Essential Garden Equipment for New Green Fingers

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In this article, we're sharing the most recommended tools, resources, and tips for first-year gardeners, as shared by our expert author.

Comfort is Key

When it comes to gardening, especially for long hours of planting and weeding, a kneeling pad is highly recommended for comfort.

Planning is Crucial

Planning is essential for the success of a beginner gardener, and it can be an enjoyable activity, especially during the winter months. Garden planners and journals are available in abundance, and our author created their own planner called the Simple Garden Planner.

Getting Started

For newbie gardeners, garden kits are an excellent choice. These kits offer options for complete tool sets and all-in-one starter planting kits.

Recommended Tools

Our author recommends the following tools for beginners:

A hand trowel: Basic, yet essential for digging, planting, and transplanting.
Pruning shears: Useful for harvesting vegetables and pruning plants. The author's favourite is the Barnel Bypass Pruner.
Gloves: Protect your hands with a pair of gloves. The author's personal favourite is the Wonder Grip Nitrile Garden Gloves.
A watering can: Keep your plants hydrated with a watering can.
A garden hoe: This tool is essential for clearing patches of the garden, digging furrows for potatoes, and preparing a row for seeds.
A garden rake: A staple item in any gardener's tool shed, a garden rake is useful for various tasks such as levelling soil, removing leaves, and preparing the garden for planting. An inexpensive purchase from a home supply store can suffice.
Slogger garden boots: These waterproof boots last for years and withstand wet and sweaty garden feet.
A favourite hand shovel: Our author's favourite hand shovel has a sturdy, stainless-steel head and a comfortable handle.

Supporting Your Plants

For tomatoes, plain tomato stakes are a minimum support method, while sturdy tomato cages are suggested for long-term use. Twine can be used for pea trellises, cucumber trellises, and many tomato trellises, and tie tape is handy for controlling long tomato vines.

Additional Resources

The author offers an online course called the Beginner's Garden Shortcut, which teaches gardening through video lessons. They also provide free garden resources, including a 7-day garden plan and several downloadable garden resources. Subscribing to their email list grants access to these resources.

The author's goal is to help beginners grow rewarding gardens, and they offer free guides to achieve this. Their top recommendations for beginning gardening books are also worth checking out.