The Best Ryobi Power Tools To Use In Your Garden

Whether you're growing your own fruits and vegetables or colorful flowers to brighten your yard, gardening is a complicated process that requires many steps — and many tools to complete these steps. Fortunately, Ryobi offers a solid lineup of outdoor and gardening power tools that can take a lot of the manual work out of gardening and let you focus on what makes it such a relaxing, rewarding pastime.

Many of Ryobi's gardening tools are also cordless and part of its signature ONE+ system, which means they can all share the same interchangeable batteries. The 18-volt batteries Ryobi offers as part of its ONE+ system are powerful and charge quickly, so you can use Ryobi's power tools even if your garden is located far from your house and power outlets. Plus, they can often last long enough for you to get a lot of work done before needing a recharge, and you won't have to worry about tripping over or getting tangled up in cords. Here are some of the best Ryobi power tools you can use to start a garden, keep it maintained, and help it flourish.

The first thing you'll need to do before starting a garden is cultivate the soil you plan on using, which can be arduous work without a powered cultivator (unless you have some oxen). Ryobi has a 16" cultivator that can tear through the toughest surfaces, but if you're planting in your backyard, you can likely get away with using the 8" model. Not only is this smaller model cheaper, but it's also cordless and part of Ryobi's 18V ONE+ system, so you'll be able to use the same interchangeable batteries for many other Ryobi tools — gardening or otherwise — as well.

The 8" Cultivator is also durable in its own right, thanks to the strong battery and its heavy-duty steel tines. It also has a two-inch adjustable tilling capability, and because it's both cordless and lightweight, you'll be able to easily maneuver it and use it in larger spaces without getting fatigued. The Ryobi 18V ONE+ 8" Cultivator costs $189, but if you buy the kit with an included 4 Ah battery and charger, that price rises to $349. It's frustrating that the battery and charger cost nearly as much as the tool itself, but if you don't already own them to power other Ryobi ONE+ tools, you'll need them if you want to actually turn on the cultivator.

A water transfer pump isn't necessary to grow a garden, but it can be useful and save you money. While pumps are often used to clear flooded basements, they can be just as helpful for gardens by collecting water from other sources that can be used for all your thirsty plants. A pump can be used to extract excess water from atop your pool cover, for example. Or you can set up a rain bucket and use the pump to transfer rainwater straight to your soil and plants' roots. This saves money on your water bill and makes your garden more sustainable in the face of intensifying climate change.

Ryobi's 18V ONE+ 20 GPM Submersible Water Transfer Pump is well designed for such a purpose. Its ONE+ battery is kept in a waterproof case, and the kit includes clip hooks so you can mount it outside a rain bucket. The battery is powerful enough to run the pump, which uses an integrated strainer to filter debris at 1/6 horsepower and transfer 20 gallons of water per minute. Plus, it has a shutdown timer and a sensor that automatically shuts the pump down when water is no longer detected. It drains sources down to 1/6 inches, which isn't bad, though it leaves behind plenty of water when pumping larger surfaces. For $199, you can get the Ryobi 18V ONE+ 20 GPM Submersible Water Transfer Pump with an included 4 Ah battery and charger.

Hoes are a staple of any garden tool collection and powered, cordless garden hoes are a huge improvement over their manual counterparts. With Ryobi's 18V ONE+ Garden Hoe, you can cultivate soil, maintain flower beds, and harvest fruits and vegetables with a fraction of the effort it would take to do so manually. It's also great at clearing weeds, the bane of any gardener's existence, thanks to its rectangular-shaped blade and a front handle that gives you firmer control.

The Ryobi 18V ONE+ Cordless Battery Garden Hoe is available from Home Depot with an included 2 Ah battery and charger for $199. Unfortunately, the 2 Ah battery is on the smaller side, and while it's compatible with other Ryobi ONE+ 18-volt products, it may not be strong enough to power many of them for very long. If you do add the garden hoe to your collection of Ryobi ONE+ tools, you'll likely need additional, larger batteries than what comes with this tool.

With Ryobi's 18V ONE+ HP Pruning Shear, you won't need Olympian-level grip strength to cut through thick branches in your yard or garden. The tool cleverly uses a trigger mechanism to control its bypass blade, which can seamlessly slice through stems and branches up to an inch in diameter. As part of Ryobi's ONE+ line, the pruning shear's brushless motor has plenty of power and can deliver 1.5x faster cutting. Because it's not much bigger than a typical pair of shears, weighs less than three pounds, and has a soft grip handle, you can maneuver it pretty much anywhere in your garden and not worry about fatigue. It also includes an attached LED work light to see what you're doing, even if your garden is thick enough to block sunlight.

Surprisingly, the tool is in the slim minority of Ryobi products that have negative reviews on the company's website, complaining that the product can completely malfunction and stop working, which is something to be mindful of before purchasing. Overall, it has far more five-star reviews than bad ones, so if the risk doesn't bother you, you can pick up Ryobi's 18V ONE+ HP Pruning Shear with a 2 Ah battery and charger for $199.

Fruit-eating insects and other bugs can decimate your garden and undo all your hard work, and between climate change and new invasive species like lanternflies, it seems like the problem is worse than ever. You can use pesticides to help combat insects, but most chemical solutions could pose harmful side effects and defeat the purpose of having your own organic garden in the first place. Bug zappers, however, can help rid your garden of unwanted pests without contaminating your plants or the air around your garden.

Ryobi includes a cordless bug zapper in its line of 18V ONE+ products, so you'll be able to use the same rechargeable batteries that power Ryobi's garden hoe, pruning shear, and other power tools. Despite being battery-powered, the zapper covers up to 1.5 acres, delivers 2,550 volts to its electric mesh, and has three settings. Plus, it includes a removable disposal tray to get rid of zapped bugs easily and a handle to carry or hang it with. Bug zappers aren't a perfect solution to eliminate all troublesome insects, but if you want to avoid pesticides, they will certainly help. You can buy the Ryobi 18V ONE+ Bug Zapper with a 2 Ah battery and charger at a solid discount on Amazon for $124.99 or purchase a two-pack from Home Depot (without a battery or charger) for $159.