10 Tools that Could Revolutionize Your Gardening Experience

For the past 16 years I've landscaped and gardened in the southern foothills of the Blue Ridge mountains where the soil is primarily heavy clay. In the summer the clay is as hard as concrete; in the fall after a long rain the soil is like grease. There is a lot of poison ivy to deal with plus an even more noxious weed known as smilax (which I am allergic to) which has nasty thorns and is very hard to kill.

There are two tools I highly recommend, not just for this region of the country but for anywhere. The first is a pair of nitrile gloves. These gloves are amazing, and I call them a 'tool' because they improve your ability to grasp tools, pull weeds, carry thorny rose canes, move rocks, etc., but are also flexible enough to pick up a dime. Amazing gloves.

The other tool I use is also extremely versatile. It's called a mattock-tiller, or simply a mattock. It's great for digging, chopping, shearing, cultivating, edging, weeding, etc. It's even good for opening bags of soil or mulch -- I just chop across the top of the bag; much less trouble then clogging a pair of scissors.

Here are images:

My mattock has an axe blade on the side yours has a tiller. It's great for hewing through roots.

I agree on the gloves and on the mattock - most useful garden tool design.

My old one needs a handle but was the perfect size and weight for the average job in this garden. The light one I'm using now is really nice as well. It's so light it is child's play to use it, but doesn't quite have the blade length I would like. I also picked up a hand tool for weeding which has a similar design, and quickly became a favourite for those jobs as well. The pick end of these mattocks on average sees maybe 5 percent the usage of the blade.

@Lynn.Wallace and Artsmith -- Yes. I've got a large mattock (like an axe) that has flat blades on both ends that I use for large jobs. It can really hack through some big roots, and is good for prying large rocks out of the hard clay, but it's a real workout to use. But definitely a good tool to have.

(Though I saw a comment from someone else recently that said the best tools to have are the ones used by the guy you hired!)

Surprised a pitchfork isn't on the list.

I saw a gardening tv show a few years back when I first started my garden that said a pitchfork was the gardener's #1 tool. I picked one up and definitely have to agree... much more useful than a large shovel.

My wife!

1) Gloves

2) Earplugs

3) Chainsaw

4) Mower

5) Mattock

6) Garden fork (Large)

7) Posthole shovel

8) Crowbar

9) Garden setting with seats and table

10) Esky with ice. (For the Kiwi's that's a "chilli bin".)

I use a scythe (very relaxing and good exercise) and yes the mattock. I actually bought one in Germany years ago and brought it back to Ireland on the plane. (Before murderous tools were banned). It had the little short axe piece and the main mattock blade was gently curved. Amazing quality and light too! I drained a neighbour lady's flooded field with it. Cut a very long deep (2ft? and 6 inches wide?) trench in about 2 hours. Saved her a fortune in machine time. Also good for skimming off the grassy or weedy layer before using it as a super shovel to make garden beds. Nothing comparable here in Canada so I use a "lady's" mattock. It has a spike instead of an axe. It is pretty good. I miss the axe attachment though. You need to be a caveman to swing the mans version here!

Brian

Would this be cheating?