
Our Gardeners' Top 5 Must-Have Tools (And Why)
Heligan's productive gardens are full of history-but also full of hard work. Our gardeners rely on a small, trusted set of tools that have earned their place over years of use. Here are five they return to again and again, along with the reasons why.

1. **Hand Trowel** - A well-balanced trowel is the most-used tool in the garden. Whether sowing directly, planting out seedlings, or weeding in tight spots, the right trowel feels like an extension of the hand. Our team favours stainless steel for durability and a wooden handle for comfort and grip.

2. **Sneeboer Border Fork** - This Dutch-made tool has become a Heligan favourite. Smaller and more nimble than a full digging fork, it's perfect for aerating beds, lifting crops, and turning compost. The forged steel tines cut through soil with precision, and the long ash handle provides excellent leverage.

3. **Niwaki Secateurs** - While not a traditional heritage tool, these Japanese pruners have earned their place through sheer quality. Razor-sharp and beautifully engineered, they make clean cuts with minimal strain-ideal for everything from thinning fruit branches to deadheading flowers.

4. **Cornish Shovel** Not your everyday spade, the Cornish shovel is a traditional digging tool with a long handle and strong, tapered blade - designed for powering through heavy soil, turning turf, and planting field hedges with ease. Gardeners appreciate its leverage: one foot on the blade and a straight pull effortlessly loosens compacted ground, saving back strain and effort. At Heligan, it’s now front and centre for reclaiming beds, preparing new ground, and working clay-rich soil.

5. **Broadfork** A game‑changer for preparing beds the gentle way. Also known as a U‑fork or grelinette, this tool features a horizontal bar with 5 sturdy tines and two long handles. You step onto the crossbar, push the tines into the soil, then lean back to lift - loosening dense ground without turning layers or disturbing soil structure Ideal for no‑dig or reduced‑till styles, the broadfork improves aeration and drainage while preserving earthworms, fungal networks, and soil life. It’s especially helpful in compacted beds, and a single broadfork pass can replace hours of double digging.
Wellness & Lifestyle
To garden is to live seasonally, to return to presence through care, patience, and daily attention.
Here you'll find quiet reflections, sensory rituals, and simple ways to bring the gardens calm into your home and life.
Click here to find rest and rhythm and lifestyle inspiration through your garden
Flowers & Crafting
Some things we grow for colour, others for scent and some for the joy of preserving fleeting beauty.
At Heligan, flowers are not just grown, but gathered, dried, and woven into the rhythms of home and celebration.
Click here to learn how we carry beauty beyond the bloom
Tools & Techniques
From hand-forged blades to long-trusted methods passed between gardeners, the tools we use shape not just our soil but our understanding.
Here, you'll find the implements that bring the Heligan gardens to life and the quiet knowledge behind their use, shared by those who use them daily.
Click here to discover hands-on knowledge that shapes every season
From Garden to Plate
The journey doesn't end at the seed bed. What begins with planting often finds its way into the kitchen, into the jar, onto the plate.
Explore recipes, harvest rituals, and preserving techniques inspired by Heligan's productive gardens - carrying the gardens story into every meal.
Dig Deeper with Us
Subscribe for traditional know-how, tool care tips, and insights from Heligans' working garden team.