Garden Cart Styles

Finding the perfect garden cart

A garden cart, such as a traditional wheel barrow or a more modern motorized yard cart, can be used for a great variety of gardening activities:  moving dirt, hauling mulch, transporting tools, organizing bulbs for planting, removing branches and other yard debris, or mixing cement for a walkway or patio.  Prices vary widely, as do designs and construction materials.  In deciding which is best, the main factors to consider are price, capacity, maneuverability, and durability.  And, to be sure, a handsome appearance never hurts either.

In terms of design, a garden cart generally features some kind of walled bed, as many as four wheels, and handles, although these can be configured in any way.  Carts designed for smaller loads (those with a capacity of less than six cubic feet) usually have tow handles and three wheels; a traditional wheelbarrow is an example of this kind of cart.  Perfect for everyday gardening tasks, such as moving mounds of dirt from one side of the garden to the other or transporting buds, saplings, or seeds for planting, these carts distribute the weight of the load in a way that reduces stress on the body, especially the lower back.  Their smaller size makes them easy to navigate down tight rows or over bumpy terrain. 

Small carts

Variations on the smaller, wheeled carts include collapsible carts and pneumatic garden carts.  The walls of the bed of collapsible garden carts can be folded down at a hinged joint to allow larger materials to fit inside.  Larger items such as branches or long-handled tools can be placed across the top of the cart, increasing its hauling power. 

Pneumatic carts, a recent innovation of the garden tool design industry, hide a clever modification to make them even more ergonomic and easy to use:  the carts can be lowered down to sit flat on the ground for easy loading and unloading.  A lever, foot pump, or button activates the suspension mechanism, raising the cart back up off the ground for transport.  Of particular interest to those who suffer back or leg ailments because of the constant bending involved in yard work, these carts can significantly reduce the harmful physical effects of gardening.

Wide loads

Increasingly popular in the last decade, big garden carts rose to prominence because of their looks and greater carrying capacity. Available in metal or plastic, these carts have different shaped beds, but generally carry more than six cubic feet of material.  Flat-bottomed carts can handle potted plants and other containers very well.  Wheelbarrow-like steel buckets have wheels designed to fit into small spaces, between the rows of a flower or vegetable garden, for example.  Rustic Vermont garden carts, carts with two large wheels that can stand up level in the garden or tip up for towing, can carry as much as three times as a comparably-sized wheel barrow.

Tow carts with oversized tires, the sport utility vehicles of gardening, attach to riding lawn mowers and can handle uneven terrain without any problem.  Once attached properly, they provide the ultimate ease of transport for even the heaviest loads, although they may be impractical for the average residential gardener.

More information on garden carts