Every gardener has their favourites that are always close at hand to make life easier in the garden.

1. An old serrated edge kitchen knife. They come in very handy for dividing perennials and trimming fleshy foliage.
2. Sharp clean secateurs and loppers. A coating of silicon spray after cleaning will prevent surface rust.
3. Piece of shade cloth to use as emergency sun protection over tender plants if extremely hot weather is forecast.
4. White oil is safe, non-toxic and controls many of the sap sucking pests that are a problem through spring. Dipel and Success will control caterpillars safely and Natrasoap is used for soft bodied insects such as aphids.
5. Blood and bone is an essential fertiliser for all garden plants and can be spread around the whole garden safely.
6. Controlled release fertiliser for pots, fruit trees and natives. Controlled release fertilisers are the future in fertiliser technology. They release nutrients gradually, reducing leaching and wastage. Try PowerFeed Controlled Release Plant Food in three unique formulas of All Purpose including Natives, Flowers, Fruit & Citrus and Tomatoes and Vegetables.
7. A mulcher – petrol or electric depending upon the size of the garden and the amount of green waste produced. Even large weeds can be transformed into quality soil improver and save water in the garden.
8. Yellow sticky bug traps for trapping insects around the veggie garden. These sticky strips successfully trap white fly, aphids, moths and leaf hoppers.
9. Round mouthed long handled shovel will save backs. Select long handled tools rather than short handled models and use the extra leverage of the long handle to your advantage. The round mouth makes digging holes very easy, particularly in heavy or root matted soil.
10. A bucket and Seasol concentrate. Perfect for sick plants, new transplants and pots, in fact the whole garden benefits from Seasol (30mL per 9 litres of water ) all year round.