It is a great pleasure to have a beautiful garden at home. Gardening offers great benefits from therapy, food or simply pleasure. May it be a vegetable and fruit garden, a flower garden, an elaborate garden complete with bamboo fountains, decors and statues, or simply a garden of mixed green and colorful plants; it is undeniably rewarding to own one.

You can grow plants in different ways by using garden planters, raised beds or soil plots. Raised bed garden is the most common garden used by gardeners with poor soil condition or with smaller backyard space. The idea is to create a garden on top of the native soil so the gardener can have complete control over the condition and the type of soil needed for various plants. This type of garden offers less maintenance, ease of access, better pest control, higher yields and improved soil.

Starting a garden is easy once you know the basics. And one of the most basic things to know before you start a garden is the tools you need to purchase. Here is a list of garden tools you’ll need for a raised bed garden and their uses.

Garden Spade – This is a great tool to use to turn soil, aerate and mix compost and other nutrients. This is a necessary tool to move soil and dig for planting.

Garden Fork – This is the perfect tool to use for breaking up soil. A fork is used to aerate soil for plants to properly absorb oxygen and nutrients.

Long handled hoe – This is the best tool to use for quick weed work. This is also useful to break soil.

Dutch hand hoe – This 18 inches long weeding tool is most useful for gardeners. This comes in a right hand or left hand version and is great for weeding and digging furrows for seeds.

Trowels – Trowels are the best tool to use for planting. They come in different shapes and sizes depending on your preference. Rubber handles are great for easier grip. Look for a trowel that suits your planting needs and preferences.

Hori Hori Knife – This multi-purpose tool is a lifesaver for most gardeners. It can perform perfectly different gardening activities such as planting, weeding, digging, cutting roots and transferring plants. This can also be used to cut through tough soil and measure soil depths for some plants.

Pruners – This include pruning shears and knives. Pruners are most useful during harvesting and cutting plant parts. These are great for pruning, deadheading, shaping and trimming.

Hose – This is good for watering plants on long distances. This has adjustable nozzles to go with your watering preference.

Watering can – This works better on watering plants that are too small for a hose. A good watering can balances your hand. Look for a can that’s not too small and not too big or you may not be able to carry it with a single hand.

A set of medium length tools – Spades and shovels, forks, hoes and other tools come in medium size. Look for some of these tools in medium size because this can be of great help to you.

Gardening Gloves – What can protect your hand better than a pair of good quality gardening gloves? Gardening is a tough job for the hands. To protect the hands form dirt, blisters, splinters and others do not forget to use a gardening glove everytime you tend your garden.

Gardening Apron – Gardening aprons do not only protect our clothes from dirt. They come with pockets to put gloves and smaller gardening tools in, to carry around as you move from one garden bed to another.