I’ll be starting from scratch (tool wise) with a small yard. I have a mower and grass clippers, but the long term goal is to have a rotating garden set up. I’ve been going to the hardware store and the quality of some of the implements seem lacking so the question is what brands make nice outdoor tools and what would be the minimum set up.
I prefer wood and steel tools, am around 6’ (some handles seem short to me), and have a mix of grass, trees, and bushes and will be adding a garden. I figure at a minimum I’ll want a rake, hedge clippers, shovel, and hoe.
At this point of the year it looks like I’ll be doing maintenance until next spring.
Here are the basics: Felco prunners, a variety of of folding Japanese prunning saws, Clarington forge digging tools, such as spades, forks, trowels. Pulaski axe, mattock, 60lb breaker bar, echo gas-powered drill with soil auger bits, Gibbs digger 5ft and 8ft, Stihl chainsaws, a good wheelbarrow with large pneumatic tyres, not the bicycle type tyres, Bobcat with backhoe…
In out state or “greater Minnesota” that might be true, but I’ll be gardening in the middle of the metro. If the garden gnome doesn’t match my Prius and organic cotton garden apron, how could I show my face above the rosebushes to invite the neighbors over for some fair trade coffee?
I’ve heard that Prion disease can eat yer brain, when I was out that way last week it appeared most yards were landscaped with a blue spruce and maybe another blue spruce.
You mentioned you have trees. I wish you well with the location of the tree roots. Denny’s suggestion is good for tree roots. On the other hand, there is a reason trees have roots.
Heard of it, as I set up growing areas I’ll have to see what works best.
Looks like we will have to remove a tree. About half has been lopped off and the rest is heavily shaded and doesn’t look well.
I dislike unproductive yards and hope to take advantage of what is there and reduce the grass to pathways or less. Total area of the front and back yards combined is about 60’X60’, so not a huge amount to maintain. We have already made apple crisp with some rhubarb growing and raspberry oat bread from the raspberry bushes.
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Raspberry Oat Cake
In bowl mix
1/3 C All purpose flour
1/3 C Oat flour*
1/3 C Rolled Oat
1 Tsp. Baking powder
1 Tsp. Baking soda
1 Tsp. Vanilla
Separately mix
1/3 C Milk
1/3 C Yogurt or sour cream
1-2 Tbs. Oil
1 Large egg
1 C Raspberries
Topping
Mix together adding butter or oil until small
pieces hold together
~1-2 Tbs. Butter or oil
2 Tbs. Flour
3 Tbs. Brown Sugar
Heat oven to 425°F
Except for the Raspberrys, pour liquid into dry ingredients and stir until
ingredients are moist. Pour half of the batter into greased 8" ovenproof
skillet (or equivalent pan). Evenly spread the raspberries over the batter
in the pan and pour the remainder of the batter over the top. Sprinkle the
topping over the batter and bake. Check at 20-25 minutes with tooth
pick until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out dry.
*If you cannot buy oat flour, place quick oats into a blender and process
until they are the consistency of corn meal.
Double the recipe to fit a 10 1/2" skillet.</small>
If you don’t have beds yet, I definitely concur with the mattock. You might consider a small roto-tiller, or, since you don’t have much area, a garden weasel. I’ve done small beds, about 6x12 feet, with a combination of the two, and while it isn’t ideal, I couldn’t justify a tiller for such a small area, and only once since it’s got perennials.
i bought a ryobi weedeater and the pruner attachment. I didn’t buy this attachment but I was pleased with the blade attachment that cut down my bamboo.
I’d never heard the names “cutter mattock” and “pick mattock” before. Around here (Alaska) it’s called a “pulaski.” (I checked and it’s on Wikipedia under “Pulaski (tool)” so it must not be a purely local name.) And it’s GREAT for digging in rocky soil – MUCH better than a shovel.
