Garden Tools

The range of tools you'll need for gardening depends on your experience level, the type of garden you're maintaining and your desired outcomes. If you've only got a lawn and no flower beds or shrubs to maintain, you won't need much more than a garden edging tool, lawn care products and powered equipment such as a lawnmower.

For vegetable and flower gardens, where a litte more care and attention is required, you'll need a more extensive garden tool set. The best gardener's tools and equipment for beginners include:

• Gardening gloves

• Secateurs

• Garden shears

• Hand trowels

• Garden forks

• Spades

• Watering cans or hoses

• Rakes

The go-to hand tool for gardener of all ages and experiences is the humble hand trowel. It's versatile around the garden, suitable for working with beds, pots and containers where a larger fork or spade doesn't suffice. A hand trowel breaks up soil, plants, seeds and bulbs, and digs out weeds. You'll manage your garden better with a hand trowel by your side.

Your choice of tools for gardening is important. Pay attention to the quality of your maintenance to ensure the longevity of your tools and your comfort while gardening. We'd recommend you consider the following if you're thinking about buying hand garden tools:

Quality: Cheaper is not usually the way to go when it comes to buying garden tools and equipment. Instead, focus on quality to ensure you don't have to replace items for a while, maybe even your lifetime. Sometimes it's worth paying extra for something that's going to make your life easier in the garden, such as secateurs. The best tools help you to care for your garden effectively and avoid damaging plants and shrubs in the process.

Size: Finding appropriately sized gardening tools is best to ensure you don't hurt or strain yourself while working in your garden or allotment. If you can't make it to a store to try before you buy, consider short or long-handled tools depending on your height. Longer handles provide better reach for everyone around raised beds and beyond lawn edges, so you don't need to stretch too far and risk hurting yourself.

Materials: The materials used are an important factor in determining which are the best garden tools to invest in. Avoid cheap plastic, wood and metal products because they rarely work as effectively and are likely to break more quickly. Instead, choose sturdy wood and metal tools - many of the better quality ones are heavier. The price is usually a clue as to how strong and reliable certain materials and products are.

Ideally, you should be cleaning your gardening tools after every use to stop the spread of disease between plants via retained soil. Regular cleaning and sharpening also ensures tools remain effective, which makes your work easier and prevents blunt, clogged tools damaging trees and shrubs.

Most garden tools can be cleaned by scraping off mud, spraying down with water and drying off, treating with a disinfectant and finishing with a thin layer of general-purpose oil to ensure mechanisms stay well lubricated.

You should avoid leaving your gardening tools outside and instead use a dry storage area such as as shed or tool chest. Exposure to moisture can lead to rust and may undermine the integrity of the tool. Certain materials such as wood are susceptible to damage when damp and you don't want to have to replace tools any sooner than you need to.

• We have over 70 years of experience supplying all things gardening-related. We're experts in providing the right tools for planting, growing and maintaining gardens. Check out our growing guides if you want gardening advice.
• Our team is therehere for you six days a week , including Bank Holidays, to answer any questions you may have. Don't be afraid to reach out – we like helping you!!
• You'll get express delivery as standard with anything you buy from us, including our range of garden tools, so you can get to work as soon as possible.
• We're proud to have won silver in the Best Online Retailer category at the Great British Growing Awards.
• We've got plentythousands of 5-star Feefo reviews from our customers – and you'll get a 100% satisfaction guarantee on your garden tools so you can buy with added peace of mind.