10 Items You Need for a Gardening Starter Kit

Gardening can bring unparalleled joy into the life of the gardener. Few things in life feel so satisfying as watching the fruits of your labor quite literally blossom and fruit. Whether filling your kitchen with homegrown bouquets or dining on freshly picked salads and tomatoes straight from the vine, no gardener will tell you that the work is not worth the rewards at the end. Not only is gardening incredibly satisfying, but it’s also actually good for you! Spending time outside in the fresh air, moving your body as you work your garden beds, and enjoying the miracles of nature will help you feel healthier and happier, leaving the garden’s great bounties as the icing on the cake.

Thinking about starting a garden this year? Starting a garden is a fun and exciting new adventure to embark on. Whether you are choosing to grow flowers, fruits, vegetables, or anything else, you’ll want to have some simple starter gardening tools on hand. Similarly, if you are installing a new garden in your yard or have committed to container gardening on your back patio, our gardening starter kit will help you get your green thumb going in no time.

1. Gardening Gloves

Invest in a good pair of high-quality gardening gloves. Gardening gloves do more than just keep your hands clean. When working with plant matter and in the soil, loads of things can scrape or scratch your hands. Wearing a good pair of gardening gloves will give you the confidence and protection you need to really dig your hands in deep and get your gardening done without worrying about hurting your hands. Gardening gloves are also important for protecting your hands from calluses when using tools like shovels and rakes.

2. Hose and Nozzle

Watering your garden is going to be a key factor in its success. Especially in drier areas or during hotter times of the year, having a good hose on hand that will reach your garden beds is imperative to ensuring that each one gets well watered throughout the growing season. Along with a good sturdy and flexible hose, you will want a hose head to go with it. Choose a nozzle head with multiple settings, as each setting works for different purposes. For example, use the mist setting for watering seedlings and the shower setting for watering more established plants.

3. Hand Trowel

Every gardener needs a hand trowel. Hand trowels will be used to do much of your work. If you don’t get any other gardening tool, at least have a trowel. Gardeners need them for moving soil, planting seedlings, rearranging plants, and even for repotting potted plants. Invest in a decent hand trowel to be sure it lasts.

4. Hand Cultivator

Like a hand trowel, a hand cultivator is an important tool for gardeners. It functions like a handheld rake and is helpful for moving soil, aerating soil, integrating compost or fertilizer into the soil, moving debris, turning soil, and even weeding. This is definitely an important tool for gardeners to have, as you’ll likely be using it quite a bit.

5. Watering Can

If you are going the patio garden route, then it’s possible you can get away with just having a watering can and not a hose. Regardless, we recommend every gardener has both, just in case. Watering cans are appropriate for patio- or deck-grown gardens, but also for seedlings that require gentle watering. Also, if you are using liquid fertilizer, watering cans are a great place to mix the fertilizer with water for easy distribution onto your plants.

6. Compost or Topsoil

Compost literally makes the gardening world go round. Lovingly dubbed by many a gardener as “black gold,” compost is where the magic happens. If you don’t have a compost pile at home where you can get your own well-decomposed organic matter, it’s easy to buy bags of high-quality compost at any farm or gardening center. Compost is mother nature’s food and nourishment for your plants, making it key to a bountiful garden. Good compost is also responsible for a healthy soil micro-biome and worm activity, which plays an important role in the wellness of your plants.

7. Wheel Barrow

While not totally necessary if you’re sticking to patio gardening, a wheelbarrow is handy for those who have bigger in-ground or raised bed gardens. Useful for transporting compost, plants, tools, mulch, or just about anything else, a wheelbarrow will save you time and effort when doing some of the more laborious tasks of gardening.

8. Plant Starter Kit

Plant starter kits are a great way to easily get started with growing your own seedlings. The kits typically come in a tray that has a clear plastic lid that aids in germination, as well as little pots of peat where you can plant your seeds. Once they grow into healthy seedlings, they will be ready to transplant into their more permanent homes. If you are buying seedlings from a nursery or garden center, you won’t need a plant starter kit.

9. Seeds or Seedlings

This is where the fun begins! Get your hands on a seed catalog or head down to your local gardening center to check out what seeds they have on offer. It’s best to do a little research first when deciding what you want to grow. Whether it’s vegetables or flowers, be sure you have the right growing environment and space for what you want to grow before buying the seeds. It’s always helpful to make a garden plan, too.

You can also skip the seeds altogether and wait for that time in the spring when nurseries and garden centers are selling their seedlings for the seasons. You can usually buy from a wide variety of vegetables, herbs, perennials, annuals, bulbs, shrubs, and even fruits. If you are growing vegetables, be sure your growing season is long enough for the number of days it takes the vegetables to mature (the number of days is typically listed on the label). If you are buying perennials, be sure you are gardening in a grow zone they will survive in. Again, check the labels and your grow zone before buying.

10. Pots and Potting Soil

If you are gardening on your deck or patio, you will want a healthy selection of large pots and enough potting soil to fill them. Don’t just go dig up the backyard and fill the pots with native soul. Store-bought potting soil is sterilized to ensure there are no diseases or bugs living in the soil that could damage your plants. Similarly, potting soil is more nutritionally dense than regular earth, which will be important to your plants that can only receive nutrients from within the boundaries of the pot. Small biodegradable pots and potting soil are also a great way to start your seeds. The best part is you can just stick them in the earth without transplanting them, as the biodegradable pot will decompose easily.

Gardening is a wonderful way to get outdoors, connect to nature, and experience one of the most satisfying feelings of all time. You don’t even need a large plot of land to get started, either. So, get geared up and plan for your summer garden this year as spring is already around the corner!

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