The establishment of new community gardens and participation in existing ones is becoming increasingly popular. And it makes sense, as community gardens truly do bring a community together. They also instill the value of hard work, teach the satisfaction of that work yielding something tangible (and often delicious), and, most of all, they’re fun. 

If you're considering starting a community garden, or contributing to one that already exists, the following covers some of the essential equipment necessary (shovels and trowels), and those items that are extremely helpful but that may not immediately spring to mind (hand trucks). 

Gardening Basics

The basic tools are pretty much always welcome at a community garden but are particularly important when starting a new one. Essential equipment includes spades and shovels, trowels and forks, weeders, edgers, pruners and loppers, garden and leaf rakes, pitchforks, hoes, hoses, and anything else that’s useful for preparing and rooting in the Earth. Community gardens require bigger tools like spades and shovels for preparation and smaller tools like trowels and weeders for finer work.

Hand Trucks and Wheelbarrows

Wheelbarrows are hugely helpful and are rarely overlooked as gardening staples. However, less often thought of but often no less helpful are hand trucks. While wheelbarrows are better equipped for moving loose piles of soil, compost, mulch, or fertilizer, hand trucks are great for carrying heavy bags of soil, compost, mulch, fertilizer, sand, landscaping pebbles, and lumber for planting boxes, etc. And while something like a specialty appliance or stair climbing dolly is an excellent choice in other material handling applications, they aren’t typically necessary for gardening. However, you should definitely consider picking up a convertible hand truck (aka collapsible hand truck), or at least a traditional hand truck for the garden. Convertible hand trucks are particularly versatile as they can be operated vertically or horizontally.

Gardening Personal Protective Equipment

While gardening is a blast, nothing will make it less fun as quickly as not having the appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE). Gloves—and lots of them—are perhaps the most important pieces of garden PPE. Both heavy leather or canvas work gloves and thinner, often nitrile-lined gardening gloves are a lifesaver when gardening (or at least a hand-saver). Heavier and thinner work gloves can be picked up relatively inexpensively. Also helpful are knee protectors, either in the form of wearable kneepads or pads that can be kneeled on while working. One of the most overlooked pieces of gardening PPE is a pair of gardening boots, the long rubber ones also known as galoshes.

Hori Hori Knives

Hori hori knives are a Japanese innovation that are becoming better known in the United States but still lack the mainstream recognition they deserve. They are a thick-bladed sort of knife-trowel combination that usually features a straight-edge blade on one side and a serrated edge on the other. They're a surprisingly multipurpose tool that works beautifully for digging, cutting roots, digging out weeds, cutting produce, trenching, making planting holes—you name it. If it involves soil and the plants in it, chances are good the hori hori knife can handle it.

About Magline

Magliners are such valued and trusted staples of the material handling industry that many in the business refer to all hand trucks, regardless of brand, simply as “Magliners.” Unfortunately for those other hand trucks, there’s just one Magliner. Fortunately, they’ve designed and produced the toughest, most reliable, and most user-friendly material handling tools and equipment in the business for more than 70 years. In addition to their renowned hand trucks, Magline also produces more specialized equipment, including their lift hand truck line, appliance hand truck selection, stair climbing cart options, and a great deal more.

Ensure that your business is more efficient and safe with Magliners, at Magliner.com

Original Source: https://bit.ly/2QrgbWV