Where Can You Find The Dirt Piles In Solitaire Gardens

Download Article

Whether you are a new or experienced gardener, having the right tools is essential for your work. There are few basic tools that most gardeners will want to have in their supply, but there are also some specialized tools for specific types of gardens. You'll want to check that you're getting high quality tools for your money so that you can enjoy working with your tools for several years.

1
Choose an easy-grip fork and trowel set. For any work starting plants from seed, you're going to want a hand-held fork and trowel to move dirt around, dig holes, and cover your seeds. Some brands come with a grip on top of the handle to keep your wrist in a neutral position while working, but you can buy any style that you like.^[1]
- You don't need to buy these as a set, as they are also sold individually.
- If you'd like to go with a set, you also have the option of a 3-piece set that comes with a small cultivator, which is similar to a fork but is bent like a small rake and allows you to turn soil over as you're breaking it up.
- You may also consider using a hori hori blade or a soil knife instead of a trowel since these tools fit better into a holster than a trowel.
2
Find a sturdy pair of household scissors. While you have the option of purchasing gardening scissors, many gardeners use plain household scissors for snipping dead flowers and leaves, harvesting vegetables, opening bags of potting soil or seed packets, and cutting string.^[2]
- Avoid using scissors that are specifically for cutting paper or fabric, as these may not be sturdy enough for your gardening purposes. Multipurpose household scissors will work fine.
- Hand pruners are another great option. You can use these for pruning shrubs, dead heading, cutting back perennials, and trimming plant matter than is less than 1 inch (2.5 cm) thick.
3
Buy a steel gardening shovel with a wood or metal handle. You have many choices when it comes to shovels, but you will need one for digging and moving dirt in most types of gardening. Choose a lightweight, rounded tip shovel if you're working mainly with topsoil, or a pointed, heavy-duty shovel to dig deep into rougher, rocky clay.^[3]
- Choose a shovel with a blade that can be sharpened to get the longest life out of your shovel.
- Find a shovel with jagged edges to cut through roots and heavily condensed soil more efficiently.
- Avoid shovels that have plastic handles. These are not as sturdy as shovels with wood or metal handles.
4
Look for a heavy gardening rake. Once you're finished digging and turning the soil in your garden bed, you'll want to spread it out evenly with a rake. Flat garden style rakes work well for this purpose, but you can get a bow garden style rake as well, which has a slight curve to it and picks up more dirt with each stroke.^[4]
- Use a fan rake for picking up grass and leaves, or a shrub rake to get into tight spaces, such as between shrubs or plants in a garden bed. These rakes will not spread dirt around efficiently, just lighter debris.
- You can also use a hard rake for soil, mulch, or fine gravel.
5
Choose either a hand-held or standing weeder. With weeders, you have a choice between a hand-held weeder, commonly referred to as a "dandelion digger," and a stand-up style. Weeders have long, slender ends that look like a notched screwdriver or 2-tined fork, and their purpose is to get deep into soil and loosen large roots.^[5]
- Choose a hand-held weeder to cut costs, or if you have a garden that's not prone to getting many weeds.
- Stand-up weeders allow you to remove lots of weeds without bending down each time. They have a pedal that activates a claw to yank each weed out by its root, and are generally more expensive than hand-held styles. They also don't work as well with deep roots.
6
Choose a watering can or hose for the size and distance of your garden. Regardless of what you grow, you will need a way to get water to your plants on dry days. Watering cans are nice for indoor or container gardens, or if you don't mind the walk between your sink and your garden plot.^[6]
- If you choose a watering can, be sure the top has a nozzle that allows water to flow out of multiple holes, similar to raindrops.
- For hoses, choose a coil hose or standard garden hose depending on the distance you have from your spigot to the garden.
- Coil hoses conveniently coil back up on their own when you're done watering a garden that's a short distance away.
- Garden hoses reach long distances and require you to roll them back up manually when you're finished.
- Look into a pocket hose for a lightweight option. This may be ideal for a balcony garden or for a gardener who does not want to struggle with a heavy hose.
7
Get a water wand if you have a large garden bed. Water wands are attachments that hook onto the end of your hose in place of a regular nozzle. Because they are long, water can reach a farther distance into the garden from where you stand at the edge, and are a good idea for large plots that you don't want to walk in the middle of.^[7]
- A good sprinkler system will also reach large areas of your garden. This is especially true if you have a large underground irrigation system.

1
Buy a hoe and spade for vegetable gardening. Vegetable gardening needs well-worked soil that has no rocks or clumps. Hoes work wonders on chopping up large chunks of condensed or grassy soil and finding rocks for you to remove. Use a spade, which is similar to a shovel but with a flat edge, to remove grass or piles of unusable piles of dirt and rock from your garden bed.^[8]
- Hoes are sometimes combined with a cultivator, or 3-tined tool that looks like a large fork, on the other side of the tool. These are ideal if your soil is particularly condensed or rocky, because the cultivator gives you another way to loosen and break up the soil.
- Spades are also good for edging your bed, or cutting clear lines between where your garden ends and the rest of your yard begins.
2
Find shears and a pruning saw for trees and bushes. If your garden also consists of trees and bushes, you'll want to prune them each year to keep them in the best condition. You have choices when it comes to both shears and pruning saws.^[9]
- Anvil and bypass shears are both short-handled, the only difference is that bypass shears have curved blades which are good for making more precise cuts on live stems.
- Loppers are shears that have long handles for extra leverage and are nice for reaching tall areas, while hedge shears are medium length and are used for shaping and trimming bushes.
- Standard pruning saws work well if you need to work from a ladder, while bow pruning saws are used for quick cuts on large limbs. For all saws, the more teeth the saw has, the more precise your cut will be.
3
Get rose-pruning gloves and a thorn stripper for rose gardening. Roses are known as a plant that require lots of gardening attention, so to prune your rose bushes well, you'll need the right gear. In addition to short-handled shears with curved, or bypass, blades, you'll want to protect yourself from thorns with gloves and a thorn stripper.^[10]
- Rose-pruning gloves are generally long-sleeved and come up to your elbow. They are often made of goatskin to allow for flexibility while protecting your skin from punctures and scratches, though synthetic ones are also available.
- Use a thorn-stripper if you plan to harvest your roses for indoor display. Thorn-strippers are metal tools that gently squeeze the stem while you run the edge along it to shave the thorns off.
4
Buy a knee pad, gloves, and a hat for extra comfort. Considered necessities by some gardeners, these items are technically optional for gardening, but they do provide you with lots of comfort while working outside. A knee pad protects your knees from getting sore while kneeling over your plants, gloves protect your hands from dirt and sharp tools, and a hat protects your head from sunlight.^[11]
- Knee pads usually come either as 1 long pad that you lay down on the ground, or 2 separate pads that you physically attach to each knee. Choose either of these options based on your preference.
- There is a wide variety of gardening gloves to choose from, such as cloth, leather, rubber or latex, chemical-resistant, or multipurpose gloves. Consider the types of gardening you do most when choosing your gloves.
- Gardening hats are usually wide-brimmed to protect your head and face from the sun's rays, and come in many different colors and styles.

1
Check the tools for sturdiness. To get the best value for your money, look your tools over before buying them to make sure you don't see any weak areas. Higher quality tools are forged together at the joint of the handle and tool, instead of attached together with separate pieces. Regardless of the type of joint your tool has, the joint should not be loose.^[12]
- Also be sure that metal pieces are not bent in a way that looks odd or in a direction opposite from normal.
2
Look for steel and wood to get the longest life from your tools. Most people prefer stainless steel because it is strong and rust-resistant, but high-carbon steel is a bit less expensive and is also of a strong quality. Your tool's wooden handle should be free of knots, have a straight grain, and not be splintered in any way.^[13]
- White ash and hickory are common woods used for quality gardening tool handles.
- Most people avoid tools with plastic pieces, though sometimes they are preferred if they're lightweight.
3
Don't dismiss used tools when you're shopping. Some older tools are actually of very high quality, and they aren't used anymore simply because the owner isn't still actively gardening. Check out yard sales, thrift stores, flea markets, and estate sales for surprising deals on high-quality gardening tools.^[14]
- Alternatively, look online at resale sites for deals on used tools. Try to read reviews on the seller if you are unable to look at the tools in person before buying them.
4
Shop online for convenience, or in-store for extra support. If you enjoy shopping from home and feel fairly confident about what to buy, look up the items you need from various online department or garden supply stores. If you'd like to see the tools in person before buying them, go to garden supply centers, home improvement stores, or department stores to find what you're looking for.^[15]
- Shop in-store if you'd like to talk to or ask questions of knowledgeable staff about the tools you're interested in buying.

Add New Question

Question

How do I clean a trowel?

First, remove the dirt with water. Then, wipe the trowel with a cloth and let it completely dry in the sun.
Question

What do I use to remove grass?

You can use a lot of tools to remove grass. A simple choice is spade, but the work can be a bit long. If you have lot of grass to remove, the best tool is tiller.

Ask a Question

200 characters left

Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered.

Submit

Get a longer life from your tools by taking good care of them. Dry them before putting them away if they get wet while you're using them, and wipe off dirt or mud from metal tools to prevent rust. You should also sharpen and oil your tools regularly. Loppers, shovels, pruners, and shears all work better when you maintain them properly.
Search online gardener forums to see discussions about tools or to ask questions about a specific tool.