Top 10 Essential Garden Tools Every Gardener Should Own

The garden tools we sell in our online tool shop are all tools that we, as vegetable gardeners, use ourselves. We have sourced a selection of planting, digging, weeding, harvesting, pruning, maintenance and wood cutting tools to make the job at hand that much easier. We have compiled a list of the top 10 gardening tools that we use on a recurring basis.

10. Wheelbarrow

We have a selection of galvanised and hard plastic wheelbarrows available. A good barrow is strong yet light enough to easily transport when full. Also, why not try one of these  water carrying bags for wheelbarrows, they are the only way to transport water in a barrow without spilling it.  Wheelbarrow - Hard plastic and 100 Litre capacity

 9. Dibber Dibbers are useful for making planting holes for seeds, bulbs and seedlings. We have a nice selection of oak timber dibbers as well as some stainless steel ones, the timber ones have calibrated rings to indicate depth and take the guesswork out of planting.                Oak Dibber - FSC Timber with calibrated planting depth rings

8. Digging Spade

A decent digging spade is always needed in the garden, in my opinion the best one to use is a stainless steel type. Regular spades easily rust and the soil tends to stick to them whereas a good stainless steel spade stays smooth making digging that much easier.  Stainless Steel Digging Spade - Burgon & Ball

 7. Garden Trowel

Hand tools like garden trowels and hand forks are some of the most used gardening tools, so the best trowel should have a comfortable handle with a well fitted blade that won't come loose after time. This transplanting trowel from Burgon & Ball has a comfortable ash timber handle with a stainless steel blade with planting depths etched into the face.  Stainless Steel Transplanting Trowel from Burgon & Ball

  6. Fork Hoe

Chillington Tools (the crocodile range), need no introduction on this site, they are the cornerstone of our garden tools list. Chillington hoes all have their digging blades at a right angle to the handle, in the traditional 'Mattock' style, this gives better leverage making digging alot easier.  The Chillington 'Canterbury' fork hoe/azada breaks up soil faster, and with less effort than any other digging fork.   Chillington Fork hoe

5. Garden Knife

A small knife is often needed in the garden for cutting string, sticks and flowers, trimming fruit and vegetable plants and many other jobs. It’s a good habit to carry one in your pocket or garden trug. Opinel knives have a very sharp blade that folds into the wooden handle. These knives were ranked in the top 100 most beautiful products in the world by the Victoria and Albert Museum.   Opinel No8 Folding Pocket Knife

4. Garden Secateurs

Any garden needs constant maintenance and a good garden secateurs is an invaluable tool to have for any pruning jobs. The secateurs we recommend is the Classic Felco no4, they are affordable bypass secateurs that will last a lifetime. 

3. Heavy Duty Hoe

Another appearance by Chillington tools here on our list. This time it is the heavy duty garden hoe. This hoe is ideal for breaking new ground and will do so much easier than a spade or shovel. Like the fork hoe, it's blade is set at a right angle to the handle allowing the lever action to minimise effort required.  Chillington Heavy Duty Hoe

2. Golden Gark

The Golden Gark is a multipurpose garden maintenance tool, it is a rake, shovel and soil sift in one. This lightweight tool is ideal for clearing up weeds or fallen autumn leaves and much more.   The Golden Gark

1. Oscillating Hoe

This is another tool that needs no introduction on this site, the oscillating hoe is a long handled garden hoe with a swivel head. The long handle enables you to hoe an entire raised bed from the same position and the swivel action head cuts on both the puch and the pull stroke sharpening itself as it goes.    The oscillating hoe

For many more useful gardening tools, please visit our online  tool store.