What's your one must-have gardening item?

Gloves --

Several pairs, some thick enough for big thorns
Some sturdy enough for loading/unloading chunks of granite
Some thin enough to feel what I'm doing
Some warm enough for winter outside for hours
Some just warm enough to go get some more firewood
Some breathable backs for hot weather -- and no stickers
Some extras because I can't find the ones I was wearing last week -- oh there they are under the chain saw!
Some just 'cause

-- Mary

I'm with lincolnitess . . . after having passed out from heat exhaustion & dehydration one morning when I stayed out in the sun too long, now I always have a big bottle of nice, cold water on hand, and refill it often!

I've been thinking about this thread and have finally realized what it is for me. I can, may not want to but can, get by without most anything or make something else do except for my Coppertone Sun and Bug. I just discovered it and will never be without it again. I have very fair skin so need sunblock but many of them seem to attract the bugs, while many bug repellents seem to make you burn faster. I used to have to chose which I wanted, burn or bites. This stuff works great in both departments.

This giant knife i have, is about a foot long blade, with sort of forked end and serated edges, its great as a saw or to dig deep or slice the grass out of the way, or to cut off fruits or veges or flowers... its just wonderful.

Dirt.

Succulents, because when all else fails, they'll hang on to brighten my day.

This message was edited Aug 3, 2007 5:47 PM

My favorite gardening "must have" is my Muck shoes from "The Original Muck Boot Company".
http://www.muckbootsandshoes.com/index.php
They're as soft and comfortable as my favorite bedroom slippers. My feet stay warm in the winter, and my feet never stink - spring, summer, fall, or winter - when I take them off after wearing them for hours on end. They're completely waterproof and have an AWESOME tread on the bottom to keep me from slipping on wet grass, mud, etc. I have bought them for my parents and sister as gifts. Mom and Dad wear them (everywhere), regardless of the season. (Mom had them on today when she came to visit.) They slip on as easy as your slippers and the band around your leg is soft and stretchy. …..I will always, always, always have a pair! …..Best thing I've found it years!

I saw this and my 1 most favorite would be, notice I said would be, someone to do all the work.

Hey I can dream can't I???

I cannot live without the garden hose. I live in fear of a no watering ban during drought periods. I can't live without a shovel either. Oh No! I can't decide!!!!! I need all my gardening tools! My rubber shoes,the pond Skimmer! Yikes! I am stopping this right now!

My only must have in the garden are my kitchen scissors by Cutco!!!!!!!!!!!!! One minute I am cutting up chicken for a dish and the next I have cleaned them and out to cut something...........these Cutco scissors are better than any pruner around.........

My absolute must have is the garden hose. I love to watch the gardens respond to the watering. But , I agree scissors are wonderfull in the garden. You can dead head 10 flowers at once! Sometimes I feel like Johnny Depp in ?/ Scissorhands. :)

You just can't ruin these Cutco scissors but mine are either going to have to be sharpened (which they will do) or get some new ones.............(15 years is long enough for me)

My raspberry bushes--So I can take a break and enjoy the fruits of my labors. They produce twice a year- early summer and fall. They're wonderful !!!

HELP-HELP-HELP

I love your answer!!!!!!!!!!! PRICELESS...........and isn't it the truth..........

I came home yesterday from being out of town for almost a week.........a cold norther had blown in and the winds were whipping around over 50 mph..........I said 50 last night but the news this morning said they were 60 mph..........tired as I was (and an old granny at that) I first picked up every single pot laying over on its side...............big and heavy ones.........and put them where they could get protection from the north wind.

Last night i waked up 3 times with legs cramping so much i couldn't sleep...........know it was nothing but being dehydrated from hauling all those big pots around for an hour or so.........(by myself of course)............

Anyone ever want to come help with gardening Lost Indian and I will welcome you with open arms (LOL)

I love my little hand trowel. Sounds strange and simple, but it's an extension of my hands and cuts thru where my hands can't.

Gotta have the kneeling pad. I have all kinds and sizes. One for every occaision. They are in the garage, the work shed, the front hall closet and one is in the car. Once, coming home on the "back roads" from a trip I came across an abandoned farm house that had a gorgeous climbing rose. Took some doing but I got a chunk of that rose. A kneeling pad sure would have made it easier.

I have also wished for a hand-held weed eater (ah....string trimmer). Seriously, is there such a thing? I have stepping stones or stones with grass in the cracks. I think a hand held trimmer would be just perfect for this job.

I have a torpedo hoe I couldnt garden without. Its used for delicate weeding , seed , grubbing out roots and rocks and just for leaning on.
blunt or sharp it's great. Secatuars is 2nd on list, Ive had the same one over 25yrs, theyve had heavy duty use all that time and never been
sharpened, still very very sharp. Next a kneeling stool I use as a seat for weeding out oxalis bulbs, and a hand towel to wipe my brow,
often. Buuuut my favourite is a sprung deck chair that reclines slighty,, Oh the relief !! From there I can while recuperating admire the
work done, this makes starting again so much easier. A cold beer?? Nooo, A cold cuppa tea every time.

Kiwi

I couldn't live without a hose. & neither could my garden!

Must have my handy pick. It's a valuable tool, especially for separating bulbs like daylillies and irises.
My soil is rocky here, and I use the pointed end to dig holes, and the blade end for cutting nasty roots like those of the small, but evasive briers that try to run up the stems of my plants & flowers.

Wow. I say WOW. I found it!

The hand held weed eater I was talking about last summer? Yes, they do make one,
and I found one locally! Sure, I didn't try very hard, but there it was one day, just sitting
on the shelf staring at me. I'll take it!

This thing is great! Sure, it is charged electrically and only lasts for about thirty minutes
per charge, but hubby said we should buy another one. I agree.

Basically, it looks like hair trimmers, only for the garden. They are lightweight and
small, gliding along small plants, little trees and other areas you need to
weed but can't use a big trimmer for fear of decapitating the plants.

It is about twenty dollars, I found it at Wal Mart. Weed Eater brand C-Max
WGS36 with a 3" grass shear. Very cool. Not heavy duty, but it did the job just fine.
Just grab a wad of weeds or grass and shear them off close to the ground.
The only drawback is that before you know it, you have a huge pile of sheared
grass to clean up, but well worth the final presentation.

I just trimmed both sides of the chain link fence, where Johnson grass loves to
grow. Snipped it right off. We can actually see through the fence now.

I'm in love!

UPDATE: They make one with higher voltage AND a hedge trimmer. Whoo hoo!


This message was edited Aug 12, 2008 8:44 PM

My favorite thing is a small shovel called a floral or perennial shovel. I don't even use a hand trowel any more, because the floral shovel is so much easier to use, but small enough to maneuver in tight places that you would otherwise use a hand trowel. MUCH less bending over. Also, couldn't do without the wheelbarrow I've had for 24 years, even if I did fall on it last year and bust some of the plastic off with my derriere....It holds soil amendments, and lets me mix with soil before backfilling. I've got to get a Mantis...

I couldn't garden without my Hans Plads Fraya stainless steel spading fork. I used to go through a spading fork every season until my DH got me this beauty. I turned around and bought one for my mom & mother in law. It's an essential, for me!

glass of wine

norcalgardener2, I'm liking that spading fork--looks light, and mine weighs a ton. Where might such an item be acquired?

I love my cutco scissors too and bought some for the garden but my favorite "tool" is my no kink garden hose....WOW is it wonderful!

booplants - is your no kink hose really no kink? What brand is it? I would love to find a no kink that is really good!

Portland, It really is a no kink...I bought it several years agao...these really last in the sun as I live in Phoneix! I got a 50 footer...but they make them longer. I saw some at Target the other day...and I believe they say NO KINK or something like that on them.

Good luck!

ajaxmd, your best bet would be to google Hans Plads and give them a call to see if they have a dealer in your area. I bought the ones I gave as gifts directly from Hans Plads - they were awesome to work with on the direct purchase.

Portland,

Wine. LOL. Good answer! What is your preference? :-)

Karen Marie

Thanks, norcal--I tried googling the whole name and got an Islamic web site (?!!). Will keep trying. Boy do I have a long Xmas list after reading this thread....

This looks like the site for the Hans Plads: http://www.hansplads.com/fraya/forks.html

And here's the site for purchasing it: http://www.hpihomecenter.com/servlet/Categories?category=Fraya+Gardening+Tools

This message was edited Oct 3, 2008 9:35 AM

Shovel, Made by Craftsman.

Gasoline powered edger. What used to take me two days to edge the beds, sidewalks and driveway now takes 1/2 day.

LOL! What a great thread. I have to say, if I did have a "can't live without" hand tool, it would be the thing pictured by and posted about by both balvenie on June 4 '05 and scooterbug on July 20 '05. ( I don't know how to lift the photo and port it to this post so telling instead.......)

I used to have one of those and could not imagine gardening without it when I had it. I called it my "chopper digger" although the name on the handle was "Hoe-Matic".

I never could figure out where they got the "-Matic" part of that. ;-)

Then one very sad day, the handle finally broke (after 6 years of heavy use) and I could not find a replacement in the situation I was in at the time. I kept the head in my 5 gallon tool bucket for several years, and bought another kind of hand hoe thingie but it was too heavy and awkward and just did not do the same work.

I finally got rid of the head of the old chopper-digger. But I hope one day to acquire another.

Thanks for the memories of a favorite tool.

Well, I have a garden shed full of tools, all of which come in very handy for different jobs around the yard, and I could not do without them at different times depending on the task that needs to be done... I wouldn't have them, if I didn't need them. But, the one piece of equipment (I suppose you'd call it) that I use everyday is my wagon. Whether I'm pulling weeds, picking up debris, planting, or moving dirt... I'm always pulling it around the yard. It's big enough to hold all my hand tools, bulbs, plants, buckets, fertilizers, and what ever I need as I move from bed to bed. I bought it at Tractor Supply, and it acts as a little dump truck when I pull a lever.

You know bjw - that's my second best tool - my wagon. Mine's a little different though. It is made of plastic and looks like a big rectangular milk crate. It wall haul 1200 lbs of stuff. The reason I use one that cant hold dirt is because I use it to hose off pond filter matts. The water of course runs through. Makes rinsing off cleaning pond stuff a snap.

Kylaluaz: Balvenie's post was 6/14/05: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/p.php?pid=1546744 on this same thread.

Ok -- I found it on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/World-Wide-Sourcing-609728-Cultivator/dp/B000KL1M60. $7.15 plus $6.25 shipping. Here's another source -- slightly less expensive, but shipping is even more: http://www.antonline.com/p_World-Wide-Sourcing--609728--Hoematic-Cultivator-_405291.htm. Here's another source, but pricier: http://www.eclectic-gardener.com/tradjapgarto.html.

I love hearing about everyone's favorite tools. I've acquired a number of these!

This message was edited Nov 12, 2008 12:48 PM