Lawn Care Tools: What to Keep and What to Skip

Almost every yard runs on the same six lawn care tools, but whether you need anything more depends on the size of your lawn and how much of the mowing you'd like to hand off to a robot mower.

The Lawn Care Tools Every Yard Needs

These tools, which are likely already in your garage, cover most of the yard work spring through fall. Everything else on the shelf is either something only some yards need, or something that just makes the job easier.

Table 1: Essential lawn care tools and how often you'll use them.

You might not think a spreader and a pair of gloves earn a spot on a must-have list, but you'll find them helpful when you're spreading fertilizer or working around the garden beds. If you spread fertilizer by hand, you might notice stripes that appear across the lawn a few weeks later, since the well-hit patches grow taller and greener than the missed areas.

Granular fertilizer is also really rough on your palms, which is why it's advisable to have a pair of gloves ready when you're working your yard. More than any other tool on this list, your mower decides if you need any other tools. That's why the mower gets its own section below.

Yard Care Tools That Add Value to Your Collection

The next five tools are worth adding to your garage, but only if your yard needs them.

• Edger: You can get one when your string trimmer keeps leaving a ragged line where the lawn meets the driveway or garden bed. A trimmer cuts tall grass in spots a mower can't reach, while an edger draws one clean vertical line along a hard border.
• Leaf blower: A leaf blower is very helpful for maintaining a neat yard appearance if your yard has plenty of tree cover.
• Hand weeder: You can add one when weeds in garden beds or between pavers start showing up faster than you can pull them by hand.
• Pruners and loppers: You'll want a pair the moment your yard picks up shrubs or small trees that need shape control. A mower and trimmer only handle turf, so anything vertical falls to you and a set of pruners.
• Soil moisture meter: A meter earns its space when dry patches or soggy spots start appearing that you can't diagnose just by looking at the grass.

Lawn Care Tools to Rent or Skip

You can rent any lawn care equipment you expect to use twice a year at most, and don't buy anything a tool you already own handles.

Yard tools that make more sense to rent than buy

Three types of lawn care equipment are worth renting instead of buying, since you'll pull them out once a year at most.

• Core aerator: A machine that pulls small plugs of soil out of your lawn so air and water can reach the roots. You can rent one when your soil gets compacted, which for most yards is a once-a-year fix.
• Dethatcher: A rake-like machine that pulls up the spongy layer sitting between your grass and the soil. Rent one when that layer starts stopping water from getting down to the roots.
• Lawn roller: A weighted drum you push across the lawn to press seed and soil together. You can rent one after overseeding to settle the ground, and rarely again after that.

Yard tools not worth buying at all

Three tools look like yard care essentials, but they usually duplicate the function of another tool already sitting in your garage.

• Power edger: You don't need one if your string trimmer already converts to edging mode. The conversion attachment does the same job without adding a second tool to store.
• Leaf vacuum: A blower handles most of what a vacuum does at a fraction of the storage space, so you can pass on the vacuum if you already own a blower.
• Single-purpose hand tools: Anything you'd only reach for once or twice a year usually ends up gathering dust on a shelf, so it's best to rent or borrow those instead.

How Your Yard Size Changes Your Tool List

Your yard falls into one of three size bands, each needing a different tool list. It's easy to overestimate, since the lot size on your deed counts the house and driveway in the total, and your actual mowable area is usually a good bit smaller.

Our guide on how to measure your lawn covers pacing it out and reading it off a satellite map, so you know which band you're in before you buy anything beyond the essentials.

• Under 0.25 acres: Manual tools handle the whole job at this size. A hose beats an irrigation system, and a push mower keeps pace without much effort on your part.
• 0.25 to 0.5 acres: Powered trimming and blowing start saving you real time, and a self-propelled or robot mower makes more sense than a push model once you're past a quarter acre.
• 0.5 acres and up: Hand tools stop covering the whole job. Coverage per session becomes the deciding factor, which is why a robot or riding mower starts to make sense at this size.

How Your Mower Decides the Yard Care Tools You Need

Your mower affects more than just how you cut the grass, since the type of mower you choose changes how much work you still need to do and whether you need additional tools in your garage.

• Push mower: You need to push this mower to work your lawn. If you're factoring in the ways to power a push mower, you can read our guide on electric vs gas lawn mowers to help you decide.
• Self-propelled mower: This mower takes the energy strain off you since it drives itself forward, but you still need to steer it through every mowing session.
• Riding mower: Most of the physical effort moves to the mower's engine, although the mower takes up considerably more storage space and so may only be more suitable for bigger yards.
• Robot lawn mower: The mower handles regular mowing on its own schedule, which can also reduce the finishing work you have to do.

Which Lawn Care Tools Come Out in Each Season

Your yard may need different tools each season, and most of what's in your garage sits idle for most of the year. Here are the tools that you can expect to use more each season for lawn maintenance:

• Spring: Your rake comes out first to clear what winter left behind. Once the ground dries out, the spreader handles your early fertilizer application and seeding. You'll also start your mower as soon as the grass starts growing back in.
• Summer: Your mower, trimmer, hose, and hand weeder keep your yard well maintained through the hot months.
• Fall: Your blower and rake carry the season as leaves fall and grass growth slows. It's also a good time to rent an aerator if you're doing that this year, and to do one final cut before the cold sets in.
• Winter: Almost nothing comes out of the garage. Winter is the right window for the maintenance covered below, and for figuring out when to stop mowing your lawn before the season fully turns.

How to Keep Your Lawn Care Tools Working

A little upkeep between tool uses can save you from rust and other avoidable damages in storage. The most useful routine is to deal with wear as it happens, then prep powered equipment properly before it sits through winter.

Sharpen your mower blades twice a season

Give your mower blades a sharpening at the start of spring and again around midseason, and hand tools like shears and pruners once a year. A dull blade tears the grass rather than cutting it, leaving the tips brown and ragged for weeks. Our guide on how to sharpen a lawn mower blade covers doing it safely at home, including getting the blade back on balance.

Sharpening only works while there's enough metal left to hold an edge. Our guide on how often to replace mower blades covers the signs to watch for and when a swap makes more sense than another pass with the file.

Rinse and dry your tools after every use

You should rinse off grass and soil on your tools before putting them away, then let the metal dry fully. You'll want to pay particular attention to the mower deck, where packed clippings can hold moisture against the metal during storage and encourage rust.

Hang your tools instead of leaving them on the floor

Hang long-handled tools where you can, since keeping wooden handles and metal heads away from damp ground helps prevent warping and rust. This simple practice also keeps your shed or garage easier to organize.

Prep gas and battery equipment before winter

Gas-powered equipment needs its fuel system prepared before long-term storage, either by draining the tank or using fuel stabilizer according to the manufacturer's instructions. Removable batteries should be stored indoors at the recommended charge level and should not be left in the tool through winter.

Skip most of the maintenance with a robot mower

Robot mowers typically use small, replaceable blades, so blade care involves replacing them when they wear out. It's also easier to clean some newer models which are designed to be rinsed down, although you should still follow the care instructions for your specific mower.

Our Pick for a Must-Have Lawn Care Tool

A robot mower can shorten your lawn care tools list by taking over some of the finishing work around the lawn. If it cuts close enough to fences and garden beds, you may not need a dedicated edger and can keep a trimmer just for the spots the mower cannot reach.

The Dreame A3 AWD Pro Series is one example. OmniSense™ 3.0 maps and navigates the whole yard with 3D vision, so there's no boundary wire to bury and nothing sitting in the lawn to work around when you rake or aerate.

EdgeMaster™ 2.0 cuts within 1.2in of a fence or bed line, turning trimming into an occasional touch-up rather than a regular follow-up after every mow.

On a keep-versus-skip list, the edge-cutting figure matters most because it directly changes whether another tool still earns its space.

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The Lawn Care Tools Worth Your Money

The essential lawn care tools are the ones you'll actually use often enough to justify keeping them. Start with the basics your yard needs, then add or rent equipment only when a recurring job makes it worthwhile.

Your mower deserves a little more thought, because it can change how much of the weekly work you have to do. If that's the job you'd most like to reduce, you can browse our robot lawn mowers to see how an automated mower fits into the rest of your setup.

Frequently Asked Questions

What tools do I need for lawn care?

You need a mower, string trimmer, leaf rake, spreader, hose with an adjustable nozzle, and a pair of gloves for almost any yard. Everything past that is situational and depends on your yard's size and what you're growing beyond turf.

What yard tools should every lawn enthusiast invest in?

A spreader and an edger are the first two upgrades to buy once your basics are covered. The spreader gives you even coverage on seed and fertilizer, and the edger keeps the line between grass and pavement crisp.

How often should you sharpen lawn tools?

Mower blades need sharpening twice a season, once at the start of spring and once at midseason. Hand tools like shears and pruners only need it once a year.

Does a robot lawn mower replace a string trimmer and an edger?

A robot mower handles most of what you used a trimmer and edger for, but not quite all of it. Cutting to within 1.2in of a border turns your weekly hand-trimming into an occasional touch-up. You'll still want a trimmer for fence lines and tree bases, where even close edge-cutting can't reach.

How should you store lawn tools over winter?

Wipe your tools dry and hang them off the floor so metal doesn't rust and handles don't warp. You'll also need to drain the fuel from gas equipment before it sits idle, and store batteries indoors at a partial charge to prevent them from degrading over winter.