7 Things You Must Have in a Garden ...

A trowel that is too small will cause your hand to cramp up when you do a lot of transplanting. On the other hand, a trowel that is rather large will be cumbersome when digging holes for small plants that are being placed in the garden.

You’ll want to perform a ‘kink test’ on the garden hose you are about to purchase. Hose that kinks easily isn’t going to last as long as hose that is very difficult to put a bend in. Also, the more durable your garden hose is, the less likely it will be to become tangled in a knot as you are trying to water the garden.

Whether you hang aluminum pie tins, soda cans on a string, or tie a handful of plastic grocery sacks to the fence post, you need some method of chasing pests out of your garden. For smaller pests, such as aphids, thrips, beetles, and various other types of insects you may need to resort to a pesticide of some kind.

I used to swear that I’d remember everything that I planted, but there were always one or two rows that I had difficulty figuring out what they were until it was time to harvest the veggies. I quickly learned that taking the time to set some stakes with identification tags on them was much easier than trying to remember what I’d planted many weeks before.

You will be spending at least some time digging in the dirt while sitting on your knees, since it’s nearly impossible to have a garden without needing to kneel in the soil for one thing or another. I recommend investing in a nice cushy knee pad or individual knee pads. Some garden supply places also sell these amazing benches with cushions attached directly to them for either sitting or kneeling on.

I like having a wagon with large wheels that I can pile everything into. Wheelbarrows also work, as well as 5 gallon buckets. If you have only a few items that must to be carried from one place to another, then a bucket might be the easiest option.

It doesn’t matter how callused my hands get over the summer; I still like to have a pair of cotton gloves to wear while I’m gardening. Even a thin pair keeps my hands from getting stained green when I pull weeds. I also don’t have to worry about the oil from a poison ivy plant coming in contact with my skin either while I’m wearing gardening gloves.

I’m sure you’ve already thought of some of these 7 things when you first started gardening. What do you think is the most important thing you should have in a garden?

Top Photo Credit: Green Wellies