Getting tool advice online is not always a good idea. Half the recommendations come from people who haven't touched the tools they're reviewing, and the other half are buried in comment threads you'd need an hour to sort through. I spoke to Ace Hardware and Home Depot associates to ask what their staff actually recommend to customers just starting out. I looped in my brother, who works in a field I can't talk about because it's government work, and drew on the time I spent landscaping for guys who'd been at it for years. The same four tools kept coming up every time.