Smart Shopper Garden Shed Essentials

To keep your patch perfect, be sure to have the right tools for the job

- Sunny Bell

Roam the aisles of any hardware store and you’ll see hundreds of items you could potentially purchase for your garden. Alongside the staples of shovels, sprinklers and mowers, you’ll find everything from mulch forks to cordless pruners. As appealing as all these shiny things may be, there comes a point when you have to ask yourself, “What do I actually need?”

There are a couple of basic products that everyone should have ready in their gardening arsenal, says Matthew Hoffmann, garden hand-tool buyer at Bunnings. “A trowel, hand fork, weeder and gardening gloves will cover you for the majority of projects,” he advises. “If you have a more substantial plot to maintain, a rake, broom, shovel, hoe and pitchfork are all useful additions.

“For roses, shrubs and small tree branches, pruners and secateurs will see you through,” says Hoffmann. “A pruning saw with a curved blade makes cutting easier.” For large branches, a tree lopper with long handles for better leverage may also be useful, he adds.