Skip to main content
A father and daughter garden together. Credit: Getty Images

The Best Gardening Tools and Equipment of 2023

Recommendations are independently chosen by Reviewed's editors. Purchases made through the links below may earn us and our publishing partners a commission. Prices were accurate at the time this article was published but may change over time.

A father and daughter garden together. Credit: Getty Images

Why trust Reviewed?

Reviewed's mission is to help you buy the best stuff and get the most out of what you already own. Our team of product experts thoroughly vet every product we recommend to help you cut through the clutter and find what you need.

Learn more about our product testing
1
Editor's Choice Product image of Hooyman Digging Shovel
Best Overall

Hooyman Digging Shovel

This is a high quality, durable-yet-lightweight digging shovel that is excellent at a number of tasks. Read More

Pros

  • Lightweight
  • Padded area for second hand
  • Durable

Cons

  • None that we could find
2
Editor's Choice Product image of Flexzilla Garden Hose
Best Garden Hose

Flexzilla Garden Hose

Manages to be light and flexible without sacrificing durability or performance, moving easily at any range thanks to its lightweight construction and smooth surface. Read More

Pros

  • Lightweight and flexible
  • Male and female ends have comfort grips
  • Made from lead-free material

Cons

  • None that we could find
3
Editor's Choice Product image of Dramm One-Touch Shower & Stream
Best Hose Nozzle

Dramm One-Touch Shower & Stream

The Dramm One Touch Shower and Stream is simple, elegant, effective, and high quality. It's the best hose nozzle we've tested. Read More

Pros

  • Doesn't dribble or drip
  • Powerful jet
  • Easy to adjust

Cons

  • No mist option
  • Small spray radius
  • No extra gaskets
4
Editor's Choice Product image of StoneBreaker Gloves Gardener
Best Gardening Gloves

StoneBreaker Gloves Gardener

Excellent all-around gloves for most light to medium-duty gardening and yard work. You can keep wearing them as you move from task to task all day long. Read More

Pros

  • Long-lasting through light and medium-duty work
  • Water-resistant palms
  • Breathable goatskin/fabric material

Cons

  • Require hand-washing
  • Not water resistant
  • Loose elastic cuff
5
Editor's Choice Product image of Felco 2
Best Pruning Shears

Felco 2

Felco pruners have a solid reputation for a good reason: They cut cleanly through every plant in your garden, from flower stems to branches. Read More

Pros

  • Versatile
  • Durable
  • Replacement parts available

Cons

  • Expensive

Springtime is here, and that means it’s time to do some serious yard work. Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned gardener, having flowers in bloom is a quick way to lift your spirits. While hiring a landscaping service is a quick fix for your lawn, there is something satisfying about doing the work yourself.

That’s where Reviewed comes in. We’ve compiled a list of the best gardening tools and equipment to get your yard in tip-top shape for the warmer seasons. If you’re pruning rose bushes in the summer, raking the lawn in early spring, or composting to be eco-friendly—our favorite is the Redmon Compost Bin, 65 Gallon (available at Amazon)—we’ve found the best yard tools for any task.

For Your Garden

A person scooping dirt outside with the Hooyman Digging Shovel
Credit: Reviewed / Betsey Goldwasser

The Hooyman Digging Shovel is the best garden shovel you can buy right now.

Best Overall
Hooyman Digging Shovel

A good garden shovel is one of the most basic tools you Hooyman Digging Shovel. Featuring a heavy duty carbon steel head and no-slip grips for each hand, this shovel provides efficiency and ergonomics.

The slightly-serrated blade cuts well through everything from hard ground to roots. The lightweight fiberglass shaft is durable, but light enough to use for long stretches.

If you want to handle smaller tasks like planting seeds or small bushes, consider a hand trowel, as well.

Pros

  • Lightweight

  • Padded area for second hand

  • Durable

Cons

  • None that we could find

The Flexzilla garden hose sits on the grass
Credit: Reviewed / Sarah Kovac

The Flexzilla Garden Hose is the best garden hose you can buy.

Product image of Flexzilla Garden Hose
Best Garden Hose
Best Garden Hose
Flexzilla Garden Hose

The Flexzilla hose is the best garden hose you can buy. It’s light and flexible without sacrificing durability or performance, and its lightweight construction and smooth surface make it maneuverable at any distance.

Both ends of the Flexzilla have comfort grips that allow the hose to twist freely, making it easy to maneuver around the yard. The Flexvilla’s titular flexibility did lead to a couple of kinks as we pulled the hose taut, however, it un-kinked itself after a moment, so the brief kinks didn’t end up being an issue at all.

Our durability test involved smacking the connectors against concrete three times as hard as we could. The aluminum fittings held up just as well as the brass fittings of other hoses we tested. They emerged with just a couple of scuffs.

The flexible nature of this hose also made it a breeze to coil and carry from one place to another. It can’t touch the portability of an expandable hose, but it was the easiest to move, coiled or expanded, of the standard hoses we tested.

The Flexzilla’s neon green color is impossible to lose in your home garden beds. That could be a positive or negative depending on your preferences, but it also won’t heat water to the extent that a darker hose might. The Flexzilla’s lead-free material is safe for all members of the family to drink from.

Pros

  • Lightweight and flexible

  • Male and female ends have comfort grips

  • Made from lead-free material

Cons

  • None that we could find

See more of the best garden hoses we tested and reviewed.

A person sprays water out of a green Dramm hose nozzle.
Credit: Reviewed / Betsey Goldwasser

The Dramm 12424 One-Touch Shower & Stream is the best hose nozzle we've tested.

Product image of Dramm One-Touch Shower & Stream
Best Hose Nozzle
Best Hose Nozzle
Dramm 12421 One-Touch Shower & Stream

The Dramm 12424 One-Touch Shower & Stream is simple, elegant, effective, and high-quality. As the name suggests, the dial’s only two options are shower and stream. Flow is controlled by an easy-to-adjust rear thumb throttle. Between those two settings, the Dramm can perform most garden and yard tasks besides misting.

The full-pressure stream is one of the most powerful jet streams we tested, pushing soil off a dirty deck fast. The full-powered shower delivers a medium-fine, drenching spray for rapid but gentle watering that won’t damage delicate leaves. At low pressure, the spray is perfect for sprinkling seedlings without washing them away.

The only drawback to this otherwise-perfect spray is that its watering radius on “shower” is small compared to other models, making it less useful for big yards.

See more of the best hose nozzles we tested and reviewed.

Pros

  • Doesn't dribble or drip

  • Powerful jet

  • Easy to adjust

Cons

  • No mist option

  • Small spray radius

  • No extra gaskets

A gardening-gloved hand holds a pair of pruning shears, and is in the process of trimming some undergrowth.
Credit: Reviewed / Betsey Goldwasser
Product image of StoneBreaker Gloves Gardener
Best Gardening Gloves
Best Gardening Gloves
StoneBreaker Gloves Gardener

StoneBreaker Gardener Gloves are excellent all-around gloves for most light to medium-duty gardening and yard work. The available small, medium, and large sizes roughly correspond to glove sizes 7-9.

At about $20 a pair, the StoneBreaker Gloves aren’t cheap, but they’re ruggedly durable. They’re a great all-purpose pair for anyone who only wants one set of gloves. Made of goatskin and fabric, they’re sensitive enough for weeding, but sturdy enough for grabbing thorny stems and rough-edged bricks. They’ll also keep blisters at bay during long pruning sessions.

The slim profile of the fingertip seams keeps them from interfering with fine-detail work. The light color and breathable fabric backing helps them stay cool on hot, sunny days, and the palms are water-resistant.

There are a few downsides. The backs aren’t water-resistant, they’re on the pricey side, and they have to be washed by hand. The cuff is long, but the elastic isn’t particularly tight, so some dirt may fall in.

While Amazon lists these as “women’s” gloves, their unisex design and size range will fit most men. It’s also the most protective glove we tested that can still work a touchscreen.

See more of the best gardening gloves we tested and reviewed.

Pros

  • Long-lasting through light and medium-duty work

  • Water-resistant palms

  • Breathable goatskin/fabric material

Cons

  • Require hand-washing

  • Not water resistant

  • Loose elastic cuff

A gardening-gloved hand holds the shears and is about to trim an offshoot.
Credit: Reviewed / Betsey Goldwasser

While slightly more expensive than others we tested, Felco pruning shears more than proved their worth every penny.

Product image of Felco 2
Best Pruning Shears
Best Pruning Shears
Felco 2

Our testing backed up Felco’s stellar reputation. Their hardened steel blades cut cleanly through every plant you’re likely to encounter in your garden, from delicate flower stems to half-inch diameter branches. That versatility is a huge advantage. You can cut down the last year’s growth on your yew hedge, trim your roses, give them a quick clean, and then snip a few basil leaves to pretty up your plate of spaghetti.

All of your cuts will be clean and straight, with no crushed or mangled stems or half-cut branches. And with 22 different replacement parts available, you can keep these pruners in good repair pretty much forever. They may be more expensive than other pruning shears on this list, but they’re built to last, with a lifetime warranty to back that longevity up.

Although the manufacturer says that the F-2s have a one-inch cutting capacity, that “capacity” depends on your hand strength. If you’re a weekend gardener and don’t spend much time flexing with grip strengtheners, you’re not going to be able to cut through a one-inch branch even though the shears can open wide enough.

When cutting softer plant materials like raspberry canes, the action can feel a little sticky, as though the mechanism is getting ever so slightly stuck. However the cuts are still clean. The lock is easy to close with your thumb, but can be hard to re-open one-handed.

See more of the best pruning shears we tested and reviewed.

Pros

  • Versatile

  • Durable

  • Replacement parts available

Cons

  • Expensive

For Cleaning Up Your Yard

Worx WG520 Turbine 600
Credit: Reviewed / Jackson Ruckar

The Worx WG520 Turbine 600 is the best leaf blower we've tested.

Product image of Worx WG520
Best Leaf Blower
Best Leaf Blower
Kobalt KHB 3040-06

This tornado of a leaf blower claims it can move 600 cubic feet of air per minute. Based on our testing, that’s easy to believe. The Worx WG520 was unmatched in clearing leaves off any surface from a distance, including wet, matted leaves that had glued themselves to the pavement.

To avoid blowing all your potted plants off the porch, the Worx WG520 has a speed dial to adjust its air blasts from its hurricane-pounding maximum down to normal leaf-blower levels. For $60, this is an effective, powerful machine. It’s light enough to carry easily at 7.2 lbs., and aesthetically, it looks less like a radioactive “Fortnite” gun than any other blower we tested.

The Worx’s one downfall is that it’s loud for a corded pick, spewing up to 82 dB at its highest speed. The noise is higher-pitched than landscapers’ gasoline-powered blowers and less annoying at a distance. Still, you should wear ear protection when you use this blower.

See more of the best leaf blowers we tested and reviewed.

Pros

  • Powerful

  • Easy to carry

Cons

  • Loud

Girl raking a lawn.
Credit: Reviewed / Jackson Ruckar

The Truper Tru handled our toughest raking jobs.

Product image of Truper Tools Tru Tough EMX-24F-LW
Best Rake
Best Rake
Truper Tru Tough 24-inch Leaf Rake

The Truper Tru Tough is a mix of all of the best qualities a rake can offer. It’s light enough that it’s easy to maneuver, but heavy enough to hug the ground as you drag the rake towards you. The metal tines and substantial weight make it efficient enough that one sweep is usually enough. It worked very well both on harder ground and in slightly longer grass.

It emerged as a consistent favorite in our testing. While it didn’t always sweep up every acorn or pine needle, the long handle’s fiberglass construction and cushioned end make it manageable to hold for longer periods of raking. It’s not the widest rake we tested, but that actually worked out well. The loss of horizontal coverage is made up for in maneuverability, raking efficiency, and ease of storage.

The rake is connected to the handle by two bolts, boosting its longevity. Lastly, this Truper comes with a 25-year limited warranty. While more expensive than some others, it’s built to last far beyond what you might expect from a rake in addition to its top-notch performance.

See more of the best rakes we tested and reviewed.

Pros

  • Lightweight, but perfectly heavy in the head

  • Comfortable to hold

  • 25-year warranty

Cons

  • Had a tough time handling pine needles

  • Slightly expensive

Product image of Greenworks 21212 4 Amp 13-Inch Corded String Trimmer
Best String Trimmer
Best String Trimmer
Greenworks 21212 4 Amp 13-Inch Corded String Trimmer

If you have a patch of green to tend, it’s a safe bet you care about the environment, too. This corded Greenworks trimmer is a safer bet on that front than lithium batteries or gas.

At only 5.2 pounds, it’s very lightweight. It’s also reasonably balanced, thanks to an adjustable auxiliary handle and shaft. We found it comfortable to use for longer periods of time, though taller users may find that it doesn’t extend quite far enough.

Its auto-feed dual-line and 180-degree rotating edger help it operate efficiently and effectively, despite its modest 4-amp engine and 13-inch cutting range. One important note: It has a hair-trigger power button. Always unplug it between uses or when making any adjustments to the machine or strings.

See more of the best string trimmers we tested and reviewed.

Pros

  • Lightweight

  • Easy to maneuver

  • Cuts well

Cons

  • Too short

  • Unbalanced

Redmon compost bin sitting outside in the sun, surrounded by snow.
Credit: Reviewed / Betsey Goldwasser

The 65-gallon Redmon compost bin was our top choice.

Product image of Redmon Compost Bin, 65 Gallon
Best Compost Bin
Best Compost Bin
Redmon Compost Bin, 65 Gallon

A composter is a great part of any garden-care tool set, and this trapezoid-shaped outdoor bin was the best one we tested. Indoor bins have a temperature advantage that can help your composting, but if you want a traditional option (or just don’t want compost inside your home) this is a great choice.

The bin was easy to add to. The opening is wide enough that you can shovel in leaves or leftover garden plants. The sides have plenty of holes for ventilation, but they aren’t fully open. They let in air and moisture and cut down on the smell, but they also keep bugs and animals out.

We did run into an issue with mice digging under the side of the bin to get to food scraps. However, we addressed it by pushing the “teeth” of the bin further into the ground and placing large rocks around the edge to keep them out. If we did it again, we’d use a few pieces of wood as a frame to make the bottom secure from the start. Flat ground works best, but you could probably get away with a bit of a slant.

Because of the trapezoid shape, the bin fits up to 65 gallons, almost double what most bins can hold. We added to the bin every few days, and even then only filled it about halfway.

While we had plenty more room, it was also nice to have empty space in the bin. The leeway let us use a thin shovel or tool to stir the pile. Since this bin doesn’t spin, we tried to move the materials inside once a week to help break up clumps and spread the heat.

Our favorite feature is the four sliding doors at the base of each side. They made it easy to check on the bottom of the pile and measure temperature and moisture levels. We also imagine it makes emptying the soil at the end of the process easy, as well. The roomy interior, multiple openings, and secure closures make this bin well worth the price.

See more of the best compost bins we tested and reviewed.

Pros

  • Easy to fill

  • Easy to empty

  • Large capacity

Cons

  • Needs flat ground

An orange True Temper wheelbarrow sits in a wooded area.
Credit: Reviewed / Jackson Ruckar

The True Temper wheelbarrow is the best we've tested.

Product image of True Temper 6 cu. ft. Wheelbarrow w/ Steel Handles and Flat-Free Tire
Best Wheelbarrow
Best Wheelbarrow
True Temper 6 cu. ft. Wheelbarrow

The True Temper wheelbarrow is useful any time you want to carry something heavy, bulky, or awkward through your yard. It can travel over most yard obstacles and steps, and it holds more than 3 cubic feet of mulch flat (or up to 6 cu. ft. mounded) in the spacious tray.

This wheelbarrow makes everything easy. It comes assembled at the store, so there’s no searching for stray screwdrivers or ratchet wrenches to put it together. The coated metal handles are smooth and strong. In our tests, it traveled easily over all but the largest branches in our obstacle course and pushed through sand while fully loaded.

By far the best feature is how easy this wheelbarrow is to control. Even when fully loaded with bricks, the True Temper never felt like it was falling or “running away” downhill. The single flat-free rubber tire is sturdy, but soft enough that it easily rolls over rough ground, rocks, and branches. The single-wheel construction allows it to pivot around a 1-foot diameter turn.

On the other hand, this wheelbarrow is big and it weighs almost 46 pounds. It can be stored standing on its nose end, but it still takes up a lot of space. And for longevity, it’s best to store it inside.

If you are still concerned about tipping, you might consider a garden cart. You’ll still be able to transport plants, tools, and yard debris, but the extra wheels add stability.

See more of the best wheelbarrows we tested and reviewed.

Pros

  • Sturdy

  • Comfortable handles

  • Smooth rolling

Cons

  • Heavy

  • Paint can scratch

Credit: Reviewed / Flo Ion

A smart sprinkler can add a whole new dimension to your lawn maintenance.

Product image of Rachio 3 8-Zone Smart Sprinkler Controller
Best Smart Sprinkler
Best Smart Sprinkler
Rachio 3 Smart Sprinkler Controller

The second-generation Rachio 3 Smart Sprinkler Controller currently tops our list for its abundant, easy-to-use options and straightforward installation.

The model we tested offers control over eight zones (sometimes called "stations"), though there's an additional model that supports up to twice that. Smart home junkies will appreciate the integrations with Nest, Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, Samsung SmartThings, and Apple HomeKit. There's even a host of IFTTT recipes available to customize your sprinkler even further.

The Rachio app has a busy interface, but it's easy to navigate. You can set a custom schedule yourself. However, you can also upload photos and enter details about factors like soils and sunlight, and the Rachio app will formulate out based on the details you entered.

When we let the Rachio 3 set the watering schedule, we chose the Flexible Daily schedule option. This feature uses public weather data to determine soil moisture depending on the questions you answered.

Additional features include Weather Intelligence, which can automatically skip a session if rain or excessive wind is underway. There’s also Smart Cycle, which splits watering times into shorter, more frequent cycles to prevent runoff. For more accurate results, you can choose to sync the Rachio 3 with a personal weather station, like the Netatmo.

The Rachio 3 isn’t the most affordable smart irrigation controller, but it does offer the most features while still being easy enough for anyone to use. Serious gardening hobbyists will like the Rachio 3 for its fine-tuned smart scheduling and robust automation abilities.

See more of the best smart sprinklers we tested and reviewed.

Pros

  • Easy installation process

  • Smart home integration

  • Impressive list of features

Cons

  • Nothing we could find

Meet the tester

Reviewed Staff

Reviewed Staff

Contributors, Writers, Editors

@reviewed

The Reviewed staff is based in the heart of Cambridge, MA. Backed by our knowledgeable writers and rigorous test labs, we're working hard to make sure you can make the right decisions about what to buy.

See all of Reviewed Staff's reviews

Checking our work.

Our team is here for one purpose: to help you buy the best stuff and love what you own. Our writers, editors, and lab technicians obsess over the products we cover to make sure you're confident and satisfied. Have a different opinion about something we recommend? Email us and we'll compare notes.

Shoot us an email