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With gardening, it has long been recognized that to improve the nutrient content or characteristics of the soil, it is necessary to fertilize the soil itself. Within organic gardening however, the use of synthetic is not used. Instead, most gardeners will use decomposing organic matter in the soil to do the same job of most synthetic fertilizers. This is much healthier for the soil as the organic fertilizer contains many more natural complexes that contain micronutrients such as zinc and iron for the plants to absorb.

There are three major nutrients that crops respond to: phosphorus, nitrogen and potassium. All organic materials contain these three nutrients but obviously in varying ratios so when trying to fertilize your crops it is important to combine the materials to get the levels of each nutrient you need. For example, manure is full of nitrogen, but is lacking in the other nutrients, so it is important to combine the manure with another material that is higher in the other nutrients. However, it is important to remember that fresh manure should never be used on food because it can be detrimental in terms of health and safety, while other nutrients can require special handling, as adding them on their own can be more detrimental to the soil in general.

The best way to fertilize is to compost the major nutrients with soil and then add it to your gardening where it is needed. Sawdust for example is low in nitrogen while high in other nutrients. In this case, it is best to layer the sawdust with soil and another material high in nitrogen so that you get an even combination too then add to the garden. This can help reduce the risk of ‘burning’ the plants with materials too high in nitrogen while also avoiding temporary nitrogen deficiency that can come with materials too low in nitrogen being added to soil. When you have a combination of all these nutrients, you can fertilize your soil safe in the knowledge that it will be receiving all the nutrients that you need.

Years ago, gardening tools were built to last and it was not uncommon for a good spade, to cost a week’s wages. As they were an expensive commodity, these gardening tools had to be made to withstand the test of time and were often passed down through generations. You find many of them still being used today.

These days, when you walk into any retailer that sells gardening tools you are met with racks of different items all proclaiming they are the ‘gardeners best friend’ or ‘what every garden needs’, researching on the internet is even more confusing, with pages of gardening tools results filling your screen claiming to be the tool that you must have.

Before you start looking at the hi-tech gadgetry available on the high street and online, you need to ensure that you have the basics. A good foundation of gardening tools will stand you in good stead for the future and give you a good base to build up an array of tools in the future. Below is a list of the top 10 gardening tools that every garden shed should be keeping safe.

Gloves

We all know that many garden pests and weeds have thorns, stings or chemicals that irritate the skin so the first item in our gardening tools list is a good pair of gloves. Not only will they protect from nasty prickly pests they can help prevent blisters and stop your skin drying out.

Spade

There is no way you could do anything of note in a garden without a spade – it will help when turning soil in flower beds and veggie patches, dig holes for fence posts or larger trees and shrubs, and prove invaluable when clearing piles of rubbish.