Dig in: Must-have tools for hobby gardeners

Surprise, but the most useful tool in the garden may be the drain spade. This is a shovel with a long, rounded blade only 4-to-6-inches wide – perfect for digging holes for gallon nursery plants or small bedding plants. It’s light and maneuverable and fits so easily among plants that it’s also superb for digging weeds and spreading and leveling soil, compost and mulch. Sometimes called “the transplanting shovel,” it so speeds digging that in England it’s known as the “poacher’s shovel.”

Other shovels include rounded-head, pointed-tip types, good for digging and moving soil; rounded-head, rounded-tip types, which hold the most soil but are less efficient diggers; and flat-head, straight-edge types, which hold less soil but also make good edgers.

The spading fork, aka the digging fork or garden fork, is indispensable for working the rocky soils of the Ozarks. It has four flat, sharp tines good for breaking up hard or compacted soil, digging in compost, and turning up used beds to prepare them for planting. Because it allows shaking excess soil from plant roots, it’s also great for lifting perennials and shrubs for transplanting. It also can pry out small rocks in digging, but for bigger rocks, use a sturdy shovel, as a spading fork with a bent tine is a major nuisance.

Pruning shears come in two types: anvil pruners bring a sharp blade against a flat surface and are best for cutting dead wood; bypass pruners use a scissors action with two sharp blades and are good for cutting everything. Those with a power gear to make cutting easier are well worth the money.

Loppers are long-handled pruners for cutting bigger branches (up to 1.5 or 2 inches thick). Models with a power gear greatly ease cutting. Caution: Twisting loppers to finish off a cut should never be done because it easily misaligns blades. Some models allow realigning blades, but this can be complicated.

Floral snips are small scissors and are usually very, very sharp. As the name denotes, they’re used to snip flowers, and they do a much quicker, better job of it than pruning shears or household scissors. Their value becomes clear when it comes to dead-heading plants – removing spent flowers to prolong blooming – which over a season can involve hundreds of cuts.

Weeders range from simple hand weeders to mechanical devices. Garden-claw weeders scratch out shallow-rooted weeds and weed hooks can remove deeper-rooted weeds. The best weeders for tough, deep-rooted mature dandelions, thistles and such are the Weed Popper and Weed Hound. Both are fun to use and so efficient and effective that in average lawns and gardens they can eliminate any need for herbicides. (I haven’t tried Fiskars’ Uproot Weeder yet, but it’s said to be good, too.)

Hoes are used to cultivate and level soil before planting and to scrape, chop or slice weeds. Scuffle hoes, which have holes in the head to facilitate slicing, are the best hoes for weeding. Note: Hoes are indispensable in larger gardens, but small-space gardeners won’t find much use for them.

In the hot Ozarks summers, soaker hoses – porous hoses that release water very slowly – save an astonishing amount of time and effort in watering. They sell for about $20 per 100 feet and fittings (connectors, anchors, etc.) are extra but inexpensive. Sprinkler hoses, which lie flat and have spaced holes that spray water, also are effective, but are best used only if laid in straight lines, as they tend to buckle when bent to follow curved paths.

Grass shears are for edging and trimming among plants or anywhere string trimmers won’t work.

Shrub rakes are indispensable for year-round garden maintenance because they have narrow, 8-inch-wide heads that fit easily under and among plants.

Gardening gloves come in everything from cotton to rubber to goatskin and deerskin. Goatskin gloves win with many gardeners for superior comfort, flexibility and durability.

Garden carryalls are big timesavers. Mine is a simple 10-by-15-inch green plastic carry with two compartments that hold every small tool above, plus some, and maybe a snack.

The good news for gardeners is that new ergonomic designs, alloys, and high-impact synthetics are making hand tools higher quality than ever. Just look for good construction and a good feel to the hand, and you win.

Frank Shipe is a former SBJ section editor who operates a free community gardening Web site at www.ozarksgardens.com.