Most Essential Garden Tools

My garden basics

What are your most essential garden tools--the things you use nearly every time you work in your garden?  Which ones would you most recommend to someone just starting out?

For those who have a lawn, a lawn mower might seem most basic.  But let's just think about the garden; whether it's a flower or veggie garden, in the ground, raised beds, or confined to containers on a patio or balcony.


For me at least, that essential basic set would include a pointed trowel, a pair of garden shears, pocket knife, a watering can, and a trug.  I like a pointed trowel rather than those with a rounded end, because my soil is so dense and hard when dry that only the pointed end lets it dig in.  The pocket knife is great for digging weeds, cutting and opening things. The trug was something I didn't realize how much I would use until I got one.  Now I grab it every time I head for the garden.  I use it when I'm weeding or to carry debris to the trash, to carry compost, to mix stuff in, to carry plants from one spot to another when transplanting. It holds water so I can use it to wash the bird feeder and other things I don't really want in the kitchen sink.  I have in fact bought a second, smaller one, and keep them both busy.

As a secondary list to get next, I would say a shovel, heavy garden loppers, a carpenter's apron (or something else to carry things around)  and some kind of compost bin. The type of compost bin you choose  depends on several factors: the space you have available, how much yard waste you have to be composted, and your budget. I started out with a simple bin of chicken wire, and gradually moved up to using several purchased bins.

There are other tools that are great to have as well, that I do use regularly: a hoe, garden fork, hedge trimmer, garden knife and wagon. There will be all kinds of other things that you may need, depending on your particular situation, but these are the things I use most.  What is your basic set?