While each of us might plough a lonely furrow from time to time, the job can be a lot easier with the right garden tools

Having the right tools makes your garden jobs easier and can save you a lot of aches and pains in the long run. Don't be daunted by all the various sizes and shapes of garden tools in your DIY store. Most of those tools are either used by butch men once in their life for massive jobs or they are the latest trendy must-have for this season's garden fashionista.

A few well chosen and good quality tools are all that most gardeners need to keep them and their gardens in good shape.

Here, the tools that need to be in your potting shed.

• Border Spade
• Border Fork
• Trowel
• Secateurs
• Loppers
• Pruning Saw
• Rake
• Bucket
• String

The tools can be divided into two sections: spade, fork and hand tools in one section and then the cutting tools - secateurs, loppers and pruning saw in the other. The rake, bucket and string are extras that you'll find useful for lots of jobs around the garden.

How to choose?

Spades and a trowel
The spade will till, plant, cut, edge and divide (splitting your plant into several pieces once it has grown too big - carried out in autumn). Because the spade is such a workhorse make sure that you buy one that 'fits' you. Make sure it's a comfortable height for you and that you can lift it easily. After all, when you're toiling in the garden, you don't want the additional strain of carrying a heavy tool. The handles can be made of plastic, wood or carbon steel; choose whichever feels comfortable. The most important part of the spade is the digging part - it should be stainless steel which ensures mud slips off it easily, it won't rust and it will remain sharp even with frequent use. The border spade is a smaller size which is more comfortable for women and ideal for most garden maintenance jobs as its use isn't restricted to tending borders. Should you need a bigger digging spade, you might want to consider calling that butch man and get him to do it and save yourself the trouble.

People in most parts of the UK traditionally favour the short-handled spade/fork (under a metre) but these lead to back strain if you're not careful. Manufacturers are now producing longer handled spades and even some with telescopic extending shafts. Try to become properly acquainted with a spade before buying it. The same rules apply for the border fork and hand tools - comfort and practicality are priority.

You will require the fork to break down the soil if it is hard and also to fluff or sieve the soil once you have finished planting up to create that just planted look. A trowel is an excellent tool for getting down on your knees and weeding all those pesky perennial weeds.

Secateurs and cutting tools
When it comes to secateurs, the Rolls Royce of blades is made by Felco and while you might not treat yourself to a top-of-the-line car, you'll thank yourself for investing in a Felco. Rubber grips cushion and protect the wrist, the engineering assures that blades rotate and cut easily and they make specialty versions which include twisting handle secateurs for people with weak wrists, left- and right-handed tools, and compact models for people with small hands.

Once again, there is no need to buy every size tool in the cutting range - you could buy the secateurs and a telescopic pruning pole and blade for all the other pruning jobs. Pruning poles and blades are sold separately but usually next to each other on the display cabinet; they often have other attachments that you can add to the pole but the blade is really all you need. Loppers are for getting tough with overhanging limbs from trees and old shrubs. They are extremely sharp and make very easy work of jobs that may seem daunting.

Most professionals use Felcos because they are eminently repairable. This is a good quality to look for when buying tools. It is also possible to buy easy-to-use sharpening kits for the blades of any brand of secateur. For cutting bigger tree limbs, you'll want a pruning saw. With it, you can saw on either side of a fat limb to get a clean cut when loppers aren't big enough.

Now that you have got your basic kit - spade, fork, secateurs and pruning saw, you need to buy the rake, bucket and string. These are useful around the garden for tidying up, moving things from place to place and making sure plants grow the way you want them to. When choosing the other tools, your top priorities should be comfort and quality. But in this last category, you can have a bit of fun. Brighten up your garden by choosing buckets in pink, red, purple, yellow or the customary green. It's best to always have two buckets with you - one for holding the hand tools, your gloves, flask of coffee and the string and the other for putting all the weeds and garden rubbish in.

String is a good all-purpose supply for tying in the roses along walls, staking delphiniums, and encouraging training honeysuckles or any climbers. You can also use it to make a string line when cutting a lawn edge to give the perfect straight line.

As far as buying the rake is concerned - follow the same principles as the border spade and fork - get the right height tool that's comfortable for you - just remember all those leaves that you have to rake up in autumn. Rakes are good for not only raking leaves but tidying up where you may have been splitting your plants, raking gravel driveways, moving sand back into sand pits and so on. The rake is the equivalent to the housekeeper's broom. I like to make raking part of my exercise programme, while also getting some fresh air. I defy you to find any Davina workout that gives you a better defined waistline than an hours' worth of raking once a week throughout autumn.

Rachel Wood is a professional gardener based in Gloucestershire