A GROWING CONCERN: 18 ways to make gardening better and easier

Published 1:30 am Saturday, May 2, 2026

FRIDAY WAS MY absolute favorite holiday of the year as it kicks off my favorite month of the year!

With the advent of May, the return of gorgeous weather and your garden performing at an accelerated rate, let us go through 18 tools sure to aid your summer yard and garden.

1. Sun hat. Unless big hunks of flesh taken from your face and nose is a look that works for you, protect yourself from the No. 1 ravage of gardeners: Melanoma. Get yourself a wide-brim sun hat — after all, we gardeners live outside, you know?

2. Sunscreen. Doctors will also carve away on your arms, hands and legs, so now that the spring equinox has arrived and the sun is up, cover your skin with 30-plus SPF sunscreen.

3. An apron. I really love this garden wardrobe accessory for two reasons. First, the pockets hold many useful items needed for the job at hand, but second, an apron can protect most of the dirt, grime, algae and mess that occurs. This simple and inexpensive item is a real comfort saver.

4. Scissors. Everyone needs a good pair of gardening scissors for fine ornamental and flower work. Deadheading, cutbacks and cut flower harvest are all greatly improved by having a good pair of scissors at the ready.

5. Pruners. And here the word is Felco. These are the world’s best pruners, bar none! And ultimately, my No. 1 tool! A cut is only as good as the pruner, so get the best.

6. Loppers. A pruner on steroids, this is needed to correctly cut branches bigger than the pruner can handle. Always purchase a bypass/guillotine loppers or pruner.

7. Orchard saw. This sharp, fast, easy-to-use curved saw for tight crotch angles is the perfect poor-man’s chainsaw. Every gardener needs an orchard saw or two (small fold-up and large fixed blade) if you own fruit trees or large landscape trees, bushes and shrubs. Always buy a rip-saw-bladed model so you cut on both the inward and outward strokes.

8. Backpack sprayer. This is really the only sprayer-type model you should own because it holds 2 to 3 gallons of material, is easily transported on your back and, most importantly, it can be pumped up to high enough pressures to disperse the product in the mist or fog particle, which is the best desired results for even coverage. This is what professionals always use.

9. Dramm it. Dramm water breakers are in 90 percent of all greenhouses and nurseries because they are 90 percent better than all the rest. Dramm breakers are full-flow and low-velocity water heads, which is the secret. Get a 24-inch, 36-inch wand with a shut-off, and you will instantly become a professional in the field of watering, which is an art form.

10. Whirlybird spreaders. These handheld rotary spreaders with ergonomic handles are really the cat’s meow for many applications. Seed, lime, germination inhibitors, fertilizers, bone meal, even pets-safe slug baits easily go through this piece of equipment.

11. Tarps. Aren’t these a Pacific Northwest staple? Tarps are great to keep an area clean and easily haul or pull away the trash. Rake in leaves, spread around a tree as you prune or throw your deadheads into it — this simple tool does it all.

12. Buckets. I cannot say enough about buckets for their ease and simplicity. They carry in mulch, soil, compost or your tools, then haul out leaves, clipping and debris. Their size allows you to control and dump what you need, exactly where you need it. Bucket-up, it’s the law!

13. Carpet hunks. I absolutely adore old pieces of carpet when cut into various sizes and links, because they are the perfect kneeling pads, whereas those foam things are never big enough and must be moved at each repetition. Carpet hunks are as big as the area you cut them for, and when they become wet and disgusting, you just throw them away, and people will put more on the curb for you next week.

14. A great hand trowel. This is my No. 2 most-used tool, so get a good, sturdy, top-grade model because the cheaper a trowel costs, the worse it is.

15. Cultivator. Same deal here: Seek out and buy a very sturdy, expensive, professional-grade, long-handle cultivator because this tool should be used all season long.

16. Metal-pronged rake. A good, sturdy rake consisting of metal (not plastic) tines is essential for many garden chores, from leaf and plant debris cleanup to soil prep. Find a good one this week.

17. Double-wheeled wheelbarrow. Twice the tires means twice the load and stability. Imagine never spilling a load again while hauling more and completing the job quicker. Need I say more?

18. Hand truck. Dollies are the perfect invention for saving your back and knees. Fertilizer bags are heavy, and so are your decorative pots, rocks or newly purchased trees. Every gardener needs a hand truck because we are always on the move with lots of weight being transported and relocated, so get yourself some real cheap help and sleep pain-free at night.

And above all … stay well all!

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Andrew May is a freelance writer and ornamental horticulturist who dreams of having Clallam and Jefferson counties nationally recognized as “Flower Peninsula USA.” Send him questions c/o Peninsula Daily News, P.O. Box 1330, Port Angeles, WA 98362, or email news@peninsuladailynews.com (subject line: Andrew May).