• The correct equipment eases garden labor.tools image by Joann Cooper from Fotolia.com
  
  When starting a school or community garden project, obtaining the necessary equipment is a top priority. Gloves, rakes and rototillers all must be purchased. Fortunately, a number of organizations provide garden grants specifically for the purchase of gardening equipment. Locate this funding and your gardening project can take root.
  
  

Fiskars Orange Thumb Grants

• Fiskars is famous for its lightweight sewing shears. The company also produces reel mowers, pruners, rakes, watering cans, shovels, rain barrel systems and other gardening tools. Each year, Fiskars selects 25 grant applicants to receive the tools and materials necessary "to reach their goals for neighborhood beautification and horticulture education." Each grant includes $1,000 worth of equipment, $1,000 for other materials and Project Orange Thumb t-shirts.
  
  

National Gardening Association Mantis Awards

• Project needs can be as simple as a supply of garden gloves.gardening gloves image by egirldesign from Fotolia.com
  
  Each year, the National Gardening Association assists Mantis Corporation in selecting 25 "educational garden projects that enhance the quality of life in their host communities." Any non-profit garden project may apply. Each recipient receives a Mantis tiller/cultivator with the choice of a gas-powered or electrical motor. Other organizations working with NGA to provide more general garden grants include Subaru, Syngenta and Welch's.
  
  

Grants from Home Improvement Corporations

• There is no better place to find gardening equipment than at a home improvement store. Lowe's is a home improvement giant located throughout the United States and Canada. Twice a year Lowe's provides grants to projects proposed by public schools and public school parent-teacher groups. These include garden projects. Home Depot has a grant program through which it assists 100 garden projects annually in conjunction with NGA. The five top recipients each receive a $500 gift card from Home Depot and $500 in supplies from NGA's Gardening with Kids catalog. The other 95 grantees receive $500 gift cards from Home Depot. Occasionally, charitable giving is also available through smaller, regional hardware and home improvement stores.
  
  

Regional Garden Grant Programs

• Seeds may be included in grants that cover tools.poppies image by Tomasz Plawski from Fotolia.com
  
  Garden project organizers who research locally may find regional garden grant programs that allow funds to be spent on tools. One example is the school garden grants program of the Western Growers Foundation, which awards grants twice a year. Western Growers provides funds to schools and has one program, conducted in conjunction with California Head Start, which focuses specifically on preschool gardens. Grants include up to $1,500, an irrigation kit, seeds and teacher resources.
  
  

American Honda Youth Education Grants

• Some corporate foundations sponsor educational grant programs that include garden projects in their funding. American Honda Foundation disperses grants four times a year. The grants range from $20,000 to $60,000 over the one-year grant period. Colleges and universities may apply to this program, which is interested in environmental education, as well as science, technology, engineering and math projects.