The Essential Gardening Tools for Apartment Gardens

The essential apartment gardening tool kit:

Indoor watering can

This is number one on the list of essential gardening tools. Choose a watering can that’s lightweight with a well-designed spout to make watering easy and to minimise spillage. A 1.5L is a good size to begin with if you have small- to medium-sized plants. If you have bigger plants, you can go up a size to make your watering routine easier.

Spray bottle

A spray bottle is great for misting indoor plants that benefit from humidity, such as tropical plants that thrive indoors. A good spray mist will temporarily increase the humidity levels around the plant and provide surface moisture for the foliage. Buy a plastic spray bottle; they’re inexpensive, no-fuss, provide even, strong coverage and tend not to drip at the nozzle. A spray bottle also comes in handy for applying natural, liquid sprays if you’re dealing with plant pests – but always mark your bottles and have separate ones for different purposes around the house.

Liquid fertiliser

Your indoor plants will need a seasonal feed to keep them vibrant and promote new growth. A great idea is to use a seaweed-based liquid fertiliser, which can be diluted straight into a watering can using the ratios recommended on the label. All fertilisers tend to be on the stinky side, so make sure you keep the container sealed and tucked away safely in a cupboard between uses.

Garden trowel or fork

One thing to invest in is a good-quality garden trowel or fork. For the indoors, opt for hand-sized implements. A hand trowel comes in particularly handy when you’re repotting. Alternatively, a small garden fork will help you to even out the top soil in your pots between waterings, check on soil moisture levels from time to time and gently aerate the soil – all good things for plant health.

Florist scissors

There’s no need for heavy duty secateurs indoors. Florist scissors will do the trick. They’re basically a tough pair of scissors shaped for a comfortable grip with blades intended for floral work, but equally up to the task of snipping off dead and damaged leaves or pruning back your indoor plants.

Gloves

Gardening gloves are by no means an essential gardening tool, but they’re great if you don’t enjoy getting dirt under your fingernails. They’ll help with everything from the dirty work of repotting to safely handling plants with spines.

Dust pan & broom

Even apartment gardening involves a bit of dirt, so be prepared to clean up after yourself with a small dust pan and broom. It will be similarly useful for sweeping up if a pot plant is accidentally knocked, or there’s a bit of leaf drop.

Bottle opener

It’s certainly not essential, yet worthwhile so you can sit back and celebrate your lush-looking indoor or balcony garden.

Happy gardening green thumbs!

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Content: Fabian Capomolla