Gardening most joyous with strong, simple tools

Gardeners are not hard to buy for. Not because they are always in need of one thing or another, but because there are so many tools. There are wheelbarrows full of tools for every conceivable garden task and probably a few you haven't thought of yet.

Should you decide you need red tomato teepees to enable you to plant tomatoes six weeks earlier, or an Aero Garden Six Pod Elite Plus, a kind of interior growth chamber arrangement ("simply plug in the fully contained system; select your plant type; and add water, nutrient tablets, and the six growing pods"), then far be it from me to tell you otherwise.

Call me old-fashioned, but my definition of gardening involves dirty hands, bird songs and the sun on my back. I will probably ache when I'm finished, but I won't be "simply plugging" anything in.

Pragmatic approach

So here is a pragmatic curmudgeon's guide to Christmas shopping for gardeners who believe that most of what you need to work the soil can be delivered on your shoulder and in a 5-gallon bucket.

There are two ways to buy garden tools. You can buy cheap ones several times a year -- two or three times in April alone -- or you can buy quality tools that will last forever. If you are serious about gardening, you will develop a relationship with your border spade that is akin to a samurai's devotion to his sword.

Admitting this to your non-gardening friends can be risky. If I was shipwrecked in an abandoned vegetable garden with only two tools, they would be my trusty spade and fork, the essential digging and cultivating tools. As I have grown older, the wisdom of a long-handle spade has become clearer, but I have always gardened with the standard "D" handled, forged garden fork and spade. They are a little over 3 feet tall and well balanced to leverage soil from the garden and break it into fine crumbles. Mine originally came from Smith and Hawken -- back when they were more about tools than decor.

Swan-handle hoes

Another necessity is the garden trowel. Look for the ones sold as nursery trowels. Once you own it, paint it some ridiculous color so you won't lose it in the garden. These are strong enough that when you stand up in the garden they can support your entire weight.

I like long-handle swan hoes. The swan hoe has a neck shaped like a swan, so when you stand straight, the blade angles horizontal with the soil surface to slice weeds just underground.

For pruning you need loppers, a folding pruning saw and a good pair of pruners. Pruners have a habit of performing multiple tasks in the garden, and it is worth the extra cost to buy a good pair and spend a little extra on a holster to fit on your belt. (Many times you'll find that the utility of the holster outweighs the geekiness.) I like Felco pruners, but Corona and many other manufacturers make nice tools. Many Japanese cutting tools are finely crafted and keep a sharp edge.

The trend these days in tools is ergonomics, tools that fit and function well with the body's natural movements to minimize stress. Many mainstream manufacturers are developing ergonomically engineered lines of tools. Some Ace hardware stores and LA Reynolds are carrying Radius garden tools, which are totally redesigned tools that make the best use of our bodies' natural inclinations while relieving stress and strain. Many of them look as though they might be used to cultivate the surface of the moon. You can find information and suppliers at www.radiusgarden.com.

I hate to bring it up, but you are probably going to need a small sprayer sooner or later to handle pests. Unless you have acreage to tend, I'd recommend the one-liter Solo hand sprayer. This is a handy tool that produces a fine mist. It has a swivel head that allows you to keep the sprayer upright and still reach beneath leaf surfaces. There is a two-liter model if you feel an aphid infestation coming on. Find it and many other good things at www.gemplers.com for about $15.

Rain barrels and reel mowers are difficult to wrap, but both represent the green trend. Even such mainstream turf companies as Scotts are offering reel mowers. The Web site www.cleanairgardening.com displays about a dozen models including the Prison Reel Mower, the same model sold to prisons and correctional facilities.

Rain barrels are a great way to save a little water. Connected to the gutter downspouts, they collect and store water off the roof during rainstorms for later use in the garden. Many models can be found in shops like Smith and Hawken, larger hardware stores, and garden centers.

Most of the gimmicky garden products found in the catalogs are destined to spend their lives hung on a nail in the garage, but the old standards will always make welcome gifts.

■ If you have a gardening question or story idea, write to David Bare in care of Features, Winston-Salem Journal, P.O. Box 3159, Winston-Salem, NC 27101-3159, or send e-mail to his attention to gardening@wsjournal.com.