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Our premium selection of garden hand tool equipment is perfect for both domestic gardeners and professional contractors. Visit Outdoor & Gardening to explore our wider gardening range. Whether you're tending to a small garden or maintaining extensive landscapes, our range includes essential hand held maintenance and landscaping tools designed to help you create and sustain gardens you can be proud of. We stock durable, high-quality garden tools from well-known suppliers like Rutland®, Spear & Jackson® and Bulldog.

What are gardening hand tools?

Gardening hand tools are essential tools used for a wide range of tasks in gardening, landscaping and outdoor tasks such as planting, weeding, pruning and soil cultivation. These tools are specifically designed for functionality, allowing efficiently to perform these tasks with ease. Typically used with one or both hands, they are crucial for maintaining and caring for plants and gardens. Built for durability and heavy use, these hand tools assist with the cultivation and upkeep of gardens, farms and other outdoor spaces.

Gardening tool types

Garden hand tools are highly versatile, offering a suitable tool for every application or task. The cutting sections of garden hand tools are typically made from durable materials like stainless steel or high carbon steel chosen for their corrosion resistance qualities and strength. While occasionally moulded plastic or processed bamboo is used for tools that are required to take less impact.

Handles are made from metal for increased durability or sustainably sourced wood, usually FSC certified hardwood. Wooden handles will extend to a wooden grip providing a comfortable hold, while metal handles typically feature grips made from plastic or a combination of plastic and metal, enhancing both comfort and control.

A lot of garden hand tools have now been replaced with power tools for speed and efficiency. Some gardeners still use scythes to cut grass, but electric, petrol and battery charged lawnmowers are now the norm. Below we've put together a comprehensive list of gardening hand tools most commonly used today.

Digging: Digging and turning the soil
• Garden Forks
• Spades
• Shovels

Weeding: Removing weeds and roots
• Hand fork
• Hoes

Raking: Gathering leaves and moss from the lawn and levelling soil for garden planting beds
• Lawn rake
• Garden rake

Pruning: Taking cuttings, pruning trees, cutting back disorderly garden growth
• Secateurs
• Loppers
• Pruning saws

Cutting: Trimming excess grass growth, cutting turf between slabs and creating straight edges on lawns
• Edging shears
• Hedge shears
• Lawn edgers
• Lawn edging knifes

Watering: Watering plants and crops, administering water-based fertiliser or weed killer, maintaining lawn hydration in the summer months
• Garden hoses
• Watering cans
• Sprinklers
• Hose pipe accessories

Potting: Transferring compost into trays and pots, planting annuals, perennials, and bulbs
• Potting trowel

Considerations when choosing gardening tools

• Application - Gardening hand tools are designed for specific tasks and purposes. Your choice of tool should reflect the nature of the intended applications, frequently of use and in conditions you'll be using it for.

• Material - This is often dictated by user preference but careful consideration of the materials of the tool directly impacts the performance, durability, comfort and suitability to achieve specific tasks.

• Ergonomics, Size & Weight - Consideration of the various sizes, weights, shapes and ergonomic features are crucial to ensure the comfortable and safe use. By ensuring selection is suited to your strength and tasks can greatly reduce strain and the risk of injury.

Gardening tool jargon buster

We want to make it easy for you to shop our garden tool range, so we've put together some basic guidance to help make the best choice for you.

What are the different types of garden tool handle?

Garden tool handles can be made from hardwood, metal or plastic. All have their own benefits and advantages, however, there's also a choice of grip shape for larger garden tools.

Let's break it down...

• T-grip - also known as a crutch style, these grips feature a T-shape head and can have finger grip grooves in the underside of the handle. They're the ideal choice for tough clay soils

• D-grip - also known as a YD-grip, this is the most common grip style. When attached as a separate component to the handle it can be known to fail quickly under frequent use, however, when formed as part of the handle they're sturdy and give an excellent grip for a range of gardening tasks

FAQs

Can you clean garden tools with alcohol?

Alcohol has proven a suitable disinfectant for cleaning, and there's no reason why you can't use it to disinfect your garden tools. However, alcohol may not remove all the dirt and debris that can afflict well-used tools, and other methods may be required.

Mud build-up on a spade or shovel can be brushed or washed away with water and dried with a rag or paper towel. Drying is an important step in the cleaning process as it prevents wooden handles from swelling and cracking and helps to prevent metal tools from developing rust.

For pruning tools like secateurs and loppers, sap from trees and other plants can become gummy or hard if left. It's good practice to clean and disinfect pruning tools immediately after use, however, a treatment of oil and a once over of wire wool will clear away any sap residue and help to keep the tools working effectively. An occasional spray of WD-40 onto the springs and pivot point will also help to keep everything moving.

To prevent the transfer of diseases like box blight or canker, loppers and shears can be soaked in a regular disinfectant and then dried with a cloth or rag. Make sure to wear gloves when handling disinfectants to prevent irritation and follow the directions on the pack.

Can garden tools be sharpened?

Absolutely. Garden tools need maintenance like any other hand tool, and there are lots of products available to help you sharpen your own tools. Whetstones are a good option for smaller tools, while files designed specifically for garden tools can keep blades sharp and working effectively.

Can you store garden tools outside?

The best storage for garden tools is inside in a shed, garage or the back of a van. Leaving stainless steel tools outside occasionally won't do too much damage, but to keep your garden tools in tip-top condition a home inside is the best choice.