Garden tool

A collection of various garden tools.
Some pruning tools that can be used to maintain a garden.

A garden tool is any one of many tools made for gardens and gardening and overlaps with the range of tools made for agriculture and horticulture. Garden tools can also be hand tools and power tools.

Hand tools

The hand tools still used by gardeners originated with the earliest agricultural implements used by humans. Examples include:

In some places, the machete may be used as a garden tool as well.

The earliest tools were made of wood, flint, metal, tin, and bone. However, the development of metal working, first in copper and later in iron and steel, enabled the manufacture of more durable tools. Industrial metalworking enabled the manufacture of efficient cutting tools, including pruning shears (secateurs – for example anvil pruning shears), grass shears, loppers and larger, more efficient powered tools such as the trencher.

In present days the gardening tools are made from light materials and are easy to handle even by a child.  Different tools may vary in size depending on their use and brand. The list of gardening hand tools is long but the most commonly used are:

  • Garden spade;
  • Garden trowel;
  • Forked trowel;
  • Garden fork;
  • Gardening knife;
  • Pruning scissors;
  • Plastic/soft rake;
  • Metal rake;[1]

Ergonomics

Modern tool design includes ergonomics considerations, which means that they are being designed to induce less stress on the human body when used. The most efficient tools keep the body in a neutral position to help reduce the stress on joints and muscles. An advantage of this approach is it requires gardeners to exert less energy whilst using the tools. Some modern patents like US 7,832,125 show an example without hand stop provisions.

Power tools

The first power tool to become popular with gardeners was the lawn mower. This has been followed by a very wide range of power tools, including"

Environmental impact

The exhaust fumes from gas-powered equipment is a significant source of air pollution.[2] US emission standards specifically limit emissions from these small engines.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "5 Easy Steps for Beginner Gardeners in Dorset". Domco. 2018-07-20. Retrieved 2018-07-27.
  2. ↑ Lawn Equipment Improving Air Quality in Your Community
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.