WEEK 6
Agricultural Science, S.S.S 1, Second Term
TOPIC: Garden Tool
Garden Tool
A garden tool is any one of many tools made for gardens and gardening and overlaps with the range of tools made for agriculture and horticulture. Garden tools can also be hand tools and power tools
Hand Tools
The hand tools still used by gardeners originated with the earliest agricultural implements used by man. Examples include: the hoe, pitchfork, fork, rake, hand cultivator, spade, shovel and hand trowel. In some places the machete may be used as a garden tool.
The earliest tools were made of wood, flint, metal, tin, and bone. However, the development of metal working, first in copper and later in iron and steel, enabled the manufacture of more durable tools. Industrial metalworking enabled the manufacture of efficient cutting tools, including pruning shears (secateurs – for example anvil pruning shears) and grass shears and larger, more efficient powered tools such as the trencher.
Hand Trowel
A trowel is a must have for beginning gardeners because it takes the place of:
- A shovel, if your garden is small.
- A transplanter, although it is more cumbersome
- A weeder (for getting rid of dandelions)
Rake
Useful to lightly till/loosen soil, remove weeds that aren’t too stubborn, level the soil and collect fallen leaves and cut grass. Rakes come in two basic shapes:
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- The sturdily built soil rake and
- A more flexible and fanned out grass rake
If you can afford only one rake, get the soil rake as you can use it to collect leaves (maybe not grass all that well), but you certainly can’t use the grass rake to work on soil. Images below from wikimedia commons.
Hoe
Valuable to help cut through weeds and move / cultivate soil. Comes in many types (ex. hula hoe, stirrup, flat, etc.) and most all work well to help cut weeds just under the surface easier. Used any time you need to chop, push, or pull amounts of soil or crop.
A hoe is a must have for a new gardener, it can make up for the absence of the following tools:
- Tamper
- Row maker (these are usually makeshift anyway)
- Weeder
- Cultivator
Power Tools
The first power tool to become popular with gardeners was the lawn mower. This has been followed by a very wide range of power tools, including
- cultivators,
- string trimmer,
- Irrigation sprinklers,
- hedge trimmers,
- lawn aerators,
- leaf sweepers,
- trenchers,
- leaf blowers,
- chainsaws, and
- mini-tractors.
Care Of Gardening tools
| Always remove all of the soil from your digging tools after each use. Usually hosing is all it takes, but use a screwdriver to remove caked or dried mud.
*Never put your tools away wet. Allow them to dry completely before storing to prevent rusting and handle rot. Once each garden season, rub linseed oil into your wooden handles to help preserve them. *After each use wipe the metal parts of pruners, shears, and loppers with an oily rag. Alternately, you can wipe your tools dry with a clean rag, and then spray lightly with a penetrating oil such as WD40 ® *Sharpen your cutting tools as well as the blades of shovels and spades during the gardening season. A hone or whetstone should be used for sharpening cutting tools. A file should be used to remove nicks and smooth the edge of your shovels and trowels. |
*Thoroughly clean any tools which have been used for chemical applications. Fertilizers and other chemicals will rapidly corrode any metal parts.
*For extra rust prevention, fill a 5 gallon bucket with builders sand and pour a quart of new motor oil over it. Use this as a shovel cleaner/oiler each time you put your tools away.
Plunge each tool in and out the oily sand several times after use.
You can also use this bucket as a shovel stand.
Exercise
List 3 power tools
For more notes;see: https://passnownow.com/classwork-support/
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