Equipping Your Garden Shed

If you’ve gotten interested in gardening and lawn care recently, you may have discovered that you lack some of the gear that the professionals use to make your yard look great. Never fear! With a few smart purchases, you can be as well-equipped as the pros.

Lawn Mower

The first big ticket item you’ll want to buy is a lawn mower. There are many varieties of lawn mowers on the market and the process of sorting through them can be overwhelming. If your yard isn’t huge, you can probably get by with an inexpensive push mower. The more square footage you will need to cover, however, might steer you towards a self-propelled model or even a riding mower.

Spreader

A spreader is like a small wheelbarrow with holes in the bottom set on caster wheels. It is used to distribute grass seed or fertilizer across your yard efficiently. Instead of scattering the lawn nourishment like bird seed, you load it into the spreader bucket, and it slips through the holes at a constant rate. You may only use it twice a year, but it will be worth the cost for what it saves you in back strain.

Rakes

There are a couple different types of rakes that you will want to keep in your garden shed. A lawn rake is shaped like a fan with flexible metal tines. It is a multi-purpose rake that is good for raking up leaves, gravel, sand or soil. It is strong enough to break up soil under shrubs and gentle enough to fluff mulch. A shrub rake is also useful to have because its smaller horizontal head and strong tines is better suited for raking up debris in small spaces.

Shovels

A spade shovel is shaped like a spade with a sharp point at the end. This type of shovel is good for digging holes. You’ll want one of these in your shed if you want to plant trees or bushes. A flat shovel, as the name implies, has a flat blade. Despite what you might think, they are not great for heavy-duty digging. Flat shovels are designed as a tool for moving softer materials like soil, sand or mulch from one area to another.

Once you get into gardening and lawn care, there are numerous tools that you can purchase to make your life easier and your time in the yard more efficient. It’s not necessary to go overboard right away though. Start with the basics and work your way up to a more extensive collection of garden tools if you stick with your hobby.