So, I have been gardening professionally and teaching gardening for 7 years, and now I am back in a 'proper' job, I am having to reduce my tool kit down to the brightest and the best.
My top tools:
A hori hori knife. For digging out perennial weeds, skimming annual weeds, making seed drills, rough pruning and chopping back, and general tidying up around plants
A mattack. For digging out deep strong weeds eg brambles, for digging over ground quickly, for digging trenches for potatoes.
An onion hoe. For loosening soil around plants [esp onions!] and dragging out weeds. For making seed drills, and for covering the soil over the seeds gently.
A bulb planter. For planting bulbs. For removing dandelions and other deep weeds out of clay without breaking the roots. For planting potatoes. For planting plants grown in up to 3 inch plant pots easily. Get a really good quality one, not a £1 shop one. Mine has lasted for 7 years with no issues, and that's after being used by hundreds of SEN teenagers and young adults.
Secateurs - for pruning yes. But also for cutting herbs, cutting up all prunings for compost heap.
Pitch fork - mainly for turning compost but also for moving large amounts of mulch - straw, hay, woodchip - quickly.
Swoe - A long handled hoe which lets you get behind plants really easily without bending. Makes weeding fun. Honest.
What are your favourite tools in the garden?