Tip top tools

When it comes to choosing tools, Gardening Australia TV presenter, edible gardening expert and permaculturalist Hannah Moloney values the basics.

Although I have a decent stash of tools these days, I still try to have as few as possible. Before investing in another tool, I encourage people to look around their gardens and sheds to see if they have something that could do the job.

Three favourite gardening tools I couldn’t live without are a bucket, my pruning saw and a little hand trowel. 

The humble bucket is one of the most versatile and useful items I have in the garden. On our steep slope I’ll often use buckets to carry small loads of compost or mulch to parts of the garden that are so steep and awkward no wheelbarrow can go there. I also use them to store materials, brew up compost teas and nurse plants that need a water bath to rehydrate, and for feeding animals and harvesting crops. 

A bucket may not be a conventional gardening tool but the thing I love about gardening is that for every fancy tool there’s often a homemade version or a hack that’ll do the same job cheaply or for free. Gardening is a wonderful opportunity to get creative. 

I’ll often have a flip [folding] saw in my back pocket while working in the garden. I use it for pruning branches and for slashing large bundles of comfrey and globe artichoke leaves for my goats and chickens. While not as efficient, I also use it like a machete to cut down green manure crops, weeds and spent annual crops. A flip mechanism is an absolute must, so you can whack it in your tool belt or back pocket while you work. As always, buy the best you can afford. 

A little hand trowel is nifty and reasonably non-intrusive when it comes to working in existing garden beds – whether it’s blending compost into a fresh vegie bed, digging up a gnarly deep-rooted weed or mixing up some seed-raising mix. I like my tools small where possible. Then I can cram them in my pockets or a bucket so I can move around my garden easily with everything I need.

Horticulturist and balcony gardener Steve Falcioni picks the essentials for small-space gardening.

As silly as it sounds, I do like a good dustpan and broom. It’s a quick way to keep your balcony tidy so you can enjoy your space even more.

Three gardening tools I can’t live without are my secateurs, watering can and pH testing kit. 

The secateurs get a constant a workout in my garden! I use them to keep plants from outgrowing their space as well as for hard annual prunes and to create cuttings. 

Get a good-quality pair of secateurs, as they will then last you a lifetime. Premium secateurs tend to be all metal, which makes them very sturdy and adds to their longevity. Plus there are a range of designs, so you can select one that feels just right in your hand. For me, this means a left-handed pair. Choose a pair that can be completely pulled apart to allow for better maintenance and replacement of any worn-out bits.

My watering can is super important. As an apartment dweller all my plants are in pots and need regular watering. It allows me to control how much water each plant gets and deliver nutrients like worm wee!

There are plenty of fancy watering cans around but I have always been happy with the basic plastic ones. I have a 9L watering can for outdoors and a smaller one for my indoor plants. Just pick one that fits comfortably in your hand and, when full, is a weight you can manage. 

As nerdy as it is, I have to say I love my pH testing kit! It’s a quick way to check the potting mix a couple of times a year and make any necessary adjustments. 

I recommend having a pH testing kit because getting your soil, or potting mix right is so important. Both new and experienced gardeners should test their soil semi-regularly because if the pH is too high or low, chances are your plants will be suffering as a result.

For our horticultural editor and expert in wildlife-friendly gardens AB Bishop, this trio is best for the bush.

A good wheelbarrow is essential on a large property. And eucalypts shed continuously, so I have numerous rakes stationed around the house. A small cordless chainsaw and drill auger are also well used.

Three gardening tools I can’t live without are my snips, crowbar and hedging shears. 

The snips are carried everywhere I go – indoors and out. They’re lightweight and perfect for deadheading, harvesting, and snipping dead leaves off my indoor plants or weed seeds as I’m rushing about. 

I realised I often reached for scissors over secateurs, so decided to invest in a pair of garden snips that really fitted my hands, would be useful for many jobs and are colourful and easy to spot. 

My crowbar is my BTF [best tool friend] because I live in an area with rocky clay soil. The crowbar is essentially my spade and I drag it behind me wherever I go! I use it for digging holes, levering large rocks, roots or unwanted plants, or moving heavy logs in habitat areas. 

When you’re choosing a crowbar, buy the heaviest and longest one you can lift. The weight is useful because you don’t need to exert too much pressure when digging – you simply lift and drop. A heavy crowbar will also be thick, so won’t bend easily when levering heavy objects. The longer it is, the more leverage you have – although length can be cumbersome in tight spaces. 

Even though there are no hedges in my garden, I greatly appreciate my preloved shears. I keep them sharp and they are by far the best tool for cutting Lomandra longifolia to the ground. I cut any that are covering paths at the start of spring when snakes start moving. I also use them to chop prickly weeds that I don’t want to get too close to! 

Hedging shears are essential if you have hedges or other plants you want to keep neat. Shears with telescopic handles reduce the need to climb a ladder to trim tall hedges. Wavy blades cut efficiently along their entire length and grip twigs, preventing them from sliding along the blade. Straight blades are efficient on tightly packed hedges, including topiary. Many models have a serrated section that grips larger twigs. Go for lightweight but robust models with an ergonomic design and soft grip because shears feel heavy quickly.