Whether it’s a high-tech power edger or a simple shovel, every gardener has that one special tool they just can’t live without. It may not be the newest product on the market, but it sure does get the job done. Here’s a look at what tools we find to be the most handy when working in our own gardens:
Megan’s favorite tool is her pair of Felco® pruners. The brightly colored handles help keep the tool from getting lost in the garden.
Photo Credit: Megan Bame
A simple pocketknife with a partially serrated blade is a must for gardening tasks in David’s landscape.
Photo Credit: David L. Morgan
The Korean Ho-Mi hand tool can do just about anything in Lane’s garden.
Photo Credit: Lane Greer
Megan’s Tool of Choice: Felco® Hand Pruners
It was my first college horticulture class that introduced me to Felco hand pruners. The professor endorsed them as his favorite, but at “a suggested retail value” of around $40, the pruners were out of my “poor college student” budget. As the fall semester came to a close, I knew those Felcos would be high on my Christmas list. When Santa came through for me, I was ready to put them to work!
Over the past 10 years, I’ve put these pruners to the test and have never been disappointed – even when I pushed the caliper limits of hand pruners. The smooth, red handles are comfortable to grip. (They’re also easy to spot when I’ve laid them down to attend to something else and I come back searching for where I put my trusty tool.)
Felco offers 13 models of pruners with various special features. I’m partial to model 6 (F6). It’s lightweight and designed for small hands (ideal for women). I can use my hands alone for a lot of gardening tasks – from weeding to digging a hole or even squashing bugs. But pruning is one job that almost always requires a tool, and I wouldn’t want to garden without my Felcos!
David’s Pick: A Pocketknife
My favorite garden tool is a large-sized, folding lock-blade pocket knife with a partially serrated blade. You can do nearly anything with this tool – dig in the soil, emergency-prune, cut roots, stab white grubs, scrape old containers clean, get the dirt out of your garden shoes, extract rose thorns from your fingers and clean under your fingernails at the end of the gardening day. I never go into my garden without it!
I prefer a rather thick-bladed knife that can take some punishment, with at least a 4-inch blade for leverage. The inexpensive ($7.50 max) steel-bladed knife in the picture can be easily cleaned under a garden hose and can be sharpened as needed with an ordinary sharpening stone. (A knife holster is useful so the knife doesn’t rub a hole in your britches.)
Oh, one more thing: Don’t forget to leave your pocketknife at home if you’re planning to board an airplane! One of two really bad things will happen: You’ll get arrested, or – even worse – the authorities will confiscate your treasured garden knife!
Lane’s Gardening Treasure: The Ho-Mi Korean Hand Tool
. I have a cousin who owns every mechanic’s tool out there. He even makes special trips to AutoZone® to buy new “gotta have ’em” ones. But I have a different philosophy on tools: I firmly believe that a few good tools can do the job. In fact, I have only six gardening tools. Of those, my Ho-Mi is the one I consider indispensable.
The Ho-Mi (pronounced hoe-me) lets me transplant and weed with the same tool. It’s about a foot long with a really sharp point and an angled, flattish blade.
The sharp end is just that – sharp enough to break through heavy clay, mud or crusty ol’ dirt. I also use it to weed in a rock pathway. The point can prick out a weed without disturbing all the rocks around it. The Ho-Mi even works well on dandelion taproots. I use the Ho-Mi to plant anything that’s smaller than a gallon, and it’s great for getting into small spaces. I also use the wide blade to pull away mulch or leaves from around plants.
Because the blade cuts down at an angle instead of straight down like a trowel, it takes a little getting used to. But using the Ho-Mi is easier on my wrist, since my hand isn’t turned the way it would be if I were using a trowel.
The Ho-Mi’s been used in Korea for centuries, where the name means “farmer’s knife.” I bought mine 10 or 12 years ago and haven’t needed anything else since. You can buy one for $13 to $25.
Suzanne’s Favorite Tool: The Action Hoe
. When I head out the door to the garden, I always stop by my shed to load up my garden cart. All the standard tools go in – pruners, shovel, rake, gloves and my favorite: the Action Hoe.
You’ve probably passed the Action Hoe a dozen times at your local garden center. It’s reasonably priced (around $20-$25) and nothing fancy to look at – just a traditional wooden handle with a flat, metal hoop on the end. But this specialized hoe outperforms any traditional one. As you drag the double-edged hoop back and forth over the soil’s surface, it cuts weeds off at the roots. The hoop’s also narrow enough that you can easily maneuver it between established plantings. And while weeding, the tool cultivates the soil’s surface so new weeds can’t take hold – all while aerating the soil.
Another garden chore that this specialized hoe can help with is blending fertilizer into the soil. Just sprinkle the fertilizer on the soil’s surface and drag the hoe over it.
I mainly love this tool because weeds are my biggest problem – more than any insect or disease in the landscape! I’ve used a traditional hoe in the past, but then I’d end up with holes where I “chunked” out the weeds. Other times I’d be left bending over uncomfortably, which my back didn’t agree with. But with the Action Hoe, you use the same motion as vacuuming – back and forth – and it rips the weeds apart with very little effort.
I think every gardener should have an Action Hoe and use it regularly. Easily removing young weeds from the start will prevent the unwanted plants from taking over your garden later.
