If you are like me and many others, you might not have all the space right now to build your dream garden, but you have some space. If you fall under this category, I am going to go over some handy tools that may be useful to have for this upcoming growing season. *Note* some of these I have and others I don’t currently. Use your best judgement of your space and the things that you are planning on growing to determine if these tools are going to be useful.

Growing Containers

Now this is a very broad tool group, but I left it this way on purpose. Depending on your living situation you might only have space for a planter that can go on a windowsill, but you also might have a balcony that can hold large pots or even a raised bed. You don’t need to even buy pots and planters if you are just getting into gardening! I have germinated and grown plants out of water bottles cut in half. In my opinion gardening is not a cut and dry hobby, it is one that allows you to get creative with your resources and explore different types of resources when you feel ready to! Take your time and explore!

Bagged Soil

This may seem like a given, but if you are not growing from the ground at your home you are going to need some type of growing medium. I personally just get the regular container soil from my local gardening center and depending on what I am growing I will amend my soil for those plants. I even sometimes just let me plants attempt to grow in the soil as is to build resiliency for that plant! You could also explore other mediums that may work like clay pellets, rockwool, perlite, or even coconut coir. Just do your research on which medium is going to be the best for the success of your plants!

Grow Mats

Now this next one is if you are planning on germination a large number of plants from seed. Grow mats are primarily used to hold your seeds in the right conditions as they germinate make for a more uniform growing process. Those that I have seen use these are ones that are growing micro greens for them and their family, but I also know that those that are starting their seeds from indoors also use this tool to get a head start on the germination process while the winter frost is still going on outside.

Grow Lights

These go hand in hand with the grow mats. If you are living in a place that might not get the best sunlight, then grow lights might be worth looking into. These give your seeds a heat source that mimics growing conditions when they are underground as a light supplement. There are tons of different types that you can purchase and range from different prices and sizes that can fit your current space.

Twine and Stakes

Now these tools are a bit niche and don’t apply to everyone. I got these because I was growing tomatoes and I needed something to give them stability as they grew. Now if you are not growing plants that need that, you may not need to invest in these. I would recommend if you are even thinking about growing plants that might need extra support to go buy a couple of stakes and a roll of twine just to go ahead and put them in early so that you are not rushing on the back end and you plants are falling over!

Fertilizer

Earlier I mentioned that I might buy regular box soil and amend it, I would be amending it with fertilizers. I have been trying to keep a lemon try alive for the past year and a half and one thing that I added that was really beneficial in my opinion was citrus fertilizer. I believe I got mine at my local nursery, but you can probably find it at your own local shop or online. Just make sure that you do your research on the ingredients to make sure that they are not slipping something in there that will decrease the quality of your soil over time.

Hand Trowel and Shears

Now these are optional and again depend on what you are growing as well as your space. Hand trowels are good if you are going to be dealing with large enough spaces where your hand just isn’t effective. Shears are useful for cutting away dead parts of your plants or pruning your plants to encourage them to grow.

For now, though, I hope you have a couple of tools that you might find useful when starting your 2026 garden! Just like most if not all of my recommendations, take a catalog of your space and determine which tools are going to be the best ones for you! Remember that you can start small and ease your way into this!

Until next time, as always, Plant with a Purpose! – BTR