This will sound a bit silly, but we garden a relatively large area, and I use and really love the almost fifty-year-old Ford tractor, which moves compost, manure & mulch, mows the field and woods roads, and picks up and moves rocks. I made fun of my husband when he bought it second hand about 12 years ago, but I probably use it about as much as he does now. As I age, having a machine to help with the heavy chores is really nice. Like duluthinbloomz4 I love my scuffle hoe - cuts both coming and going, and doesn't need lifting - just shuffle it back and forth to get rid of weeds. I like goatskin gardening gloves since I can throw them in the washing machine when they get too grubby, but they are tougher than fabric gloves and quite flexible. I love my straight edged spade, which I use for edging as well as for digging in soft soil. It has a D shaped plastic handle on a wooden shaft which is warmer and has less vibration than metal. I'm not sure that any of those qualify as gadgets, but they are my favorite and most-used tools.

What a lot of great info on this thread! I'm especially happy to read all the posts about gloves, as I've come to realize that I need about 3 different kinds - I got a pair of goatskin gloves (big expense, but WORTH it), some nitrile ones for repotting (easy to clean and they don't get sopping) - and I have a cotton pair of regular gardening gloves for everything else. The latter are not very satisfactory, and I'm always on the lookout for the Perfect Pair. It's gotten to be a bit like looking for the Perfect Swimsuit when I was younger... I got the Felco #6 pruners when I started working at the Sac Cemetery Historical Rose Garden - I have weak hands, and the #6s are much easier for me to work with. For my little garden of potted roses at home, I use the generic pruners that I already had. In fact, I try to keep the Rose Garden tools separate from the stuff I use at home, so I don't inadvertently carry some Bad Things (viruses, rust, etc.) to the Rose Garden (as far as I know, I don't have any of those Bad Things at home, but you never know). I got an L.L. Bean boating tote (very sturdy) to keep my Rose Garden stuff in, and all my at-home stuff stays out on my balcony. It's very convenient. I was kind of aghast at myself when I spent so much money on those Felcos, but I have never regretted it. For my next mission: copying a list of all the great gloves mentioned on this thread and trekking through the nurseries in town on The Great Glove Search! Laura

A sturdy tool with a sharp blade helps. I dug out the last my my Miscanthus this spring with a DeWit Spork: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsqAYTUmkpQ First I cut the grass down as short as possible with a Hori knife, then I was able to chop right down into the plant with the spork and pull out sections at a time -- much easier than trying to uproot the whole thing at once. After that I dug down farther to get as many roots as I could find, knocked the dirt off as best I could, and left them to dry in the sun. I ended up throwing away a few pieces with each yard waste bag I put out so each bag wouldn't be too heavy. This tool is pretty great for chopping down through stuff that isn't too woody.

G'Day! i like to keep a big trowel with a good, sharp tip and a pair of long scissors - very pointy and with the steel going all the way around the handles - in my pockets at all times. Poultry shears are also useful. You can never have too may plastic buckets. (Hint: bakeries and resturanbts get suppies in heavy-duty buckets which generally get discarded, so you may be able to get a dozen high-quality buckets at a time - free!) And gumboots or wellies are a must. The best source i know of for most all your agricultural needs is your local Southern States franchise; many are now as much for the home gardener as for real farms. Generally very sturdy equipment at realistic prices, much lower than at a fancy nursery. They also often have some basic but nice plants. You may not need a ten pound sack of seed Pinto beans, but many will let you buy smaller quantities. Just look around carefully first before asking for help so your questions are specific; Southern States stores generally have very knowledgable staff but not much time to spare. They have to run a tight ship to keep their prices good. Google Southern States; their website has a zipcode locator to help you find their franchisees nearest you. Check out a couple to see which one near you best suits your needs. Stock up on your basics there - then take your savings to that fancy nursery for your fun, specialty items! Of course, your best plants will come from swaps! And maybe a few tools too. (i did NOT buy those pink handled cultivators! Thanks Dawn, thay work great - but i may have to paint them!) Speaking of paining handles, while you may be attracted to green or eath-tones handles, go for the truely obnoxious orange or other bright-colour-not-found-in-nature. You want tools you can easily find when they get dropped in a mess of tall plants. If you already have tools with subtle colours, wrap some brilient tape on 'em before you lose them! Note that sometimes two tools which look identicle will feel and work a bit differently. Hinges may be tighter on some, which makes cutting easier, than on others. Keeping things sharp makes a BIG difference. To help prevent rust, when done for the day, rinse everything off and put in a nice dry place. It also helps to keep a bucket full of coarse sand soaked in oil (like minieral oil, not petrol!) to plunge tools into. This helps clean them and prevent rust. Happy gardening, -vlad