Especially as a garden beginner and hobby gardener, it is easy to get overwhelmed by the large selection of garden tools. What is a cultivator and can you use a spade instead of a digging fork? Before you buy the next best garden center empty, think about what you want to plant. For vegetable gardening, you can get by with the 6 most important gardening tools that we also put in our meine Tante gardens. If you have fruit trees, lawns, or even a pond in addition to vegetables, the list naturally expands.

Garden tools for beginners and advanced

Spade
The basic cultivation of the beds requires a spade. With it you can dig the beds. A distinction is made between spades with T- and D-handles. We recommend a spade with a T-handle, which is the optimal height for you when it reaches your lower ribs. A step edge on the spade blade helps you to work comfortably.

Rake
After digging, the surface is very uneven and covered with coarse clods. First, break up the coarse clods.

Then, to create an even and fine-crumb seed or planting bed, break up more clods as you rake. You can also use the rake to level out any unevenness, creating an even surface for seeding or planting.

Hoe
Unfortunately, as the season progresses, a variety of weeds will appear alongside your vegetables. If these grow in the row with the vegetables, you will have to weed them by hand. However, the weeds between the rows can be conveniently handled with a hoe, pulling them out or separating them from the roots and then drying them out.
Tip: The hoe is especially good for dry, crusty soil.

Combi tool
The combination tool is a useful combination of a sturdy hoe and a cultivator on the other side. It is wonderful for loosening the soil and at the same time hoeing the weeds. Especially in dry weather, hoeing is very important because breaking capillaries in the soil retains a lot of water that would otherwise evaporate. Not for nothing says an old gardener saying: once hoeing saves three times water.

Cultivator
The cultivator is used to loosen the soil. In this way, you bring oxygen into the soil, which is essential for the healthy growth of your plants.
It comes in a variety of designs but is always characterized by teeth that “comb” the soil. The cultivator is also suitable for working a dry surface, as it is quite stable and has a small surface area.

Digging fork
A digging fork is suitable for harvesting potatoes, carrots, or other vegetables that grow underground. It also does a good job of removing couch grass, a troublesome root weed.

Hand tools
Rake, hoe, and digging fork also exist in a smaller form. This is called a hand hoe, hand cultivator, small hand rake for garden, or hand shovel. These tools are not used standing, but rather in a sitting or squatting position, they are suitable for smaller areas.

Knives and secateurs
Knives and secateurs are not only indispensable for harvesting. Already in your vegetable garden, you can use them, for example, to cut off leaves, roots, and other plant parts that you do not need from your harvest.

Hand shovel
The hand shovel is probably the most common garden tool because it has so many uses. Whether you’re planting balcony boxes, putting your young plants in the beds in your garden, repotting your houseplants, or your kids are using it to build sandcastles.