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Gardening equipment to simplify your urge to dig in the dirt

When it comes to picking a useful garden tool, the choice is simple for Jennifer Fishburn.

"My favorite garden tool is a garden knife. A garden knife is a multifunctional tool that can be used for several gardening activities, such as digging, weeding and cutting," said Fishburn, horticulture educator with the University of Illinois Extension.

The garden knife is available under several brand names, including Multi-Purpose Garden Knife ($24.95 at Gardener's Supply Co.). Its features include a comfortable handle and a sharp stainless-steel blade with a serrated edge, Fishburn said.

"Another good feature to look for is a notched tip, ideal for getting out long roots of dandelions that invade flower beds. Be sure to get a protective sheath with a belt loop," Fishburn said.

Buying basic tools for multipurpose gardening is a good way to save money, said Robert Chellios, store manager at Ace Hardware in Springfield.

"You don't have to go out and spend millions of dollars. You don't need to have every single tool there is out there. You can get away with some basic ones and use them," Chellios said.

Basic yard and garden tools a homeowner should have are a round-point shovel, a square shovel, a leaf rake (plastic or metal) and, depending on the age of the property's trees and bushes, a pair of hedge shears or loppers, Chellios said.

New ideas; old standbys

A variety of loppers and pruners are available, Chellios said.

"Probably the newest thing in some of the loppers is that there's some that are telescoping to give you more leverage when you're trying to cut a bigger branch," Chellios said.

Cultivating standbys include the Garden Weasel ($25.99 at Ace) and the Garden Claw ($29.99).

"The Garden Claw actually is a good item for working up because ... you just stick it in the ground and you turn it to break up the soil," Chellios said.

A gardener may use "some of everything" in garden tools, depending on the job he's tackling, Chellios said.

"You might use a round-point shovel if you're actually digging for shrubs and things like that," Chellios said. "You're going to use a fork for just turning the soil, a hoe for just doing some weeds or making the grooves for your seeds in the garden. There's no one set tool."

Easy gardening

The right tools make creating and maintaining yards easier and faster, said Kathleen Huddy, the gardening writer with Good Housekeeping Research Institute, which offers its six picks of innovative finds for 2011 at www.goodhousekeeping.com/home/gardening/best-garden-tools.

Among the picks is the Fiskars Florist Bypass Pruner ($8), which can snip flowers and trim plants quickly. The pruner is great for smaller clippings, but not so much for woody rose stems, the institute found. Because some plants, especially rose bushes, should be pruned this time of year, having an anvil pruner and flower-cutting pruner is important, Huddy said.

"You need to have both of them. You need to have the anvil for thicker cuts, thicker branches and then the finer, smaller pruner for finer, smaller branches," Huddy said.

"Sometimes a thick branch needs a clean cut, and a smaller pruner will just smoosh it. It won't make a clean cut, and it will make a mess, and that will allow insects to get inside."

Best picks

Good Housekeeping Research Institute's 2011 six picks for "New Gardening Gear" were tested by master gardeners and female consumers who ranged from 4 feet 11 inches tall to 5 feet 11 inches.

"We thought that a lot of these products are really great, especially for the female consumer who's gardening," Huddy said.

In addition to the Fiskars Florist Bypass Pruner, GHRI selected:

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Garden Grips Nimbus rubber-coated gardening shoes ($65), which the institute found to be comfortable and stylish. The shoes have a high cut for blocking out splashes and good traction.</li>

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PotLifter ($25), a strap-designed item that can move large planters and more. It needs two people to operate, but testers found it easy to use and store.</li>

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Fiskars Lop & Saw ($35), a lightweight, two-in-one tool that cuts through branches up to 1 1/2 inches thick. Its double-edged saw, for larger branches, is sheathed in one of its handles.</li>

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Bionic Gloves Blooms Gardening Gloves ($30) have a silicone grip that allows for picking up small clippings and pulling weeds.</li>

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Toolite Sifting Shovel ($72.88) is a lightweight, perforated shovel that can sift dirt and peat together and scoop out and drain muddy earth and clay. It has a nonstick coating that protects it from rust.</li>

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Tamara Browning can be reached at 217-788-1534.

Taking care of your tools

Preventing rust on garden tools such as shovels, forks and hoes is important - and pretty easy.

"You don't have to go out and buy the fanciest things in the world. You don't have to go buy the most expensive ones in the world. It just a lot comes down to how they're taken care of," said Robert Chellios, store manager at Ace Hardware in Springfield.

To increase the lifespan of your gardening tools, Chellios recommends washing dirt and mud off your tools, and then spraying them with WD-40. Set the tools aside to dry, and then hang them up. That's it.