Tools for Digging

The list of digging tools is short.  I don't need much.  This just about does it for me.

This is the style shovel I use.  It's pretty basic.  The pointed blade helps me dig into the dirt, but I end up dulling the blade when I use it to scrap a truckload of compost off the driveway. 

I like a trowel with a narrow blade. Buy one with a sturdy blade or you will bend it the first time you work in our clay soil.  This one is nice because it has markings on the blade so you'll know how deep your hole is.  This is another tool that can get lost in the garden.  A bright handle helps.

Tools for Weeding

This weeding tool is one of the basic tools I grab any time I plan to garden. Mine just has a basic wooden handle.  This style has been around a very long time.  I remember my dad had one like it.  If I have weeds snuggled up next to my wanted plants, this is what I use.  The only bad thing about it is that it hides in the pile of weeds if I'm not careful.  Try one with a bright handle or buy yourself 2-3 cheap ones.

  The Hound Dog allows me to weed standing up.  It's especially wonderful for dandelions and individual weeds.  This is the new and improved version.  I guess I got the older version from Home Depot.  But I can just locate the base of the weed, step on the Hound Dog to press it down around the root, pull it up, and pop the weed into my weed bucket.  It's not as helpful for the clover that grows in patches with delicate runners spreading across my garden.  It's also not helpful for the weeds that are growing right next to the rocks or sidewalk.  But when I hurt my back, I was still able to pull up weeds.

OK.  I admit it!  I'm not proud.  I use Roundup.  This is the best thing I've found for weeds between cracks in the sidewalk or that come up through the decomposed granite path.  I've also been known to use it on the asparagus fern that keeps coming back even after a decade of eradicating it from our yard.  Perhaps it's coming over from the neighbor's house.  I use Roundup sparingly.  I also remember our friends in Alaska who worked for Fish and Game there.  They used Roundup in the streams when the weeds tried to take over.  Our friends said the fish weren't harmed by it. I don't know if they're right or wrong.  Obviously I'm not a radical organic gardener!

Of course, you need my basic tools and a container to put the weeds into.  Check out my Tools for Cleaning.

I do not endorse any of the stores for the products.  I just wanted you to have somewhere to go to find what I'm talking about.I do use these products though, and they work well for me.  You may be able to find better or cheaper sources.