Gardening Tools & Supplies For The Organic Gardner (Part 2)

By gardener | Oct 12, 2008

Pruning tools: Pruning tools are essential for chemical-free gardeners. Keeping trees and shrubs well-pruned promotes vigorous growth and good health, and pruning out diseased wood frequently helps to control disease problems. However, make sure you have high-
quality, sharp pruning tools, because a poor pruning job can leave slow-healing wounds that
are ideal entry sites for disease organisms.

Digging tools: Spading forks are invaluable for aerating the soil. Just plunge the fork into a bed and wiggle it around, and you’ve added important air channels without dislodging any top soil. Spades with rectangular, fairly flat blades are more useful than shovels for most garden digging.

Shovels and manure forks are handy for the compost pile. Some gardeners buy compost aerating tools, but others just stick the manure fork into different parts of the pile and lift
slightly to let in new air.

Hand and Power Tools: New techniques may call for new tools. Turning a compost pile, double-digging a garden bed, and working with cover crops all are easier and a lot more fun if you have the right tools.

Weeding tools: Weeding becomes much less of a chore with a sharp tool that is easy to
manipulate. Different people like different tools, and you’ll probably want to try several before
investing in any Two popular cultivating tools are an oscillating hoe, which has sharp edges on both sides of the swiveling blade, and a small, swan-neck, fixed-blade hoe. If you keep these tools sharp, you’ll find it nearly effortless to sever crowns of weed seedlings from their roots. You’ll also need a short-handled cultivating tool for spot weeding in closely planted beds.

Tillers: Rotary tillers are a common sight in most gardener’s sheds; chances are you may already own one. But, if you are in the market for one, try out various types before spending your money, as tillers differ a great deal. Those with the tines mounted under the motor are best for heavy work like breaking up ground for new beds. Small tillers are fairly lightweight and can be used in close quarters for jobs like cultivating around perennials.

Sprayers and dusters: Sprayers are important pieces of equipment in the chemical-free gardener’s arsenal. Rather than filling them with pesticides, however, you’ll use them more
frequently for foliar nutrient sprays. Sprayers for the home gardener include: small, hand-held models for watering and feeding seedlings; stationary, manually pumped compressed-air sprayers for small greenhouses; and backpack sprayers for large greenhouses, the orchard, and gardens.

Dusters are handy for dry materials. Some of the new ones are designed to handle large particles such as rock powders. They are also convenient tools for applying powdery substances like diatomaceous earth to infested plants.

Seed-sowing aids: Several wheeled seeding tools are available. By changing interior disks, you can plant seeds of various sizes and at various spacings. If you routinely plant large areas, a seeder can be a great time-saver.

A canvas bag seed spreader is a handy aid for sowing grass and cover crop seed. With the bag hung over your shoulder, you turn a handle attached to a gear mechanism at the bottom of the bag, and quickly and evenly sow large areas as you walk.

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!