Power(Ful) Tools: 3 Must-Have Gardening Helps For Taking Care Of Your Home's Landscape
While winter still dominates most of the Northern Hemisphere, it's clear to anyone who's glanced at their calendar that spring is really right around the corner – and with spring comes the reemergence of your personal garden. But there's a good chance that your gardening tools are either a bit rusty and broken down from years of use (or disuse), or that some may have gone missing entirely since the last time you used a trowel or spade. So if you're looking to build back up your store or even if you're gardening for the first time this spring, then here are 3 gardening tools you don't want to be without.
Pruning Shears
When it comes to making your home's landscape look the best, no single tool will have as big an effect as pruning shears. These can be large or small (though it's probably a good idea to have a small pair for detail work and a large pair for thicker branches), so long as they have the ability to mold the trees and bushes in your yard into shapes that are both decorative and neat. As an added bonus, pruning helps to keep your plants healthy as well as aesthetically pleasing, so ensure you buy a sharp pair and keep them out of the rain to prevent rusting and sticking.
A Stiff Spade
Spades are one of those gardening tools that everyone seems to have but no one seems to take advantage of, letting it rust in the garage. Spades are crucial in the fight against weeds, allowing you to dig down to get at the root system rather than leaving it intact to sprout another weed in a matter of days. Spades are also useful for planting, especially for flowers or other plants where a shovel would be overkill. Choose a spade that feels good in your hand – while you might think you need the biggest size available, if your hands are small and thin you'll find a big spade to be unwieldy and you'll end up not using it at all. Rubber grips are a plus, as they prevent the spade from slipping out of your grip if you're using it at a rather awkward angle.
Hardy Gloves
Usually the tool you don't think about when standing in the gardening aisle at your local supermarket, a pair of thick, hardy gloves will save your hands where the rest of your gardening tools might fail. Especially when facing down plants with spines or thorns on them (and a fair share of weeds fall into those categories), you'll find that your trusty spade won't do the job where a hand wrapped as low around the plant as possible will give you the proper leverage to pull it out, roots and all. An elastic (covered by cloth) top to the gloves is your best bet, so that any dirt (or, heaven forbid, bugs) that might end up airborne won't go directly into your gloves and get your hands dirty. Make sure to launder your gloves after every gardening session and your hands should stay soft and rash-free no matter what plants you're dealing with.
Call a professional landscaper, like Oliver's Landscaping & Garden Service, LLC, if you don't want to do these chores yourself.
