The garden hoe is a useful tool for ongoing garden maintenance. Once a border has been cleared of any perennial nuisances, like dandelions, the hoe can be used to keep a border looking its best. The blade is small enough to fit around plants in your border.

The pruning saw is when even the loppers won’t do. There are a lot of different types of pruning saw and they match their intended uses.

Loopers are very useful for those garden jobs that are just a bit too big for secateurs. You should try and always have a pair if you’re doing any pruning work.

There are all sorts of jobs you can use different rakes to achieve. From levelling an area for turf to raking up leaves. I couldn’t cover all of them in this one blog. I’m going to concentrate on rakes designed for removing fallen leaves, grass clippings and other garden waste.

In this blog we’re going to give you some idea of what to look out for when buying a shovel. Some people confuse them with spades. There is an easy way to remember-

• Spades cut through the soil and are primarily used for digging.

• Shovels move soil and other garden material around.

In this blog we’re going to try to give you some idea of what to look out for when buying a spade. A spade a spade right? But not all spades are created equal.