Essential tools for gardening

The essential tools you need will depend on how big an area of garden you have and what you are going to do in your garden.

If you are gardening on a patio or balcony in pots you will need:

• Trowel (small spade)
• Short handled fork
• Secateurs ( for cutting flowers and dead stems)
• Gardener’s ties ( for tying long stems to stakes or railings to prevent wind damage)
• Scissors
• Watering can

In a larger garden you will also need:

• Spade
• Long handled fork
• Hoe
• Rake
• Leaf rake (for cleaning up piles of weeds and dead leaves)
• Large plastic bags or bins for carrying weeds to recycling receptacle
• Hose and nozzles and/or sprinklers for watering

Option extras include

• Wheelbarrow
• Hose reel
• Loppers (for trimming small branches on trees)