Favorite Gardening Supplies, Tools, and Resources

Over the years, I’ve tested and tried different tools and supplies. Some have lasted for as long as I’ve been gardening, and some barely made it through a year.

This list contains all my favorites.

These are the seeds, tools, books, and supplies I actually use in my backyard garden in Zone 6a.

I’ve organized everything by category so you can browse what you’re most interested in.

A note on affiliate links: Some of these links are affiliate links, which means I earn a small percentage of the sale if you purchase—at no extra cost to you. I only recommend products I use and love. Your support through these links helps me keep the garden going and the blog running. Thank you!

Where to Buy Seeds and Plants

I like shopping for my seeds online. The selection is better than what you’ll find at a box store (although I’ll still get seeds from there too if I see some I like!) and you can order in the dead of winter instead of being at the whim of popular demand.

Places like Amazon and Etsy can be hit or miss when buying seeds and tend to attract scammers and resellers with old or wrong stock. It’s safer to buy from reputable seed companies and the ones below are places I’ve ordered from directly and trust.

Botanical Interests: great variety, good info, and they often run sales or specials

High Mowing Organic Seeds: lots of high-performing vegetables and reliable germination

Pinetree Garden Seeds: excellent variety of flowers and vegetables and good germination

Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds: specializes in unusual and heirloom varieties; great for when you want something new or different; always free shipping

Johnny’s Selected Seeds: they have everything, but I mostly get cut flower seeds from here

MIgardener: very reasonably priced with good selection of vegetable seeds

Quail Seeds: a small, family-owned company that grows their own seed stock I like with a few specialty seeds I can’t easily find elsewhere

Hudson ValleySeed Co: a NY-based company that grows their own seed stock; I especially like getting dahlias and cucumbers from here

Park Seed: A little bit of everything

Pan Asia Heirloom on Etsy: I order my specialty Asian greens and veggies from this seller and everything has germinated and grown well for me

Sources for Plants, Mushrooms, and Trees

Stark Bro’s Nurseries and Orchards – Great place to shop online for fruit trees and shrubs

North Spore Mushrooms – Everything for growing mushrooms at home; I haven’t yet tried growing mushrooms, but it’s on my list!

White Flower Farm – A little bit of everything from perennials to dahlias and garden supplies; love browsing here for inspiration

Perfect Plants Nursery – for ornamental trees and shrubs and also houseplants, though they do carry fruit and nut trees as well

Wayside Gardens – another source for ornamentals including perennials and dahlias; they do carry a few edible plants, too

For dahlia tuber sources, jump below.

Seed Starting Supplies and Storage

I start lots of seeds indoors every year. Stuff that needs a head start before last frost. Over the years I’ve simplified what I use and tossed out stuff that didn’t last or work very well.

The biggest upgrade I’ve made is switching to Bootstrap Farmer trays and pots. They’re sturdy and the colors make it easier to color-code, and they’re reusable season after season.

Not sure what you need? Read my full guide to seed starting supplies here before shopping to figure what’s necessary for you before you begin. I walk through every piece of equipment needed to start seeds from trays to lights.

Bootstrap Farmer – I just love all their colors and the quality of their products. Here’s a sampling of my must-haves from them:

  • 1020 Extra-Strength Trays: If you can only get one thing, get these. Then you won’t be scared of dropping seedlings as you move them in and out of the house!
  • 5″ Seed Pots: for up-potting bigger seedlings
  • 6 cell plug trays: the large holes on the bottom of these make it super easy to pop out the seedlings

 If you’re planning to start a lot of seeds, get a mister with continuous spray so your hand doesn’t fatigue.

Grow Lights – I use these. They’re very strong, so they don’t need to be placed quite so low to the seedlings!

Heat mat – Some seeds will require a heat mat to germinate well

Seed Organizer – A pretty way to keep my seeds organized and contained. I linked the exact one I have, which is fairly large, but they do make smaller ones like this.

Garden Tools

With garden tools, it’s best to buy fewer things that are high quality. And multi-purpose tools are high priority.

Everything on this list has been with me for several seasons in my Zone 6a garden. I clean and sharpen them in the winter (if they need it) and try to keep them in the best condition I can.

For cut-flower specific tools, jump down to this section.

Felco #2 Garden Pruners – The best pruners I’ve tried; also super heavy-duty and long lasting with regular maintenance

Hori-hori Knife – The best multi-purpose tool in my arsenal; great for planting, weeding, cutting, and measuring small increments while planting

Atlas Gardening Gloves – My favorite gardening gloves are these. I have small hands, so it’s awesome to find a pair that fit like… well, like a glove!

Auger Drill Bit for planting annuals and bulbs

Gorilla Dump Cart – This is one of my favorite pieces of gardening equipment. I love the dump feature. So handy for hauling and dumping dirt or garden clippings, mulching, mixing potting soil or sifting compost into, and lugging my fig pots in and out of the garage.

Half Moon Edger – for maintaining a clean, natural edge on garden beds

Metal Bow Rake – We use this tool so much in the garden; it’s great for spreading mulch, soil and compost; also for de-thatching the lawn

Stand-Up Weed Puller – I try to pull weeds by hand and avoid herbicide use; a weed puller like this helps me knock this chore out quickly and easily

Raised Beds, Containers, and Vertical Gardening

I love having raised beds in my garden, and they’re one of the best features and investments of my backyard garden. Better drainage, warmer spring soil, no tilling, and full control of the soil mix.

I also grow in containers. Fig trees in extra large pots, strawberries in vertical planters, and a few medium-size pots for herbs and ornamental annuals. Containers let you grow in spaces that would otherwise be unsuable, and keep your most-used herbs right by the kitchen door. Vertical planters in particular are a good solution to the problem of “I want to grow more, but I’ve run out space.”

Corner brackets for raised beds – We built our own raised beds out of untreated wood and used these both for decoration and to reinforce the corners. Find out more about how we protect our wood raised beds in this post.

Vego Garden – Long-lasting metal beds in many colors and styles for raised bed gardening

Greenstalk Vertical Planters – For small spaces, grow vertically. You’d be surprised at how much you can grow in one of these Greenstalk Planters! I have two just for strawberries.

Garden Tower Project – The only composting vertical garden around, to my knowledge. Like the Greenstalk, it has tons of pockets, but the best part is the composting tube in the center. Composts and feeds your vertical garden all in one place!

Soil Mix and Fertilizer

Healthy soil is the foundation for everything in the garden. Most of my soil-building happens through compost, mulch, and organic matter. I’ll add organic slow-release fertilizer to heavy feeders and use an organic liquid fertilizer for indoor-grown seedlings, container plants, and to support hungry vegetable plants.

These are the soil mixes and fertilizers I’ve used for a long time.

Pro-Mix – I buy this in person, not online, but adding the link so you can see it. It’s been consistently good for me so I get it when I can.

When seed starting or propagating plants, I’ll also add some of this to the mix:

  • perlite to lighten the soil further and make it easier for plant roots to grow and get oxygen
  • mycorrhizae powder to encourage root development (Pro-Mix already has this in there, but I add more if my potting mix is old )
  • vermiculite for the same reason as perlite, additionally I sprinkle this on top of the soil to help retain moisture on top

Neptune’s Harvest Liquid Fertilizer – Container-grown plants get the all-purpose (blue bottle) formula once a week (Fertilizer Friday) and a lucky few vegetable plants get the leftovers at the beginning of the season. I switch to the Rose and Flowering (dark red bottle) formula once plants begin flowering and fruiting to encourage strong fruit and flower development. I notice a huge difference in bloom development when I use this stuff on flowering annuals.

Espoma Organic Fertilizer – I sprinkle Plant-Tone or Garden-Tone at planting time for anything going into the veggie or flower garden, and I use Holly-Tone for anything that needs the nutrition plus acid (blue hydrangeas and blueberries mostly).

Rooting Hormone – For propagating plants

Watering

Watering is an essential part of gardening. All plants need water to thrive. This section has a few of my favorite supplies to keep my garden well-watered in as little time as possible.

Hoselink USA – Love their retractable hose reels, but the best thing about Hoselink is their quick connect adapters. It makes it so easy for us to change out hose connections for our different sprinklers. Highly recommend if you are tired of reeling and untangling heavy hoses!

360° Tree Watering Ring – We have a whole fleet of these for watering our baby fruit trees

Gilmour Adjustable Pattern Sprinkler – Our main lawn sprinkler; I’ve been caught in its crosshairs many a time

Lawn Care

We’re not anti-lawn. I enjoy having some grass for the kids to play on, for picnics, and for a visual break from all the plants. We do our best to take care of it sustainably, but it’s not an obsession. My husband handles all our lawn care, and here are some of the things he uses and recommends.

Black Beauty Ultra Grass Seed – Lush grass and can grow roots up to four feet deep for better drought tolerance; we use this on our lawn and our parents’ lawn

Yard Mastery Starter Fertilizer – use when starting new lawns; includes food for beneficial soil microbes, which is always a plus

Yard Mastery Stress Blend Fertilizer – to help grass stay healthy; includes micronutrients and support for microbes

Yard Mastery Flagship Fertilizer – for maintenance; iron helps grass look greener; also feeds soil microbes

Sun Joe Dethatcher, cordless, 15 inch – to dethatch that old grass; we use the dead grass as mulch and compost in the garden

Milky Spore – organic, non-toxic bacteria that infects and kills Japanese Beetle grubs; safe to use around water sources and crops

Cut Flowers and Flower Arranging Resources

I started my first cut flower garden in 2023 and haven’t looked back. Cut flower gardening is different from vegetables and ornamentals.

It’s a love and an obsession that I’m happy to share with others. This section covers what I use to grow, harvest, condition, and arrange cut flowers from my backyard garden. You don’t need a lot of expensive equipment.

Most of what I use is simple and inexpensive. The few things I do invest in make cutting and arranging so much easier!

Tools for the Cut Flower Garden

Felco F322 Pruning Snips – This is the cutting tool I rely on most. Lightweight, easy to maneuver, and unlike scissors, they spring open so you don’t tire out your hand opening them each time you snip. Essential for deadheading, cutting stems, and trimming leaves.

Felco #2 Garden Pruners – I’ve mentioned this one already, but these are excellent for cutting tough, woody stems and thick dahlia stems and sunflower stalks. You’ll want quality for this job. It’s easier on your hands.

Harvest Bucket – Any mid-size bucket that holds water works. Something with a handle, preferably. I bring a bucket of water into the garden and place cut stems directly into it. This is the single most important thing you can do to extend vase life.

Auger Drill Bit – Already listed above, but worth noting again. This is what I use to plant small dahlia tubers, spring bulbs, and 4-inch pots of seedlings quickly. It saves a lot of time when you’re planting dozens of things in the spring.

Conditioning and Extending Vase Life

Conditioning is a key step to extending vase life. I probably don’t talk about it as often as I should, but this is why homegrown bouquets may not seem to last as long as the ones from the flower shop.

Conditioning is just giving freshly cut stems a long drink of clean water before arranging.

Flower food – I buy a jar of this stuff once a year and use it in my harvest bucket and in vases. While it’s not strictly necessary if you’re changing the water in vases every single day, it does make a difference, especially if you’re the type of person who doesn’t get around to changing water every day. Who’s got the time, anyway?

You can also put a tiny amount of bleach in your vase water to extend vase life. About a 1/8 of a teaspoon per quart. This is especially helpful for zinnias, which are a “dirty” flower.

For Arranging Flowers

My philosophy on arranging flowers is to use what you have, buy secondhand when you can, and don’t let the lack of “a real vase” keep you from putting flowers in a jar.

Vases and vessels – Most my vases come from Goodwill or thrift store. I like pitchers, crocks, and flared vases. I also save glass jars and put them inside pretty containers that aren’t watertight to turn them into “vases.”

Clear floral tape – I use this to make a grid across the mouth of wider vases, which holds stems in place and helps with structure. Essential for loose, abundant arrangements

Chicken wire – Crumpled chicken wire in a vase works just as well as a floral frog but costs less and is reusable forever. I’ll use this for large arrangements instead of tape. Note that you’ll need wire cutters to cut these. DO NOT use your snips or pruners!

Dahlia Growing and Storage

Dahlias deserve their own section because they’re different from most of my cutting garden favorites which are grown from seed. If you’re growing dahlias for the first time, here’s what I actually use.

Dahlia tuber sources – I can only add a few dahlias to my garden each year, so I’ve really only tried these few sources!

  • Hudson Valley Seed Co: They grow their own tubers on their farm in new York
  • Longfield Gardens: Another source I’ve used for dahlias. Not my favorite as I’ve gotten the wrong tubers before and they’re not always packed well.
  • Costco: If you have a membership, it’s worth visiting often to catch the first stock of dahlias for the spring gardening season. You never know what you’ll get, but you can bet you’ll get it at a good price.

Vermiculite – Any will do. I store my dahlia tubers in this over winter. It keeps them from drying out or, conversely, staying too moist.

Permanent marker – I label tubers with a permanent marker. It’s the only way to figure out what something is without planting and waiting for it to bloom!

Flower Gardening and Arranging Books

A few favorites I’ve learned so much from about growing and arranging flowers.

  • Floret Farm’s Cut Flower Garden by Erin Benzakein: This book helped me get started. Comprehensive guide to growing cut flowers from seed, with gorgeous photos. I still refer back to it.
  • A Year in Flowers by Erin Benzakein: More arranging-focused than the previous book. Organized by season, which is so helpful when you’re a beginner. And of course, more of that beautiful photography.
  • The Cut Flower Handbook by Lisa Mason Ziegler: Plant profiles going in depth on growing and harvesting specific cut flower plants. Includes a sample cut-flower garden layout which shows you two years of plants growing and being rotated in two garden beds.
  • Cool Flowers by Lisa Mason Ziegler: A great resource for planting and overwintering hardy annuals. Read this if you’d like to extend your cut flower season outside of the warm season.

Kitchen and Preserving Resources

The garden doesn’t end at harvest time. We grow as much as we can so that we have some to eat fresh and some to preserve, whether that’s tomato sauce, cucumber pickles, dried peppers, candied jalapeno relish or habanero peach hot sauce.

Getting the harvest from the garden into a jar or onto the table is just as much a part of all this as the growing.

These are the tools I use for preserving and cooking from the garden.

Canning and Preserving

I primarily water-bath can, dehydrate, or freeze most of my garden produce. Occasionally I’ll ferment. Here a few canning supplies to help get you started.

For fermenting, a lid like these Masontops will help burp the jar while keeping the contents safe inside.

For dehydrating, any good dehydrator will work. I have an off-brand one and I cannot find it to link right now!

Cooking from Scratch

Instant Pot – I use a 6 quart. Sometimes I wish I had the 8 quart, but for my family of 4, this works quite well.

Vitamix – My mom has had one since I was a kid, and I knew this was the only blender for me. It’s an investment, but I have no regrets. Just perfectly smooth sauces, purees, and smoothies. (Also butter, but that’s a story for another time.)

Hammer Stahl Knives – I bought the 7 inch vegetable cleaver and a paring knife and I love them both. Nice weight, nice feel, and looks beautiful.

Lodge cast-iron pans – I have all these except for the 8 inch skillet. Well-priced and long-lasting.

Heritage stainless steel pans – Love their solid fry pans and skillets

Large salad spinner – To spin dry clean herbs and lettuces, and also keep them fresh in the spinner in the fridge

Sourdough

Even non-homesteaders make sourdough. Here are my favorite supplies for sourdough baking.

King Arthur Flour – It’s all I use, and it’s the best. Bread and white whole wheat for breads; 00 for pizza. All-purpose for everything else. Plus they have tons of great recipes on their site, including plenty of sourdough ones.

I also have enjoyed and learned a lot about sourdough baking from reading these books.

Gardening Books

I love to read. I’ve learned more from books over my lifetime than from any other source. I did write a full roundup of my favorite gardening books here as well, but here’s a sampling of books I’d hand to any gardener who wanted to get started.

For my favorite cut flower gardening books, see above.

The Year-Round Gardener by Niki Jabbour is the first gardening book I’ve ever read and owned. The photo on the cover of Niki’s book inspired me to begin gardening and her book really does walk you through how to garden all year round.

Edible Landscaping: Now You Can Have Your Gorgeous Garden and Eat It Too by Rosalind Creasy is full of inspirational ideas for landscaping with edible plants, herbs, fruit, and vegetables. If you are interested in garden design, potager gardening or enjoy the cottage garden style, this is a book to devour.

Vegetables Love Flowers: Companion Planting for Beauty and Bounty by Lisa Mason Ziegler: If you want to grow both cut flowers and vegetables, pick up this book and get your garden started ASAP.

The Vegetable Grower’s Handbook: Unearth Your Garden’s Full Potential by Huw Richards is a great book for gardeners who want to level up their gardening skills and become more efficient and confident in the garden.

Four-Season Harvest: Organic Vegetables from Your Home Garden All Year Long by Eliot Coleman is a gardening book packed full of information and gardening expertise with few color photos. However what you will learn inside if you are serious about growing food through the long, cold winter is invaluable.

I primarily get books from Amazon Prime or borrow from Kindle Unlimited or my local library.

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