Best New Gardening Tools 2013

23 Essential Gardening Tools, According to Horticulture Experts

Yes, you really need more than a pair of gloves.

The 23 Best Gardening Tools for Total Beginners According to the Pros — Woman planting in the garden, close-up. Guido Mieth/GettyImages

It doesn't matter if you have a green thumb or the touch of death when it comes to plants—if you don't have the best gardening tools on hand, or at the very least, the right gardening tools, you'll be fighting an uphill battle against stubborn weeds, hard soil, and, not to sound dramatic, but Mother Nature herself. You don't need a shed full of equipment to get started as a gardener, but there are undeniably a few essentials that will spare you from needless effort and mistakes as you set out on your journey into home horticulture.

Rather than wandering aimlessly through the aisles of the nearest hardware store, your best bet is to heed the advice of those who have been gardening for years. That's why SELF asked plant pros, instructors, and authors about the best gardening tools a newbie can buy if they want to get their garden up and running.

Furnishing your tool kit with these must-have items (and maybe a few extras that are simply nice to keep handy) won't just make your yard work and potting more pleasant—it could even boost your confidence as a beginner. You might feel like a total botanical rookie, but your arsenal of pruners, snips, and trowels will suggest otherwise. With a little practice (and plenty of patience) you'll be working like a seasoned (pun intended) plant parent in no time.

Read on to stock up on the best gardening tools for beginners.

All products featured on SELF are independently selected by our editors. However, when you buy something through our retail links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Amazon

Felco Pruning Shears

"A hand pruner is the first investment to make," Daryl Beyers, gardening instructor at the New York Botanical Garden and author of The New Gardener's Handbook, tells SELF. "It's basically what you use to trim and cut just about anything. If you're going to cut a flower, if you're going to remove a cucumber from a cucumber vine, if you're going to cut back an ornamental grass, or prune some twigs off of a shrub—you can use it all the time."

Angela S. Judd, a master gardener based in Arizona and author of How to Grow Your Own Food, and Carly Mercer, director of garden programming at Love & Carrots, also named a lightweight pair of hand pruners as one of the first tools a new gardener should have. Across the board, the experts we consulted recommended Felco as the top brand to buy.
Target

Fiskars Micro-Tip Pruning Snips

Another excellent option for small-scale pruning is the Fiskars Snips, a favorite of Mercer's for training tomato plants. "They're great—they're small, they fit in your pocket, they're easy to grab. I prefer them [to pruners] because they're spring-loaded, so it's not as much work for your hands when you're doing a lot of pruning or trimming."
Amazon

Berry & Bird Potting Trowel

When it comes to buying a garden trowel, Beyers recommends looking for one with a handle that's on the longer side, which will afford you greater leverage while digging.

Amazon

ARS 7-Inch Ideal Light Pruner

Another excellent option for pruning is this pair from ARS, which Mercer prefers because she can easily lock and unlock them with one hand, meaning they're a cinch to use if you're already holding branches or stems with your other hand.
Amazon

A.M. Leonard Classic Soil Knife

A sleek supplement (or alternative) to the traditional trowel is a hori hori knife, a serrated knife designed to break up soil. Mercer uses hers to dig small holes, uproot weeds, and saw through roots: "I just find it to be extremely versatile and super handy to have." She adds that this model from A.M. Leonard is particularly handy due to its can't-miss-it bright orange handle—it's hard to lose among the flower beds.
Target

De Wit Gardener's Supply Lifetime Cultivator

For more substantial weeding, Mercer recommends a high-quality hand rake or cultivator with sturdy metal tines. This tool, which features a durable wooden handle, also comes in handy when you want to fluff up soil in small swaths for planting or fertilizing.

Amazon

Ames Stainless-Steel Hand Cultivator

Mercer also likes this Ames model for a more budget-friendly (but just as effective) hand cultivator and weeder.
Amazon

Bellingham The Bamboo Gardener Work Gloves

Wearing gloves isn't a must if you're just doing some light gardening, but Beyers cautions that handling soil will dry out your hands faster than you think. So it doesn't hurt to keep a pair of cloth garden gloves handy. The fingers and palms of these bamboo gloves are coated in durable, water-resistant nitrile to save the wearer from soggy hands.
Amazon

Corona eGrip Transplanter

Judd likes this hand trowel for raised-bed and container gardening, specifically because it features a serrated edge and depth markings along its stainless-steel blade. Its comfortable ergonomic handle is a definite plus too.

Zappos

The North Face Horizon Breeze Brimmer Hat

It might not be a tool per se, but a wide-brimmed hat that will keep the sun out of your eyes is an indispensable piece in a gardener's arsenal, Beyers says. And, he's quick to add, don't forget your sunscreen, either.
Burpee

Burpee Stainless-Steel Long-Handled Fork

When you need something strong and sturdy to separate out swaths of mulch or soil, use a digging fork, Venelin Dimitrov, senior product manager at Burpee, tells SELF. You can even find one with 8 or 10 tines for especially rugged jobs.
Target

Fiskars Power-Lever Lopper

"If you're going to prune stuff that's thicker than a pencil, you need to step things up and get into the lopper category," Beyers says, explaining that loppers accomplish the same thing as hand pruners but on a larger scale. And the long handles on this pair from Fiskars provide some much-needed leverage when you're trimming small branch.

Amazon

Tubtrug Tub (2 Liter)

An exhausting reality of gardening is that you'll need to carry a lot of stuff from time to time, be it soil, fertilizer, or tools. And for that kind of multipurpose lugging, Beyers says you can't go wrong with a heavy-duty tub like this one from Tubtrug, a favorite brand among gardeners.
Amazon

ARS Professional Hedge Shears

Shears are similar to pruners or loppers but differ in how long their blades are—and for that reason, they're a particularly great tool for cutting back large patches of hedge or grass in one fell swoop. Beyers says to look for a lightweight pair to save your arms from some serious fatigue.
Amazon

Ames Wood-Handle Garden Spade

A shovel with curved edges and a pointed tip, like this gardening spade from Ames, is the one shovel you really need to get started, Beyers says, explaining that a traditional flat spade isn't the right shape to look for if you just want to dig into the soil and get to planting.

Amazon

Esschert Design Wooden Plant Dibber

A dibber is key to ensuring that your plants are spaced out sufficiently and planted to the proper depth, Judd says: "I've had this particular one for over 10 years, and it's my trusted partner at planting time."
Amazon

Dramm Premium High-Grade Plastic Watering Can

This Dramm watering can won't just look great on your window sill—it'll also reach far below your plants' leaves to dampen their roots and spare your wrist from overexertion, thanks to the top placement of its handle, whose design allows you to shift your grip. (Speaking from experience, Beyers says you really want a watering can with a handle that doesn't require awkward lifting or pouring, especially when the can is full.)
Amazon

Dramm Kaleidoscope Rain Wand

A watering wand will help the spray from your hose reach into deep beds and under tall plants, Beyers says. It also provides a gentler shower of water than your average nozzle, which comes in handy if you want to freshen up the leaves on a thirsty tree.

Amazon

Natural Burlap Fabric

For Beyers, it doesn't get much more versatile or useful than burlap. He'll use a swatch to transfer plants or to clean up soil around the garden, and he'll even fold some up to cushion his knees while he works.
Amazon

Flexi Hose With 8-Function Nozzle

A regular rubber hose will get the job done, but Beyers loves cloth hoses for their lighter weight and smaller footprint. This version from Flexi Hose expands up to 50 feet long but shrinks down to about half that length when it isn't in use.
Amazon

Victorinox Fixed-Blade Knife

If you're planning to grow your own salad greens or herbs, you need a good harvest knife, Mercer says. Her favorite is this compact (and, she warns, very sharp) blade from Victorinox.

Burpee

Women's Kobalt Goatskin Gloves

Heavy-duty work calls for heavy-duty gardening gloves, most likely ones made of leather. Beyers recommends looking for ones made from goatskin, which won't seize up and harden like traditional cow hide. Instead, they'll stay relatively soft and supple.
Johnny's Selected Seeds

Johnny's Selected Seeds Stirrup Hoe

Both Beyers and Mercer recommend using what's interchangeably known as a hinge hoe, stirrup hoe, or scuffle hoe if you want to save your back and weed, loosen soil, or work in fertilizer standing up.

Sara Coughlin is a writer living in Brooklyn, NY, interested in skin care, health, and wellness.

SELF does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Any information published on this website or by this brand is not intended as a substitute for medical advice, and you should not take any action before consulting with a healthcare professional.