Getting back into your garden is the perfect antidote to winter and to being indoors for most of the past year. Even with spring’s chill in the air, doing some early prep work such as clearing out old leaves, pruning, and assessing what worked and what didn’t last year are essential for getting your garden ready for the new growing season, and it’s also a great way to destress.
Iconic seed brand Burpee has just put out its 2021 Garden Cast, a trend forecast curated by a panel of gardening, culinary and home decorating pros, designed to inspire gardeners to create more bountiful and beautiful growing spaces this year. The report contains ideas for five themed gardens, along with helpful design and culinary tips. The Rise of Meatless Monday garden includes hearty vegetables with dense flesh and textures, such as bush beans and eggplant, and the World Herb Garden is full of aromatic herbs such as pineapple mint, calypso cilantro and Thai basil to wake up your summer menu.
Having the tools to get the job done right will make it easier and help your garden thrive. Look for tools that do double duty, such as rakes with telescopic handles and adjustable heads to easily switch from doing lawn work to getting into the tightest garden spaces. The Hori Hori is a multiuse tool that works as a root chopper, plant divider, trowel and weeder. The serrated steel blade extends through the wood handle, creating a metal pommel for pounding stakes, and has measurement markings to make it easy to plant bulbs at the correct depth.
Whether you’re growing flowers or food, have a container garden on the deck or raised beds in the yard, here are the must-have tools for both new and seasoned gardeners.
The right tools all in one place: Inside the three front pockets of Picnic Time’s Essential Garden Tote, you’ll find a trio of tools to get you gardening. A trowel for digging, a planting trowel for lifting small plants with their roots, and a garden cultivator to mix and aerate the soil. $40, food52.com. FOOD 52
Garden gloves to protect
your hands, stylishly: Michelle Christensen’s chic, handpainted, cotton canvas Radish Gardening Gloves from her Little Belleville line have a raised dot pattern on the inner palm for a sure grip. $23, wolfandbadger.com. MICHELLE CHRISTENSEN
Garden clogs to keep your feet comfy and dry: Hunter’s classic handmade garden clogs feature a high-traction sole, soft rubber construction and a practical neoprene lining for wet days. $95, shopterrain.co. TERRAIN
WILLIAMS SONOMA
Raised garden bed for small spaces: Save space with a raised garden bed. VegTrug’s deep V-shaped bed provides a range of soil depths to suit the preferences of deep-rooted vegetables such as tomatoes or ground-hugging herbs. The planter is portable to take advantage of sunlight. $419, williams-sonoma. com.
WILLIAMS SONOMA
A wheelbarrow that saves space and your back: Allsop’s wheelbarrow is easy to use for gardening and yardwork projects. It boasts a clever design that allows you to easily load and unload soil, bark and rocks from ground level and folds flat for compact storage. $214.95, williamssonoma.com.
TERRAIN
Hori Hori all-in-one
tool: The Hori Hori multipurpose tool is a knife, trowel and saw. The serrated-edge blade is handcrafted from durable stainless steel that extends through the bamboo handle, creating a metal pommel on the end for pounding stakes. The tool can be used for digging and potting plants, cutting roots, dividing plants and digging out weeds. Measurement markings along the blade make it easy to plant bulbs at the correct depth. $38, shopterrain.com.
Give your seeds a jumpstart: These seed starts are the ideal way to get your plants growing. The rice paper bag is leakproof and includes organic seeds, coconut husks for drainage, and instructions for how to care for your sprouts. Choose from a set of cucumber, tomato and watermelon; or eggplant, zucchini and sweet pepper. $32, food52.com. FOOD 52
The amazing adjustable rake: This lightweight aluminum rake has a telescopic handle and a head that adjusts from 7 ½ inches to 21 ¾ inches to switch from yardwork to getting into tight garden spaces without damaging plants. $36.45, amazon.com. AMAZON