Orchard and garden machinery | garden tool names

Today we will talk about the most useful gardening tools to cultivate a garden or an orchard in our own home. If we want to install a garden we will need to buy seeds or already grown plants, fertilizers and products to fight pests, but we cannot forget the gardening tools, which are also basic to start with the installation of the garden.

In this post we will talk about what gardening tools and accessories are called and what they are used for. We will do a review remembering what are the small hand tools as well as larger orchard and garden machinery, which works with gasoline engines or electric batteries.

✅ Names of gardening tools and what they are used for

Below we will see some of the gardening tools and accessories that are most used in the garden and garden. A

1. Shovel

It is mainly used during the installation or preparation of the garden to make earthworks or substrate. We use a shovel, for example, to deposit the soil in uneven areas or on raised terraces in the orchard and garden. It is also useful for mixing, transporting and adding compost or manure. There are two main types: round and square.

The flat shovel or square shovel can have a double use: in addition to transporting soil or fertilizer, we can also use it to loosen the soil (a very important task before sowing or planting the garden). To do this, you have to step on the tool to drive it into the ground and then tilt the wooden handle to lift the earth (what we commonly call «lever»). With this, it is possible to hollow out and aerate the substrate without having to bend down as much as with other tools such as the hoe. Álvaro taught us how to loosen and aerate the soil with the shovel in this fun video from the Agrohuerto TV channel (minute 0:45).

2. Hoe

The hoe is also used to prepare the ground if we are going to install the garden from scratch, that is, if we have a wild land full of weeds or unwanted plants or a dry crust.

(The motorized cultivator or motorized tiller that we will see at the end of the article can also be used for this purpose, but not everyone has motorized gardening machinery, so it would be necessary to use the hoe or other manual gardening tools).

With the hoe the earth is removed and the compacted part is eliminated (undoing the clods) at the same time that the weeds or the remains of unwanted crops are uprooted.

The hoe is also used to dig, for example, to make holes for transplants when installing new plants, when you want to make holes around the trees to bury fertilizer at the base of the trunk or to make the furrows of the tree. orchard. In this video you can see our colleague Sandra digging with the hoe to prepare the ground and remove the weeds and then to make the furrows for her garden.

There are different types of hoes, of various shapes and sizes, and each has a specific function: the hoe (larger), the binadera (to break up the earth), the darra (to hoe and weed between rows of plants), etc..

3. Rake

If you have seen the video of Sandra using the hoe you will have been able to observe that the next step was the use of the rake… And this is one of the most useful gardening tools to prepare the ground.

The rake is used to break up the hard clods on the ground and level it after the first work with the hoe or power tiller. In addition, it helps to uproot the weeds that may remain in the soil, leaving the plot clean and ready for planting the garden.

The rake is also useful for spreading fertilizers such as compost and other products on padded or mulching beds.

4. Double-handled pitchfork or double-handled spade

The purpose of the double-handled pitchfork is similar to that of the hoe: it serves to water and aerate the earth. In this case, the work is less expensive due to the way the tool is moved and moved over the ground (it is a continuous job that is carried out with both hands and without the need to bend down).

5. Scraper or scarifier to remove weeds

The scraper is one of the simplest and most useful gardening tools. This tool is used to eliminate unwanted weeds that grow between cultivated plants or that are on the land where we want to create our orchard or garden and that must be previously eliminated.

It can be found in any garden store, even the most “handyman” can make it at home, since it is a very simple tool. In this video you can see how to make a homemade weed scraper and, at the end of the video, Paco also shows us how to use it in the garden.

6. Lawn broom

It is used to sweep or remove leaves from trees that fall on the lawn, the remains of corded grass, etc.

This tool is designed to collect these debris without damaging the garden grass. (This organic waste from the garden – grass clippings, branches, dry leaves…- can be used to make homemade garden compost that can serve as a natural and ecological fertilizer for all our plants).

7. Gallows

It is used to move grass, straw or light mulch (for example, from leaves) around, as well as to aerate garden compost heaps (a stirring from time to time is a must if you are composting). home with garden and kitchen waste).

8. Hand tools

If you have growing containers like pots, planters, or grow tables and cannot use tools as large as a hoe or shovel to condition the soil, small hand tools will be perfect for removing crusty soil and aerating the soil.

Some examples of small or hand-held gardening tools are the trowel (left) or the cultivator (right).

The almocafre, in addition, is a very useful tool in the transplants of small plants from the garden or plants from the orchard. It is used to make planting holes and is also useful for extracting plants from the seedbed or seedling without damaging their roots and easily inserting them into the hole where we are going to plant them.

9. Pruning shears

Pruning shears are used to remove unwanted branches and shoots from garden plants, and also to harvest or collect many of the vegetables in the garden or cut the flowers of shrubs such as rose bushes and other ornamentals.

✅ Machinery for the orchard and garden

Next we will see other types of gardening tools: motorized machines.

1. Lawnmower

As its name indicates, it is used to cut and level the height of the lawn in the garden.

2. Motocultor, motorized hoe or “mechanical mule”

Its objective is the same as that of other manual gardening tools that we saw above (hoe, double-handled pitchfork…): it loosens the soil by turning over the most superficial layers of the substrate and pulls out the weeds so that we can install the garden or orchard.

3. Pruner

It is used to cut branches from trees and bushes less expensively than using an axe, handsaw, or other type of hand tool.

3. Brushcutter

It is used to cut the weeds or unwanted plants that grow in our garden or around the trees, helping us to improve the appearance of the orchard. Unlike the power tiller, it does not pull up the weeds, it only cuts them thanks to the plastic threads that they move at high speed. improving the appearance of the orchard.

4. Hedge trimmers

For leveling and shaping shrubs and hedges in the orchard and garden.

5. Multi-function gardening machines or tools

There are multifunction garden machinery, that is, motorized machines with interchangeable heads or accessories that can be several machines in one. For example, a garden machine with several «removable» tools, such as a pruner, string trimmer and brushcutter. You will only have to change the head to have one or another machine in your possession.

electric garden tools

These gardening machines and tools have the same functionalities as diesel-powered machines and, in addition, two very important advantages over them: they do not pollute and they make less noise.

We already talked about them in the post electric tools for the garden: what they are and what their advantages are, so you can take a look if you are curious about these new gardening machines.

Today we have seen the main gardening machines and tools, but without a doubt they are not the only ones… If you know others that we have not talked about or you want to give us your advice and opinions about these tools for the garden, do not hesitate to make your contributions in the thread of comments below.

References

1. FAO, 2009. Manual «A garden for all». FAO Agreement – ​​MANA Colombia. Government of Antioquia.
2. GRAMA Association (Action Group for the Environment), 2012. Garden Manual.
3. Alva Montoya, CR, 2016. Tillage with motorized cultivators, motorized tiller and traditional tillage on terraces, in family farming – Barrio Bajo peasant community, Matucana – Lima. Final thesis to opt for the Degree of Agricultural Engineer. La Molina National Agrarian University, Lima (Peru).