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Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Selecting and Purchasing Right Garden Tools for Your Garden!

There are thousands of garden tools available in the market and every individual tool has its own specialty so far as its use and handling skills are concerned. You may need to use different tools in different gardening circumstances and in certain scenario you may not need to use certain garden tools and in some other gardening circumstance you have to use certain garden tools. But owning every gardening tool that you see in the market may improve the look and feel of your gardening tool shed, but you need not to use all the gardening tools frequently unless you are a garden professional and provide gardening services. So this article will guide you how to select basic garden tools that would help you accomplishing most of your gardening activities. Selection of garden tools mostly depends on the type of garden you work at and its surroundings, soil and nearby vegetation. By analyzing hundreds of garden tools, I’ve made a list of 10 basic gardening tools. The list of garden tools follows here:

- A Sturdy Hand Trowel
- A Stirrup Hoe
- A Square Blade Spade with a D-Shaped Handle
- Bypass Hand Pruners
- A Garden Fork
- A Leaf Rake
- A Bow Rake
- A Hand Cultivator
- A Wheelbarrow or Garden Cart
- A Knife

You can find a number of garden tool stores in your locality and they offer wide ranging options for purchasing garden tools. There are so many garden tool manufacturers and you can find attractive, stylish and Hi-Tech garden tools and prices too vary from manufacturers. So you need to have a thorough idea about what types of garden tools you are going to purchase and how much budget you should fix for garden tools. Here is how to buy useful, high-quality gardening tools that can last longer and easy to store and carry with:

User Manual

If you are new to gardening, then you can make a fresh list of garden tools including the above mentioned garden tools or you can consult with your garden advisor or any experienced gardener living the next door. If you are a bit experienced, then make a list of garden tools you want to replace or exchange. Sometimes garden tool stores do prefer exchange offers where you can obtain new gardening tools exchanging your old ones and this helps you saving quite a few pounds. You can start your gardening jobs smoothly with the above mentioned basic garden tools, but if you have a lot of trees, shrubs and bushes, then you may need to purchase heavy duty power tools, hand saw, by pass loppers and hedge shears.

Never be complacent so far as the quality of garden tools is concerned. I would suggest stainless steel garden tools are the best, because they are easy to clean, don’t rust and thus long lasting. But they are comparatively expensive than other types of garden tools. It’s not that important that you should stick to only stainless steel garden tools. The better and cheaper alternative to stainless steel garden tools is carbon fiber steel as tools made of carbon fiber steel are sturdy, durable and easy to sharpen. Always buy garden tools with ash shafts and steel-strapped or forged sockets as they handle pressure and stress well.
Now it’s the time to check the garden tools properly. Always ensure that the garden tools’ shafts are straight and the wood grains stay down enough into the length of the shafts. Always avoid garden tools with painted handles as the paint is used to hide the lower quality of the handle-wood. You can check the weight of the tool by hold the tool whether it’s heavier or lighter for the gardening job you want to do. Always buy pruners, loppers and handsaws with replaceable blades.

If you are physically limited or aged enough to do strenuous jobs, then go for ergonomic garden tools as this type of garden tools are designed to minimize stress on muscles and joints. Garden tools like shafts with longer handles are always the best option, because they increase leverage and prevent you from stooping over. For people suffering from arthritis or joint pain problem, pruners, loppers and hedges shears with ratcheting mechanism is useful and multiplies your strength while using tools and makes your job much easier. While selecting cutting tools, always prefer tools with rubber bumpers, because these rubber bumpers protect you from unexpected electric shock.

Tips & Warnings

- After each use and every use of the tools, always clean them before storing; because soil causes blades and iron parts to rust.
- Use linseed oil to keep the handles as it removes rough spots and splinters and nourishes the wood.
- Always use bypass pruners or loppers on live woods instead of dried ones. You can use bill hook for dried wood.

Sustainable Living Articles @ http://www.articlegarden.com

About Julie Cadence:
The author is one of the popular garden advisor and freelance writer. He too manages three home and garden stores on Ebay.co.uk and has already been promoted to Power Seller on Ebay.co.uk. Garden Care and Accessories Store Get Them Fast Grab Your Deal

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