Backyard Toolkit 101

Your expert guide to the garden toolkit essentials

- Adam Woodhams

The time has come to get your own garden toolkit together or maybe add a couple of extras to the shed. You hit your local hardware barn and in a flash your well-laid plans descend into confusion as you’re faced with aisle after aisle packed with a multitude of garden gadgets and goodies, all screaming “pick me”!

So, how do you decide where to start? How can you make sure you buy the gear that gets used rather than gathers dust? I’ve put together a list of my top five garden must-haves based on decades of garden trials (as well as plenty of errors…).

1. Secateurs or pruners

Without a doubt these should be the foundation tool in every gardener’s kit. Whether you’re tip pruning to encourage growth, tidying up by removing dead flowers or old wood, seasonally cutting back things like rose bushes, or cutting flowers for a vase or herbs for dinner, you need good hand-pruners to do any of this well without damaging your plants. Look for a pair that sits comfortably in your hand in both the closed and open position. The blade must be good quality so that it holds a sharp edge, and they need to be easy to clean.

2. Hand trowel