Top 10 Professional Landscaping Tools and Equipment

Published on: April 10, 2022
Written by Eric Devin / Fact-checked by David Rowan

Not everyone is lucky enough to have a lawn in front of their home. In fact, everyone doesn’t have a home to call to. However, if you have a precious lawn then it is time that you appreciate it. The exterior of a house makes the first impression about its owner’s personality and taste. It is not true that you have to have money to have a well-manicured lawn. In fact, with the proper tool and the right use, even beginners can make their adjacent landscape look professionally done. 

Besides, Agricultural Implements, gardening, lending and selling landscaping tools and gears is a booming business now. So, you can do both with your tools-use and lend or sell. So, here are the topmost landscaping tools used by professionals for landscaping. 

1. Shovel

Shovels are one of the must-haves for gardening and landscaping. These are essential for digging and loosening up the soil. Shovels are found in various sizes, shapes, and qualities. Professionals use all of those!

However, for personal use, you should choose one that fits your comfort. Meaning, the shovel height should not be too long or short. The shovel should have a platform large enough so that you can push it against soil when needed. The edge of the shovel can be pointy, or spade shape, or just straight. 

The pointy shovel is useful to work with hard ground and rocky soil. The spade-shaped shovel is somewhat a combination of the pointy and edgy shovel. So, this serves both purposes. On the other hand, the shovel with a long straight edge is good for digging up chunks of soil and also for edging. 

You should choose your shovel based on the ground you are going to work with. Besides, the handle can be a D-handle or a simple straight handle. The choice is yours. 

2. Trowel

You can say it is a miniature shovel with a curved edge. To plant small plants in decorative planters, this trowel works perfectly. Just like a shovel, the trowel is also available in various qualities. 

If you believe in a one-time investment like me, then invest in a trowel that is heavy, sturdy, and pricey. Cheaper trowels break within a year. So, do not hesitate to buy a quality trowel if you love small plants.

3. Pruners

These are special scissors that are used to cut woody brunch. As the branches of trees are of various sizes, the pruners are also available in different sizes as well. The smallest one is only suitable for branches that are up to an inch thick. 

There are two types pruner-Bypass and Anvil type. 

• The Bypass pruners have curved blades that overlap like scissors. So, the cuts are clean but it needs a hard press to work. On the other hand, the Anvil pruner has a sharp edge and a flat edge that works like a chopping board. In this case, it takes a mild press to cut, but the cuts are not clean, more of smashed. 
• Loppers are bigger scissors than pruners but work the same. These are used on bigger and thicker branches. Likewise, these loppers also have two types-Bypass and Anvil. The Bypass loppers are better as they provide cleaner cuts. 
• Shears are also scissors, but those are not used to cut branches. Rather, these scissors are used to cut out grown leaves and twigs. Shears are used for shaping plants to decorate landscapes with beautifully shaped trees. 

4. Rake 

Rakes has specific uses to clean up the garden. It combs out the landscape and cleans up leaves, debris, and weeds from its way. Different rakes are used for different reasons. 

• Garden Fork has the widest tooth as a rake. It literally has three-tooth as a fork and has a long handle on another end. It is used to chop up the soil. Soil that is dug by shovel is too big to use for plantation. So, garden forks are handy to break and loosen the solid to make it suitable for planting trees. 
• Leaf Rake has more teeth than the garden rake. Professionals use this manual rake to clean up the landscape from dried and fallen leaves. For larger landscape, power tools like leaf blower are used as a substitute. 
• Garden Rake is best when it comes to cleaning up unwanted weeds out of way. These rakes have even more teeth than a leaf rake. So that, small weeds catch up to it while combing on the lawn. 

5. Lawn Mower

Finally, we are going to talk about the power tools that make the landscape look professionally done. A lawnmower is the first essential for a pro-looking landscape. I suggest getting a mower with a blade larger than 30 inches. These last long. 

Besides, a smaller mower will take more passes to do the lawn and take more time as well. These blades get dull quicker and also the machine gives up earlier. 

6. Grass Trimmer

A grass trimmer is not as essential as a lawnmower, but still necessary. Professional landscapers use this trimmer to patch up the grasses that are left out by the lawnmower. Say, the lawn that is around a large tree, or near the edge or corner, and so on. So, a grass trimmer is used to give a finishing touch to the lawn.

7. Leaf Blower

As mentioned above, large landscapes require power tools for a manicure. A leaf blower will save time and energy on cleaning up drop-out leaves from the landscape. Electric or gas-powered leaf blowers are found in the market. Use one that suits you. 

Do you have snowfall during the winter months? Then you might think of having a snow-blower as well. Likewise, this one also makes cleaning off snowflakes from the plants easier than manual labor. 

8. Saw

Electric saw are used to cut off thick and large branches from trees. Even if you think you don’t want to cut branches with it, you still need it. The saw comes in handy when trees fall due to storms or other disasters. 

There are numerous types of saws out there, but a basic chain saw should do all the purpose. It can help you cut the branches, chop up the trees, or even make spectacular sculptures on wood. 

9. Garden knife and Scissors

These are multi-functional tools are used to cut seed packs to small branches and so on. The knife can be used to loosen up the soil in small planters, drafting, and so on. A pair of garden knives and scissors saves time when you can’t figure out which tool to use among the arsenal of tools. 

10. Safety Gears

Have you ever seen professional landscapers working without their safety gears? Even if some of them do, it should be illegal. Eyeshield, gloves, earplugs are a must while working with power tools for landscaping. Also, long sleeve shirts and T-shirts are a must wear while gardening to get less dirt to the body. 

Tips to Successfully Shop Landscaping Tools

• First of all, make a list or inventory of tools you already own. This should save you from over-buying tools that you already own. 
• There are different sizes and variations of the same tool. Do your research and find out which one you really need. 
• Make a budget and a priority list. It will help to get all the tools you need slowly without breaking the bank. 
• Invest in quality tools because those may seem expensive, but pays off in the long term. Invest in tools that can be sharpened. 
• Always use safety gear and be aware of the accidents. 

Final Verdict

So, these are the basics of professional landscaping tools. Again, there are different types of the same tool and professional landscapers have all of those in their collection. They just use the right tool and the right time. 

If you are a beginner and want to give your lawn or landscape a professionally done look, then only using the equipment is not necessary, using the right way is the key. But starting a business of landscaping tools requires having all the tools that are used by professionals as well as beginners.

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