Top Gardening Tools You Will Use This Spring

Tom Gaffey
by Tom Gaffey
Credit: Shutterstock / thieury

Preparing your garden in the spring takes time, energy, and tools. Transforming your dormant soil into a stunning and fruitful garden takes a lot of effort, but with the right equipment, the work can be much easier and effective. One of the best ways to ensure a successful garden in the summer is to use the best possible gardening tools in the spring.


When you are preparing the soil in your garden in the spring, you need to use tools like a garden hoe and a durable rake to prepare the soil. A trowel and digging shovel are helpful when planting from seed and transplanting. For maintenance, you need an effective coiling hose to water the garden. A kneeler and a stand-up weed puller help prevent body pain while working in the garden.


If you walk into a garden supply store, it is easy to find yourself overwhelmed by the options. There are aisles upon aisles of garden tools and accessories. While many of these items serve their purpose, they aren’t always necessary, especially for those looking to build up an essential arsenal of tools for spring gardening. Before you fill your shopping cart at your local garden supply store, read this list of essential spring gardening tools to give you a better idea of which are essential, and what is optional.

10 Gardening Tools You Need Thing Spring

1. Trowel

A trowel is one of the handiest and most helpful gardening tools that you probably didn’t know you needed. These miniature shovel-like items come in several different shapes depending on your exact needs. All of them can fit in a gardening kit, and only require one hand to use, making them a great tool to always have by your side.


A trowel is great for transplanting and digging small and precise holes. It comes in handy in the spring when there is a lot of planting going on. They are also great for removing larger weed areas, especially when you don’t want to rip up the roots of your plants.


2. Gardening Gloves

Some might not think of gloves as a tool, but gardening gloves are one of the most important tools in any spring gardening arsenal. Garden gloves are critical for any gardener for several reasons.


First, they protect your hands from potential harm. There are hazardous plants like poison ivy, as well as lots of thorns and sharp branches that can scratch and puncture unprotected skin. Gardening gloves also make the act of gardening more comfortable. It makes holding tools easier and less slippery and prevents blisters from forming on your hands.


3. Pruning Sheers

No gardener should enter his or her garden without a pair of pruning sheers. This small tool has endless uses in the garden and can be used from early spring until the final fall harvest. Pruning sheers are great at trimming back any vines or climbing plants on a pergola or a fence.


They are also effective at breaking apart areas tangled in dense vines. Most importantly, pruning sheers are excellent for making precise cuts. This makes them ideal for cutting flowers to place in a vase, or removing fresh produce from a spring vegetable garden. Using pruning sheers instead of just bare hands prevents you from damaging the plant, and a sharp precise cut is much healthier for a plant.


4. Stand-Up Weed Puller

Gardening, particularly weeding, can make even the strongest body sore. That is why innovations that make gardening less burdensome on your back and knees are worth investing in.


A stand-up weed puller is a great tool for anyone who is prone to knee or back pain. This is because it makes it possible to weed your garden without getting on your hands and knees and bending your back in uncomfortable positions. While weeding is never much fun, a stand-up weed puller makes this task more tolerable.


5. Garden Hoe

If you are a serious gardener or are creating a vegetable garden bed in the early spring, you need to use some soil-working tools. This includes a garden hoe. Garden hoes are great tools to use in the spring when the soil is still tough to work.


A garden hoe will loosen up the soil, and make it easier for you to transplant your young and vulnerable plants into your garden.


6. Digging Shovel

There will come a time each spring when every gardener must dig a few holes. This is the reality of gardening, and also the reason why every gardener needs a digging shovel in their spring garden tool arsenal. If you plan on planting any trees, shrubs, bushes, or larger plants, then you need a digging shovel.


These larger shovels are great for quickly and easily digging large, precise holes. They are particularly useful in spring, when many larger plants are transplanted into the ground.


7. Reliable Coiling Water Hose

Once all of your plants are successfully in the ground this spring, they need consistent sunlight and water to survive. While it isn’t possible to control the sun, you can control the water. Make watering easy and neat with a water hose that coils effectively.


Every gardener needs a watering hose, unless he or she plans to spend hours filling up a watering can each day. A good watering hose should be durable but easy to coil up and hide from plain view.


8. Knee Pads Or Kneeler

No matter how hard you resist, you will inevitably have to get down on your hands and knees to do a good share of your gardening. Working the soil means being within arms reach of it. This can take quite a toll on your knees if you don’t have proper protection.


A set of cushioned knee pads or a kneeler made for gardening are excellent tools for any gardener. They are particularly helpful for those with knee issues, or those who plan on spending several hours gardening each day.


9. Durable Rake

Lastly, a rake is a tool that might be most popular for fall outdoor cleaning, but it is also very effective for preparing your yard and garden for spring. After the winter snow melts away, you are often left with a lot of dead grass, leaves, and twigs all over your yard and in your garden beds.


A rake is a great way to remove all the dead plants that are taking up space and leave you with a clean slate. Rakes can also help you even out mulch, pea gravel, and other ground cover at the start of the season.


Four Ways To Prepare Your Garden Tool For Use This Spring

1. Oil Them Up

One of the best ways to prevent your tools from rusting and cracking is to keep them oiled up. Don’t use just any oil, as you will be using these tools in the soil and around plants you might consume. Instead, use vegetable-based oil or a seed oil like boiled linseed oil.


2. Disinfect The Tools

Remember that your tools can carry mold and fungus. The naked eye can not see these harmful spores and bacteria but can cause havoc in your garden. Make sure you disinfect your tools before using them, as this will prevent the spread of these garden killers.


3. Keep Them Covered

Keep your tools stored in a cool and dry place. Invest in a gardening tool kit that closes. A closed garden kit keeps moisture out, which in turn prevents rust. It also helps keep all your smaller spring gardening tools organized and in one place.


4. Sharpen The Edges

Some gardening tools need sharpening from time to time. They might not need to be sharpened as frequently as you sharpen a kitchen knife, but dull garden tools become ineffective. When you notice a tool is becoming dull and ineffective, have it sharpened.


Wrapping Up Top Gardening Tool To Use This Spring

As you begin to develop a new garden this spring, is it important you have all the necessary tools to do so. Having the right gardening tools makes gardening in the spring faster, easier, and more effective. Some of the most popular and essential tools for a spring garden include a digging shovel, pruning sheers, gardening gloves, and a trowel. Consider buying knee pads for knee support, and a stand-up weed puller to help take strain off your back.


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Tom Gaffey
Tom Gaffey

Tom Gaffey is an expert writer who currently resides in Washington D.C. Tom has a passion for real estate and home improvement writing, as well as travel and lifestyle writing. He lived the last twelve years in Hawaii where he worked closely with luxury resorts and event planners, mastering his knowledge of aesthetics and luxury products. This is where he found his passion for home improvement and a keen interest in DIY projects. Currently, Tom resides in Washington D.C, and also working on his debut fiction novel.

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