If you're new to gardening, and you've just succeeded in acquiring a piece of ground to cultivate, you may be feeling a little anxious at the prospect of beginning your horticultural project independently and from scratch.
To begin with, you will need to pick up a few simple, essential tools to help you with your undertaking. One of these is necessary for pretty much every basic process in the garden, and buying all three together shouldn't cost you more that a month's supply of dog food or a few new DVDs.
To start with, and most obviously, you need a shovel. A traditional, long handled version is best since it will allow you to shift greater volumes of earth, and also gives you the opportunity to use pressure from a foot while digging. Smaller, short handled spades – or trowels – are designed for small, fiddly jobs and need only be purchased later.
Next, it's a good idea to acquire a large garden fork. This can be used for turning over the soil, aerating the lawn and as well as for weed removal and digging up plants you're keen to move to a different flowerbed.
You will also need to get yourself a pair of long handled shears. Again, there are other varieties available in the shops, but the most useful, when you're starting out, is this one. Long handled shears, or loppers, can be used to prune hard to reach branches, but work equally well on more accessible boughs as well, and are thus very versatile.
At the garden supply shop, you will find that there are myriad tools and products on offer, each designed to assist with a certain horticultural procedure. As a beginner with a nascent garden, however, these three items should be your first priority.
