To save money over the long haul, buy high-quality, durable tools. Generally, forged-steel tools hold up better than welded types. Relatively new on the market are tools with fiberglass handles, which are stronger than wood. Hardware stores and garden centers offer what you need to get started. Mail-order garden supply catalogs, such as A. M. Leonard, Inc., offer more-specialized tools.

Following is a list of the tools that you absolutely must have:

• Garden hose: Buy a top-quality hose with a lifetime guarantee. A good hose coils easily, resists kinking, and remains flexible even in cold weather. Choose one long enough to reach all corners of your garden.

• Hand trowel: A hand trowel is important for transplanting seedlings, scooping soil into containers, and doing close-up weeding jobs. Buy one that fits your hand and is light enough to be comfortable.

• Lawn rake: Nothing works better than a bamboo, polypropylene, or metal rake with long, flexible tines for gathering up lawn clippings, leaves, and even small rocks on both paved and natural surfaces. (See image below.)

• Pruners: Most gardeners favor by-pass pruners, which cut like scissors. Anvil pruners that cut by pressing a blade into a soft metal anvil are less expensive. Use either type to cut soft and woody stems up to about 1/2 inch (1.3 cm) thick. Use this tool to clip flowers, harvest vegetables, groom shrubs, and prune trees.

• Scuffle hoe: This type of hoe is easier to use — instead of chopping (as you do with a conventional hoe), you push the hoe along the soil’s surface. A scuffle hoe is indispensable for weeding on packed, level surfaces such as garden paths. Although scuffle hoes vary in design, all work with a push-pull motion. Some cut and scrape the tops off weeds on both strokes. Our favorite, the oscillating or action hoe, has a hinged blade that moves back and forth as it cuts.

• Shovel: A regular round-nose shovel, as shown in the image below, is the single most versatile tool you can own. You need it for digging, turning, scooping, and breaking up clods of earth. Choose a length and weight that’s comfortable.

• Stiff-tined rake: The first rake you should buy is a stiff-tined or steel bow rake, as shown in the image below. This rake is an important tool for spreading and leveling soil and for gathering organic materials.  ....read more