Lawn or leaf rakes are designed to collect light material from flat surfaces. In summer they are useful for raking clippings from lawns. In autumn, they are useful for cleaning up fallen leaves from lawns, ground cover, gravel or paved surfaces.

I should first describe the difference between shovels and spades. Spades are designed to be pushed into soil with the foot. Shovels lack the rolled rim on the top edge and are designed to be “shoved” into soil by hand. This can be confusing because most shovels are very often used as spades.

Pruning tools are probably the most misunderstood and commonly misused, Hook and blade shears, hand shears,are likely the most important of the pruning tools employed in home gardening. When pruning, it is best to keep the blade toward the subject plant.