel being sold together from places like Mitre 10 and Bunnings.

7. Kneeling Pad or Stool.

Great for saving your knees and back! Highly recommended even for the younger ones.

8. A Shovel.

An absolute must, this will save you so much time, and work. Botanex

has a couple of very nice ones.

There are many other tools and contraptions that are useful around the garden, but these become more specialised, or not so essential. The above 8 tools are the essentials no gardener should be without.