12 Of The Best Gardening Tools, Products, & Organizers— Green Thumb Not Required

Whether you have a dog who has nowhere else to pee but in your yard or you have neighbors who like to walk their pup by your house, your lawn might occasionally fall prey to urine stains. Don’t freak out – these dried and damaged grass spots are actually rather easily repaired. “Rake the brown patches of dead grass and collect into a yard clipping bag,” Dr. Mbofung-Curtis recommends. “Apply extra-fine limestone to neutralize the acidic patches of soil [then] water the area to help disperse. Let it sit for a week, [then] cover the patches with topsoil and seed with appropriate grass seeds for your region.” But if you’re looking for a super quick-fix, BarkYard’s UnMark sprays directly onto damaged dog spots, greening them up for as long as one month, giving the spot time to heal and grow back. UnMark dries really quickly, too, so if you’re worried about your pet not being to go outside while it’s wet, it’s NBD— your pup can get back to business (the pee-pee kind or the playing kind) ASAP. You can use UnMark year-round to repair dry spots in the grass, even during the hottest summer temps.

Sloggers Garden Shoes are the preferred gardening shoe amongst anybody with a green thumb. Featuring waterproof and durable material, these slip-ons feature an all-day comfort insole and great tread for more stable traction… even when it’s raining outside. In fact, these Sloggers – made in the USA from 50% recycled plastic material – are an impressive, water-resistant alternative to rainboots if you’re in a pinch! Toted as an Amazon #1 Bestseller, Sloggers have a four-and-a-half-star rating and have garnered more than 10K ratings. Yep, you read that right – more than 10,000 ratings! Whether you’re working in the garden, mulching the back, or mowing the lawn, Sloggers are the unofficial shoe of property owners who genuinely love caring for their yards.

“Do you wish you had your very own homegrown flowers, vegetables or greener lawn? Hope no more and get into action. Whether you want a variety of beautiful plants, a well-manicured lawn or beautiful landscape trees, you can start today,” says Dr. Mbofung-Curtis. One of the best ways to start is by cultivating the soil and removing any unwanted weeds – which is exactly what a garden hoe tool is for. Garden hoes dislodge weeds from their root (so they’re less likely to grow back) and are also effective at shaping the soil, breaking it up. The SEYMOUR Midwest Loop Hoe is actually a fan-favorite gardening tool of Amazon buyers, with a 4.8 rating in sturdiness, a 4.6 in lightweight-ness, and 4.6 in usability. Overall, the SEYMOUR Midwest Loop Hoe has a four-and-a-half-star rating and reviewers seem to love how easily it works using a back-and-forth push-pull motion and the durability of the blade’s aluminum.

With a four-and-a-half-star rating and over 200+ reviews on Home Depot’s website, Digz Medium Gardener Gloves are the obvious choice, especially for gardening newbies. With four-way spandex, absorbent terry cloth for absorbing sweat, and reinforced leather palms, Digz are the most comfortable gardening gloves out there. Where other gardening gloves make you sweat, Digz are specifically designed for anti-sweat, so that you can garden longer and more comfortably (although the gloves can’t do anything about the kids hollering “Mom!” from the living room). Aside from super absorbent and stretchable material, these gloves also feature foam knuckle padding to protect your hands from potential scratches and punctures (rose bushes, we’re looking at you!), and when your gloves get dirty and muddy from all your time spent working on your green thumb, just throw them in the washing machine for a quick rinse. But that’s not the only perk – Digz Gardener Gloves also have touchscreen compatible fingertips, allowing you to use your phone to send a quick text or take a photo of your gardening process without having to remove the gloves. It’s a win-win!

According to Dr. Mbofung-Curtis, “On turfgrass, the most common insect pests are white grubs, billbugs, green June beetles, Japanese beetles, May/June beetles, masked chafers, army worms, chinch bugs, and sod webworms. These destroy the lawn by feeding on the roots and leaves, burrowing through stems and chewing off the whole shoot from the crown.” With everything you’ll need to keep pests at bay and to keep your lawn looking green and fresh, you’re going to need some major storage. The WORKPRO Garden Tool Bag is the ultimate, portable storage tote. Featuring an interior size of 12”x12”x6”, and a total of six front pockets and two side pockets, the WORKPRO Garden Tool Bag provides enough space for storage for all kinds of gardening tools: spades, trowels, pliers, and prunes – plus any anti-bug insecticides you might want to store in there, too, for on-the-go weed-killing. With an ergonomic strap handle with anti-slip technology and reinforced bottom, the WORKPRO Garden Tool Bag gets a 5.0 in bag thickness, 4.9 in sturdiness, 4.9 in value for your money, and 4.8 in durability.

If you have a massive backyard – or maybe just a lot of tools that need organizing, you’ll need more than your standard garden tool storage tote. That’s where this Rubbermaid Deluxe Tool Tower comes in handy. Perfect for the garage or maybe even a backyard garden tool shed, the Tool Tower features a tool rack that holds up to 40 different tools. It also features front clips for quick side access and a grid pattern on the base, so you never have to worry about the tools sliding off. Now, you might be wondering: What’s so special about the Rubbermaid Deluxe Tool Tower in particular? Well, with a four-and-a-half-star rating and over 4,000 reviews, buyers think the Tool Tower is sturdy, relatively easy to assemble, and useful. It’s the perfect place to store more of Dr. Mbofung-Curtis’ gardening tool recs: pruning shears, loppers, a garden fork, rake, hoe, and a garden tiller.

One of the most important parts of growing a garden – whether it’s flowers or a vegetable garden – is location, location, location. “Depending on what you’re growing, the right location is an important decision,” Dr. Mbofung-Curtis explains. “An area with a minimum of eight hours of sunlight is preferable, and soil that is well drained and deep produces healthy plants or lawns.” Aside from location, you’ll need the right tools, too, which is why this trowel and cultivator duo from Home Depot is a must-have. With Ergo gel grip for comfort, the hand trowel is the perfect tool for planting, transplanting, weeding, moving, and smoothing soil. Then, you’ll need the hand cultivator for loosening up packed-down soil, weeding around perennials and annuals, and smoothing the soil in planters and beds. Especially if you’re dealing with tight spaces, these tiny tools will do the trick. Both feature hang-up holes for your convenience, so that when you’re not using them, you can store them away neatly.

Well, you’re going to need a wagon to drag all that fertilizer and your lawn care and gardening tools across the yard, right? One of the most popular sells on Amazon’s Gardening & Lawn Care section is the Gorilla Carts GOR400-COM Steel Garden Cart with Removable Sides. With a total capacity of 400 pounds, this green steel garden cart features steel mesh sides for larger loads, a padded pull handle, and pneumatic tires that make it easy to haul heavy sh*t. One reviewer raved, “I love my cart!!! When you get yours,you’ll see the easy-to-follow assembly instructions with the parts are numbered in sets, in steps, shrink wrapped onto an easy to access card. I am a 65-year-old woman who put it together within 45 minutes, alone. It is very sturdy, and it holds everything I need.”

Here’s another quick gardening and lawn care tip from Dr. Mbofung-Curtis: “Mowing is pruning, so mow your lawn with care. Professional advice is to stick to the 1/3 rule, where only 1/3 of the height of the grass is mowed at a time to prevent injury to the grass and shade out weeds.” For other types of pruning – namely, pruning back bushes, trees, and other plants – there’s the 5.5-inch Fiskars Bypass Pruner. With a bypass blade design that gives vines and stems a precise, clean cut and a beveled hook, the Fiskars Bypass Pruner has received 986 five-star ratings. The Fiskars Bypass Pruner has amassed more than 1,500 reviews and features a lifetime warranty, so even gardening newbies can feel good about this purchase. You also don’t have to worry about the elements getting to this pruning shear. Of course, be sure to always store your gardening tools safely and in a garage or shed, but you can also rest assured that this pruner is corrosion resistant. Now, let’s get to chopping stems!

Need a slip-on outdoor gardening shoe for quick trims and watering trips? These limited-edition slip-ons from TOMS collaboration with Once Upon a Farm are too cute to pass up. Just look at that apple-of-the-eye pattern! Made from 100% organic cotton, green EVA outsoles – derived from sustainable sugarcane – and earth-friendly insoles (and totally vegan BTW), these watercolor apple print shoes are also made in a matching children’s version for adorable mommy-and-me gardening moments together. Aside from slipping on and off easily, TOMS offer premium cushioning and comfort with increased gripping thanks to the rubber/EVA outsole featuring custom tread and traction pods. You can also remove the insoles and hand-wash them, should they start to get stinky or caked with dirt. And with every TOMS® purchase, they help to support organizations working towards a healthier, happier tomorrow. This includes Save the Children®—an organization dedicated to providing children with a healthy start, the opportunity to learn, and protection from harm.

Despite all your hard work hoeing and mulching and weeding, your garden could be destroyed overnight if you don’t take the proper precautions against pests. Dr. Mbofung-Curtis warns against the following pests: “Cabbageworms chew on leaves and florets of cole plants, causing defoliation and reducing photosynthetic areas and yields; aphids suck plant juices from leaves and leave behind ‘honeydew’ that attracts ants, rendering peas, broccoli, and other crops inedible; slugs and snails feed and night and leave irregular holes and slime on leaves, making leafy greens inedible; flea beetles chew small holes, forming shot holes that make spinach and other leafy greens inedible; and Mexican beetle adults eat the leaves, reducing photosynthetic area and reducing yield.” To deal with such pests in all stages of their lives – including eggs – Garden Safe Houseplant & Garden Insect Killer is a non-toxic alternative, made with a botanical insecticide from the chrysanthemum flower. It’s safe for using on indoor and/or outdoor plants and kills unwanted insects – all the ones mentioned above, plus mealybugs, leafhoppers, scale, thrips, fungus gnats, whitefly, caterpillars, and more – on contact. And if you’re not sure which pests you’re dealing with, use Spectracide’s pest finder to identify insects by season and region.