In the green industry, no job is complete without the use of proper tools. Gardeners and landscapers need equipment to optimize their work and ensure it maintains the highest quality standard. From the basic shovel to the heavier machinery, landscape tools/garden tool sets would make your work easy, fun and save a whole lot of time.
Difference Between Gardening and Landscaping
Just to eliminate any confusion, for the sake of the newbies in the green space. Gardening and landscaping are two different concepts that are intertwined. You are probably already familiar with gardening which involves growing and caring for plants. Landscaping on the other hand deals with design of the outdoors. It is an art that goes beyond plants. It involves water bodies, walls, sculptures, anything that could bring beauty and form to an outdoor space. Plants are a huge part of landscaping, probably the most important part, and for the landscape to look professional and perfect, they need to be maintained. From trimming to pruning to mowing, every activity requires a dedicated tool.
Landscape Tools and Garden Tools Sets for Beginners
Investing in great landscape tools and garden tool sets is never a bad idea, but as a new gardener or landscaper, you’re probably not dealing with a large area of land. Instead of going for the more advanced and costlier tools, you could go for the more basic ones. As your expertise and land area increases, you also up your tool game. Doing this will help you save money and maximize profit on your business. Here are some of the must have landscape tools and garden tool set to get started with.
Gloves
Gloves to a gardener is just like a gun to a soldier or a stethoscope to a doctor, it is highly essential. They will save you a whole lot of cuts and blisters while working on the soil. Without the right pair of gloves, gardening can be a pain in the hands, literally.
How would you know the right pair of gloves? Firstly, they have to fit perfectly. You don’t want a situation where your gloves are slipping off when you work as that can cause blisters. They should have the right amount of bulk. Too bulky would make some activities difficult, and not enough bulk can easily get penetrated by thorns, so that’s something you have to look out for. The best gardening gloves are water resistant, so make sure yours is as well. And most importantly, they should be comfortable and natural. You shouldn’t feel like you’re wearing any gloves at all, kind of like a second hand.
Hand Pruners
Pruning is an essential part of gardening and landscaping, so you need a high-quality tool to make it easy. Hand pruners or pruning shears are thick scissors-like tools for cutting branches of trees and shrubs. The pruners usually come in two steels. The stainless steel and carbon steel. The stainless steel has higher corrosion resistance but becomes dull in less time than the carbon steel, so picking a type is based on your personal preference. The most important attribute for choosing a pruner is its size; it should fit perfectly in your hand for stress-free pruning.
Spades
Spades are a must have for any gardener or landscaper. It’s just one of those things you cannot do without. With this little worker, cutting sods, digging the soil, reshaping your beds and moving dirt have become a lot easier. The short handle of the spade makes it very easy to use while kneeling or bending. Spades can take some bucks out of your pocket, but it’s well worth it because these little guys can last a lifetime if maintained properly.
How would you know a good spade? Most spades are really good to use, but you might have to look out for the metal material. Stainless steel is appropriate due to rust, and the handle should be comfortable to hold. As long as the spade is light enough in your palm, you’re in the clear. Dig away!
Garden Hose or Watering Can
For every living thing, water is important. Just like you feel parched when you’re dehydrated, your plants feel the same, so it’s important to give them the right amount of water daily. Your choice of landscape tools or garden tool sets to help with this depends on the area of land you have to cover. For a small area of land in your backyard, or a little pot on your porch, a watering can would suffice. But for a larger area, a garden hose with an adjustable nozzle is recommended.
Either of these landscape tools/garden tool sets have the ability to water your plants evenly due to the multiple holes on their outlets, and with the adjustable nozzle on the garden hose, you can adjust the pressure and area coverage of the water.
Wheelbarrow
Being a landscaper or gardener involves moving a lot of dirt, mulch, compost and tools. Sometimes, these materials can be twice your weight or maybe just can’t be contained in a small storage. At this point, a wheelbarrow comes in handy. With two handles, a large bowl and at least a wheel for easy movement, a wheelbarrow allows enough space for humongous amounts of dirt and seamless transportation. After using your wheelbarrow, it is important to wash it clean and keep it in a dry place to prevent corroding and wear.
Rakes
When there’s unwanted substances like fallen leaves or dirt on your soil. Or maybe you just want to smoothen some loose soil, your rake is the right garden tool for the job. It looks kind of like a witch’s broom with a long stick holding a set of teeth at one end. The teeth or tines come in plastic and steel, and although either one of these choices would do the job perfectly (depending on the skills of the gardener), it’s recommended to use the plastic rakes on softer soils to prevent any damage to the soil or plants.
Hoe
Just like the rake, the hoe has a long handle or stick, but instead of teeth, it has a flat blade with a list of uses. Hoes are extremely traditional and are one of the oldest landscape tools/ garden tool sets known to man. The first set of hoes were made from wood and stone and roughly dates all the way back to the stone age. But even today, the hoe is still as used and important as it was back then. Hoes are majorly used for weeding and preparing flower beds, and the type of hoe you’d choose would depend on the type of plant you wish to grow. For instance, a perennial garden might require a thin hoe for a softer touch.
What to look out for? Comfort is paramount. A great handle made from fine wood with long reach, and a sharp enough blade for preparing your beds and weeding.
Advanced Landscape Tools and Garden Tool Sets for Seasoned Pros
If you’re a seasoned pro, have a company or business, or you probably just have a larger site to tend to, then the earlier mentioned landscape tools/ garden tool set may not suffice except you have loads of hands which would in turn cost a whole lot more. The wise decision would be to invest in machinery. Although they do cost a pretty buck, they are highly efficient. From sharper cuts to larger movements, they would most definitely do a better job than the basic tools.
Excavators
Spades are great, but they are no match for excavators. These machines allow landscapers to dig deep holes or even small surfaces. They usually come in wheels or tracks for movement, although tracks are preferred by most people for their ability to work on various terrains. The excavator has a large arm with a bucket-like end for digging. It’s large enough to pack a small garden out of the ground, and it has an ability to move 360 degrees for ease during work.
For tighter spaces or smaller areas of land, there are mini excavators. They have the ability of the larger ones but are also able to maneuver tiny spaces.
Mower
Green grass is one of the most important features of landscape art as it brings a natural look to the landscape. But over time, these can grow and end up looking rather untidy. It is important as a landscaper to have a lawn mower in your arsenal to make sure that your grass remains trim and looks neat for every eye that comes upon it. There are various kinds of lawn mowers. Some come with a handle for pushing along the grass, while others are like a vehicle for driving along the lawn. Your choice of mower would depend on the area of land, and the level of comfort you’d like to have while mowing. And of course, your budget.
Skid Steer Loaders
In place of a wheelbarrow, you can use a skid steer loader for transporting. Its ability to take on over 4 times the amount of load a wheelbarrow can makes it ideal for large expanses of land. A skid steer loader, just like the excavator comes in either wheel or tracks. It has a large metal bucket in front of the vehicle that picks up dirt or load for transporting. And can also be used for grading land and hauling gravel. It is best used on landscaping projects that don’t involve moving on grass.
Multi Terrain Loaders
They perform the exact same function as the skid steer loaders, but are designed to work on a wider range of terrains especially on feeble surfaces like lawns. Transporting dirt, rubbles, thick bushes and a host of other materials at a faster pace than other loaders is why the multi-terrain loader is a force in the landscaping space. Its compatibility with other landscaping and gardening tools like hammers, blades and hoes are a plus too.
Lawn Aerator
A lawn aerator is a landscaping and garden tool used for improving soil aeration and drainage by creating holes in the soil. There are two types of lawn aerators. The spike aerators which use wedge-shaped spikes to drill holes into the soil, and core aerators which have long teeth that pull cores of the soil out. The major difference in their operation is that Spike aerators do not pull soil out, instead, they adjust the soil while core aerators remove the soil from the ground to create space for water.
The purpose of soil aeration is to promote growth, allow free air and water flow through the soil and to make room for nutrients to penetrate into the layers of the soil.
Leaf Blower
You might look at this with a frown, or a little confusion. Why does a larger land area need a leaf blower and not a smaller one? It is true that you can use a leaf blower for your smaller gardens or landscape, but is it economical? Probably not. You’d save a whole lot of money if you just hand picked the fallen leaves or maybe use a rake. A leaf blower definitely costs more than the former option, so you should get it when it’s necessary. That means when there’s a large land mass to cover.
A leaf blower blasts pressured air from a nozzle to any surface and is usually powered by either an electric or gas system. They come in various forms, like a handheld leaf blower or a backpack with a tube and nozzle for ease during use.
Water Trucks
Water trucks are the more efficient (on larger sites) versions of watering cans or garden hoses. They are large vehicles that store large amounts of water to either clean up your landscaping site or spray large expanses of grass. Usually, landscapers rent them as not all landscaping jobs require them, but if you have a few extra bucks that you don’t have use for and want to buy one for yourself, you as well can.
Finally
There is an extensive list of other landscape tools/garden tool sets for any gardener or landscaper out there. But before you rush to get any tool or equipment, it is important to analyze its use. Do you really need it, or can you do without it? Whether you’re planting for the business or for fun, saving cost should be an important part of your process. Plant away!