Must-have tools for veg gardening

[WPG]

I voted hand tool, specifically my hand trowel which I use for all planting and weeding. Never used a spade, and can't get the hang of a hoe.

[Littlefox2000]

This is a tricky question, but the tool I'm so grateful I bought was a cheap dibbler from Wilco. It's great for planting out seedlings on the allotment. For seeds I use an old pair of lab tweezers to do the same job. Love them and wouldn't want to do without now.

[daviddevantnhisspiritwife]

I would certainly never go on the garden without my scissors. So handy for .... cutting slugs in half .....

Yes, I regularly use mine for this task and they are always at the ready!

[MrsCordial]

A fork is vital for me for turning earth ready for planting, and then loosening the earth to lift root crops. A trowel does the day to day jobs and yep, scissors for harvesting herbs and loosening under little weeds.

[Veggielot]

I wouldn't want to manage with just one, based on what I use most I wouls say a garden fork, hand trowl and my pen knife would be the absolute minimum I would want to manage with however I probably use a half dozen on a regular basis.

I suppose if I had to only have one I would say a hand trowel as you can use it to do most things with it if you really had to.

[alldigging]

Garden fork without a doubt! I don't think I used anything else on my plot for the first year.

[Farmer_Gyles]

For me, it's a radio, fold up chair and a bottle beer .... peace and quiet .... a snooze in the sun ....

[Two_Sheds]

If I only had one tool and I was starting out, then it would be a good quality spade: a lighter weight, shorter-handled one for women (aka border spade).

What I use most now I'm established, are secateurs or kitchen scissors. I use them to make compost the One Straw or Chop 'n' Drop method*


* chop your old foliage, weeds, green manures etc up with scissors/seckies, just roughly, and drop it all on the soil as a mulch.

[Penellype]

The tool I would vote for is my trusty tweezers. At this time of year they are in almost constant use, picking caterpillars off leaves, slugs off everything and grubs out of raspberries. While I don't "mind" caterpillars and slugs, I really don't like picking them up, so the tweezers are brilliant.

[planetologist]

When I moved into my present garden it was a lawn. So I appear to be the only one who chose a spade as my one tool that's needed to turn a lawn into vegetable beds. And to dig up roots etc. Apart from that you can do pretty much everything by hand if you have to.

[The Tango Man]

Sadly my favourite tools are not mentioned..Cultivator, 4 prongs is best ..and my number one tool..my Cornish shovel..

[zazen999]

Secateurs. It's the tool I use most, and it's the one I get all my students using from day 1. It's so versatile for controlling, composting, stamina, motor skills, and socialising as we all sit round 'chopsing and chopping' and it is good for getting people to just sit and talk to each other whilst also making compost happen. And the more weeds grow, the most compost we can make.

[mothhawk]

I voted secateurs, they are always in use deadheading and chopping up stems for compost. I don't dig, so if push came to shove I could probably find some kitchen implement that would do the job of other hand tools - spoons for digging and making drills, wooden spoon handle for dibbing, potato masher for hand hoeing, knife for difficult weed roots, sieve for fine sowing compost, but scissors just don't do the job of secateurs, certainly not without blisters anyway.

[andy_j]

I have a diamond hoe...probably the most important piece of kit i have. You can drag it, push it, work it into small spaces and it's razor sharp.

[Nannysally99]

Secateurs for me also, my husband would say fork or spade


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