My favorite gardening equipment

Grandpa's tools

Grandpa’s tools

Winter is a good time to evaluate your garden tools. I’ve stashed them all away for the coming rain and in doing so, looked them all over really good.  After gardening for so many years you kind of get a familiar routine or system when it comes to your equipment, gardening clothes and tools. 

First of all, clothes:

  • Heavyweight men’s wrangler jeans in one size too big so I can move around. $15. at Target
  • If I can’t garden in my favorite old cashmere sweaters, I wear a T-shirt or a flannel shirt from the thrift store
  • Solid color men’s Vans slip-ons, 1 pair lasts two years, machine washable.  I’ve found that the girl patterned Van’s don’t hold up in the wash.  These are tough and worth the forty dollars.
  • Cotton socks for summer, woolen camping socks for winter.
  • Wide brimmed hat and a bandana.
Baggy jeans, flannel shirt and nice metal nozzle

Baggy jeans, flannel shirt and nice metal nozzle. This is from my January wintersowing.  I look cold, huh?

Hand tools

Gloves, stretchy fabric, rubber fingered snug fitting gloves.  I buy the cheapest of these several times a year because they just don’t last long.  My favorites were a three pak of deer skin orchard gloves, but alas, they didn’t last long either.

These four fit in my back pockets:

  • Narrow-bladed trowel.  I pick these up at thrift and junk stores whenever I see them. I paint the wooden handles red or yellow to be easily seen out in the garden. For planting, bulbs, and weeding.
  • Scissor bladed clippers for shearing lavender and any closely cut shaped plants, thyme, marjoram, wallflower and euphorbias.
  • Rose pruners, curved bladed trimmers, the best you can afford.
  • Steak knife to cut weeds, an invaluable tool.

Hand cultivator  To cultivate the soil around plants will effectively prevent weeds.  Weeds can not survive in disturbed soil.

Favorite loppers

Favorite Florian ratchet loppers are expensive, but have lasted 31 years!

Ratchet loppers are great for cutting branches with little effort. If you haven’t use ratchet loppers or ratchet hand clippers, you are in for a happy surprise. With a chain saw and loppers we trimmed around all our many live oak trees.

Metal hose nozzle   I get the plainest one, as long as it is all metal.  I’ve throw too many hoses down on the patio only to have the plastic ones break on impact.

Favorite tools and shoes

Favorite tools and shoes

Handle tools

  • Shovel for planting and shaping beds and paths.
  • Metal rake for smoothing beds and raking leaves and sticks from planting beds.  For cleaning up around trees and paths.
  • Leave rake for getting leaves out of planting beds.
  • Cultivator to ruffle up the soil to prevent compaction and weeds.
  • I rarely use a hoe, preferring to hand pick weeds! Personal preference, I guess. 
Tractor Man mows the fields around the house

Tractor Man mows the fields around the house

Gas powered or electric tools

Chain saw and chaps,….these I reserve for Tractor Man who, as he puts it, does my bidding in the garden.

Weed eaterThis is also for Tractor man who is the one who whacks the weeds and grass one hundred feet around the house. 

Big giant brush mower.  Given to us by a friend moving back to civilization, Tractor Man instantly fell in love with this mower and enjoyed many hours mowing the fields of their tarweed. I persuaded him to leave a swath last year for the sake of its glowing color and hope a bigger section can be left this year as much of the bigger weedy plants have been smoothed over and discouraged.

Organized tools in my potting area

Organized tools in my potting area

Winter is a good time to get your tools in shape,…replace broken ones, clean dirty ones, scrape off rust, and spray with a lubricant like WD-40.  I’m doing this and getting ready for a new season. 

Last year, I set up a small tool station at the back door, where I can load up my pockets and be ready to go.  I also cleaned up my potting area, decorated it and made a place to photograph plants and other objects for the blog or my Flea Market Gardening Facebook page.

13 comments

  1. Town Mouse -

    No Hori Hori? Oh, you’re missing out. I guess the steak knife might do it, but I really do recommend the Hori Hori.

    As for clothes, I just take whatever Mr. Mouse or I want to give to the goodwill. Pants from Mr. Mouse, Jacket I never wore. But I completely agree, one really doesn’t need to go spend a bunch of money to be dressed just so.

  2. Town Mouse -

    No Hori Hori? Oh, you’re missing out. I guess the steak knife might do it, but I really do recommend the Hori Hori.

    As for clothes, I just take whatever Mr. Mouse or I want to give to the goodwill. Pants from Mr. Mouse, Jacket I never wore. But I completely agree, one really doesn’t need to go spend a bunch of money to be dressed just so.

  3. Gayle Madwin -

    You’re a lot pickier about your gardening equipment than I am! Especially about clothes. I garden wearing whatever I already happen to be wearing, as long as it’s not unusually expensive or pale-colored and unbleachable. The only exception is the shoes – I keep garden clogs just outside the front and back doors and change in and out of them every time I go in or out of the house. This keeps mud out of the house, and the garden clogs can be easily cleaned up at any time just by turning the hose on them.

  4. Katie Hertfelder -

    Hi Sue!
    I can’t believe you stole my look. The only difference is my roomy jeans are from the Penney’s ladies dept, and my shoes are just old running shoes. I use a steak knife too, a very old Cutco trimmer. My husband got me a grape knife last year. It’s a chunky pocket knife with a sickle blade great for shearing without squeezing. Wonderful tool! Your potting area looks inviting and organized!

    • Sue Langley -

      Hi Mouse! I’ll have to try a Hori knife,…I’ve heard great things about them.

      Gayle, I guess everyone figures out what ‘suits’ them best. I love the sturdiness of Wranglers and Vans and the coziy comfort of flannel! hahaha

      Katie, do you think we’d be twins, then? One reason I wear Vans slipons is because of the ‘wild carrot’ (*Spreading hedgeparsley*) stickers! Terrible and they can just ruin socks and shoelaces. I’ll have to try a grape knife as well,…where did you find it?

  5. Katie -

    OK, I just got to say… I am totally jealous of your potting area! Oop, just noticed there isn’t any water. Do you use your garden hose for H2O?

    • Sue Langley -

      Katie, I wish I had water there. I have a hose nearby and one old faucet. I need advice on what parts to get to hook it up with an ‘L’ fitting. Plumbing is *not* my strong suit!

  6. Katie -

    OK, I just got to say… I am totally jealous of your potting area! Oop, just noticed there isn’t any water. Do you use your garden hose for H2O?

    • Sue Langley -

      Katie, I wish I had water there. I have a hose nearby and one old faucet. I need advice on what parts to get to hook it up with an ‘L’ fitting. Plumbing is *not* my strong suit!

  7. Katie Hertfelder -

    The grape knife was from Gempler’s. I’m pretty sure we’d be indistinguishable once the big hat is on. I hate those stickers! High lace leather boots and long boot cut jeans are the only way to walk freely here in the Summer. (Cowboys are way ahead of us here.)

  8. Curbstone Valley Farm -

    Nice list! I’d definitely add one. Since I started using a Hori-Hori knife in the garden, now I just don’t seem to be able to be without it! Always good for digging a small hole for transplants, and cutting through an errant root that’s in the way. I almost don’t use my trowel any more. I’m not a hoe user either…I prefer the satisfaction of knowing the weed is gone at the roots, not just at the surface 😉

  9. Curbstone Valley Farm -

    Nice list! I’d definitely add one. Since I started using a Hori-Hori knife in the garden, now I just don’t seem to be able to be without it! Always good for digging a small hole for transplants, and cutting through an errant root that’s in the way. I almost don’t use my trowel any more. I’m not a hoe user either…I prefer the satisfaction of knowing the weed is gone at the roots, not just at the surface 😉

Comments are closed.