Gardening Essentials

You don’t need to spend a fortune to start gardening. But there’s only so much you can do with an old dinner fork; you really need a few bits of basic gardening gear.

There’s no need to go out and buy the top of the range, though. Start off with a budget collection that does the job and spend the money you have saved on plants, some really good pots or a pretty water feature instead.

At least if you have got your own tools there’s a good chance the job will get done without waiting till you can borrow them.

All of these products you will find in the UK in places like Homebase Garden Furniture and B&Q Garden Furniture.

Here is what I suggest you need to start off with:

Spade - For digging and for making holes to put the bigger plants, shrubs and climbers in.

Hand Trowel - For planting small plants and some weeding.

Hoe - For quick weeding if you don’t let the weeds get too big, when you have to do it by hand with a trowel.

Rake - For collecting up dead leaves and weeds and straightening out gravel.

Wheelbarrow - For carrying weeds away in and for moving materials like compost, manure, gravel or bark chippings.

Lawnmower - A small electic hover model without a grassbox is cheap and quite enough for most small gardens if you dont let the grass grow too long.

Hosepipe - One and a half times the length of your garden so it reaches into all the difficuly corners.