The Best Garden Tools for Mom

Q: My wife and I started a gardening seriously a couple of years ago, and I want to get her some solid, high-quality tools for Mother’s Day to replace the standard “homeowner-grade” junk we’ve been using. Can you recommend a good basic set?

A: Gardening tools are one of those purchases where you really do get what you pay for. Affordable, light-duty products will inevitably snap, bend, or fall apart if you put them through anything more strenuous than, say, planting annuals each spring. And you’ll find that top-of-the-line tools also make laborious tasks easier. Here’s a roundup of high-quality yet reasonably affordable basic gardening gear.

Hand pruner: For everything from clipping overgrown bushes to removing spent flowers so a plant can produce more blooms, you’ll want a good set of bypass pruners, such as those made by Felco ($53 at homedepot.com).

Hand tool set: Look for heavy-duty metal hand tools, such as Lee Valley’s 3-piece set ($62 at leevalley.com), plus Fiskar’s tool apron, ($13 at amazon.com), which is designed to wrap around a standard 5-gallon bucket (about $3 at any home center) so you can carry all your tools and supplies in one hand.

Cart/seat: Gardening means getting down into the dirt, either by kneeling or sitting on a comfortable seat. A Tractor Scoot ($90 from gardeners.com) is a seat plus a storage bin set on chunky wheels.

Gloves: Make sure to get her a pair of good leather gauntlet gloves, which protect wrists as well as hands. While you're at it, get yourself a pair too ($30 at duluthtrading.com).

Long-handled tools: Perhaps nowhere is quality more important than with tools designed to quite literally do the heavy lifting. For starters, consider the forged round-point shovel, PROHOE 6-inch scuffle hoe, and Union half-moon turf edger ($46, $35, and $40, respectively, at amleo.com).

Read next: 4 (Mostly) Cheap and Easy Ways to Green Up Your Grass