Staples for your Spring Tool-Kit

Gloves -- OMG most important. Protect yourself from injury and bacteria by wearing gloves. Leave the crappy all-fabric ones (I know, the floral prints are adorable) and grab the ones with the rubberized palms!

Lawn Bags & Chute -- If you don't compost your clippings you need lawn bags, but I want to celebrate the chute for a sec. This thing is a game-changer and the probably best $9 I've ever spent on plasticized cardboard. It slips into your empty yard bag and props it open for easy loading of lawn and garden debris. I swear I can cram 40% MORE clippings in the bag when I use the chute. Brilliant.  

Rake -- Plastic vs. metal is the dilemma. Plastic is lighter weight, but it tends to get brittle and break after 2-3 years. Metal is a touch heavier, but it lasts much longer. Whatever your preference my advice is to get two sizes: a standard fan for volume passes on the lawn, and a smaller version for reaching into and between your perennials all while standing!

Pruners & Loppers -- A heavy-duty set of clean, sharp pruners and loppers is critical for spring garden cleaning. Dull and dirty ones will introduce bacteria into every plant it chews through. Use the pruners for perennials with smaller diameter branches and stems (i.e. roses and vines) and the loppers for thicker stems requiring leverage.  After your snipping session you can wipe down the blades with a Lysol wipe (to disinfect) and spray with WD-40 (to prevent rust). 

Hori Hori Knife -- I adore my Hori Hori knife; not only do I feel like a botanical Lara Croft, but this one tool gets me through countless tasks. From weeding interlock and sawing through a fertilizer bag to digging holes for panting and edging a garden bed, this all-in-on-knife-saw-trowel utility tool is the best weapon in your garden's arsenal.

Long handle round-head shovel -- with a Hori Hori knife you can probably forgo the need for a garden trowel, but you will definitely benefit from a long-handled round-head shovel. Work smarter and not harder and embrace leverage; the soil in the early spring is still cold and firm 5" below the surface so when attacking random patches of grass or clumps of weeds in your garden beds, stand up, stab and lever-down on that long handle.