Table of Contents
Introduction
It takes a considerable amount of time and effort to put together a lawn, grow it until it takes the desired shape, and maintain it. To do this, you will need some tools and other materials such as fertilizers, pesticides, etc. If some of these tools are lacking in your lawn, you may not be able to give your lawn a look it deserves. A poorly maintained lawn is not a sight to behold, and it puts the health of your lawn at long-term risk.
It is important to understand how these tools work and the areas where they can be applied to your lawn. Some of these tools also offer you protection when working on the lawn, making them relatively indispensable.
All the tools that will be discussed below are important; however, they vary in terms of relative importance. This means that you are likely to use some tools more than others, while you may not need some at all, but it doesn’t reduce the significance of these tools to any garden as they can come in handy at some point in the future.
Garden Gloves
Garden gloves are quite common to the extent that they are often overlooked. They are essential tools for gardens, and they will prove useful throughout the running of your lawn. They are relatively affordable, so having a considerable number of them should not be a problem. They tend to wear out faster, so having extra pairs will always come in handy. They are useful during the planting period for spreading seeds and planting grass sods. They offer your hands protection from blisters, cuts, injuries, infections, etc. Therefore, ensure that you the right size that fits your hands comfortably to avoid distress and increase their life span.
Lawn Mowers
Lawnmowers are a must-have for people who own lawns. They are one of the essential tools that are needed for taking care of lawns. Lawnmowers are used to cut grass at a certain level, to give it a sharp and clean look.
There are various types of lawnmowers, but they are divided into two categories, which are rotary lawnmowers and reel lawnmowers. Rotary lawnmowers usually have a blade that cuts grass by spinning horizontally. Reel Mowers, on the other hand, cut grass from top to bottom using blades mounted on its sides.
Other differences between rotary and reel lawn mowers are noticeable in their modes of operation. Rotary mowers are powered mainly by either gas or electricity, while most reel mowers are powered by push. Some reel mowers are also powered by electricity and a gas engine.
Improvements are being made constantly to increase lawnmowers’ efficiency, and some mowers come with extra features that do perform extra functions other than mowing. An example is the mulching lawnmower, which is known to return cut grass to the lawn so that they act as fertilizers. There is also the self-bagging lawnmower, which collects the grass the mower cuts.
Hoses
It is essential that your lawn gets adequate water, and you don’t expect rainfall to supply your lawn with all the water it needs, especially if you stay in areas with a dry and hot climate, such as the southwestern part of the United States. Watering your lawn will keep the grasses fresh, provide them with some essential nutrients, and strengthen their roots.
Here is where the hosepipe comes in. you can use it to water your lawn efficiently. However, you should make sure you are not giving your lawn too much water because that can damage the lawn. Therefore, understand your lawn’s water needs and water it accordingly while paying attention to the weather.
Lawn Rakes
Dirt, moss, thatch, dead leaves, etc., may find their way into your lawn, and picking them by hand can be exhausting. However, with a rake, it will be faster and more efficient. Lawn rakes, also known as leaf rakes, are ideal for scraping leaves, moss, thatch from lawns. You can also use them to gather piles of grass cuttings, especially if your lawnmower doesn’t have a grass collector. You can use them to aerate the soil by scraping and spreading the soil’s top layer without damaging the grass. This is possible thanks to lawn rakes’ teeth design, which separates them from other types of rakes.
You can find them either with metal or plastic heads, while their handles are usually made with wood, metal, or plastic, all of which have their advantages and disadvantages.
Scarifiers and Dethatchers
Scarifiers and dethatchers are two different tools with very similar functions. Scarifiers are designed for scratching the top layers of the soil in order to aerate it, while dethatchers are designed mainly for the removal of thatch, dead roots, grass stems to ensure optimal growth for grasses in those areas.
You can dethatch lightly or heavily, depending on the amount of thatch you find on your lawn. However, it is best to remove thatch when the accumulation is still low, and you can do this with the regular lawn rake. However, the thatch build-up is quite heavy; you may have to employ a proper dethatcher. That is why it is best to dethatch your lawn before the thatch accumulates too much. But dethatching should not be done very often as your lawn needs some amount of thatch to grow better. Too much detaching or heavy detaching can damage your lawn.
There are different types of dethatchers. Some can be attached to standard lawnmowers; however, you should be careful when using such attachments as they can cause problems for your lawn. Other types include power dethatchers, which are relatively expensive and ideal for larger lawns.
Lawn Spreaders
You may want to apply fertilizers or herbicides for killing weed on your lawn or spread new grass seeds; lawn spreaders are the ideal tool for doing that. Spreading fertilizers, weed killers, and pesticides by hand are likely to leave uneven concentrations on different lawn parts.
Lawn spreaders allow you to apply fertilizers and herbicides evenly. They are also fast, saving you more time. They are ideal for extensive lawns and are found both in large and small sizes. You can also use them on small-sized lawns.
Lawn spreaders are also called garden or broadcast spreaders. Some of them have features such as adjustable feed controls that allow you to apply a different amount of concentrate at different locations on your lawn.
Lawn Aerators
It is essential that you aerate your lawn from time to time. This is to avoid the soil to get compressed and compacted. Compact soils do not favor lawn growth. If you want to site a lawn and the soil is compact, you may have to aerate it or replace it. Also, as you mow your lawn or walk on it, it gets the soil compacted. So, you have to aerate your lawn by breaking the compacted soil into smaller crumbs to allow nutrients to circulate properly, and the best tool for that is aerators.
Although, tools like lawn rakes can be used to aerate the lawn but only on a small scale. Aerators look like forks with hollow tines. They remove little grass as they penetrate the soil and open it to enable air, water, and other nutrients to move properly. They can also be used on waterlogged soils to create better drainage.
They exist in different types; some are standard hand tools, while others are powered either electrically or by gas. Some aerators are attached to shoes and aerate the lawn as you walk across.
Lawn Edgers
Lawn edges are used to add style to lawns by creating clean, sharp edges or cut away part of the lawn to create space for new beds. If a part of your lawn is damaged and you want to replace it, lawn edgers will do a clean job removing that area. As their name implies, they are ideal for trimming the edges of your lawn. Lawn edgers are also known are half-moon edgers.
They can cut through grassroots in the soil when they are pressed down and moved from one side to another, allowing the curved blade to work effectively. Lawn edgers are relatively easy to use; however, the operator must be physically fit to operate them well and get the desired results.
Edging Shears
If your lawn is situated on an uneven surface, it may be difficult for the regular lawnmower to evenly mow the entire lawn. This also includes areas that have obstacles, such as rocks or bulging tree roots. It will result in some parts of the lawn having more grass than the other parts, which can affect your lawn’s overall look if left unchecked. If your lawn happens to have these issues, you will have to get edging shears to trim those areas better.
These tools are large scissors that can be used for clipping grass in difficult areas. They mainly two types of edging shears, and they are differentiated by their handle size; one has a short handle while the other has a long handle. The short-handled edging shears are usually smaller in size and enable users to effectively cut tight corners and difficult areas. The blades of long-handled edging shears are usually horizontal to the ground allowing users to cut grasses in uneven areas without bending down.
Like most tools that are used in gardening, edging shears have to be maintained properly by keeping them clean and sharp. This will prevent ragged, discolored, bruised edges, which can go on to damage your lawn further. Therefore, ensure that the tools are sharpened regularly.
Conclusion
There are other tools apart from these on the market. However, some of the tools mentioned above are some of the most popular and most used tools in lawns and gardens, and they will help you in your journey of starting and maintaining your lawn. Some of them can also prove useful in some situations, such as an overwatered lawn or when you want to repair a damaged lawn‘. You can start building your lawn toolbox today by getting the tools most important to you at the moment and add the rest to your box later in the future. Ensure that you get good quality tools that will last longer and are easy to maintain, as your lawn stands to benefit a lot from that decision.