With the holidays upon us, it’s natural for passionate gardeners (like ourselves) to place gardening items on the old ‘Wish List’. Thinking back over the most recent gardening season, I’ve come up with a list of tools that worked well for me and that I would recommend to other gardeners. And, in case Santa is reading this, I’ve even tacked on a few tools at the end that I’d like to have.
Here’s what I have and love:
I love the Winged Weeder because it has a simple design and takes little effort. The triangular-shaped blade is attached to a handle, and by simply shuffling the blade across the top ¼ to ½-inch of soil, you can easily dislodge shallow-rooted weeds. This works best with those small weeds that pop up en masse in early spring but are too small to pull up by hand. I’ve also used the winged tips to clean out the cracks in my sidewalk and to make small rows for sowing seeds. The Winger Weeder is available in two blade sizes and two handle sizes—one appropriate for weeding while standing and one for weeding while kneeling.
The Cobrahead is another weeding tool, but to my mind because of its design has a different application. The business end of the tool is like a long, thin, steel thumbnail welded onto a curved shaft. I use this tool to dig out larger weeds with more of a root system and also to cultivate the soil. Turn the blade on its side and scrape the ground with it and you’ll remove the small weeds. I’ve also used it for creating rows for planting seeds. The Cobrahead comes in both long and short handle sizes, and there is also a mini-size.
I use the Ames Planter’s Pal multi-purpose hand tool nearly every time I go into the garden. According to its description, this chrome-plated steel tool has seven functions: a trowel for planting, a serrated cutting edge, a knife edge for slicing, a twine cutter, a tip for dislodging tap-rooted and also common weeds, a tamper at the end of the handle and an 11-inch measurement scale. I wish it had a brighter colored handle because I’ve misplaced two already!
The Root Slayer shovel is the only shovel I need in the garden. It’s a multi-purpose tool, that acts as a shovel, root hatchet and a root saw. The shovel itself can scoop soil. The shovel has two serrated-edged blades that easily slice through soil and saw through in-ground roots. The inverted V-shaped tip can hold down and slice through any perennial clumps you might wish to divide. The carbon-steel blade and shaft are strong, and the O-shaped handle-end provides for plenty of hand positions – an important feature if you have tweaky wrists like me.
The Garden Weasel Claw is a tool meant for turning garden soil using a simple spiral action. It not only loosens the soil and aerates it, too. Once the soil is loose, it makes pulling weeds all that much easier. I use this tool mostly for turning something else – my compost pile! Just insert the claw portion into the top of the compost barrel and twist. It’s a great tool for the job and much easier than using a long-handled hoe or shovel. I wish the long handle and claw were of heavier-duty metal, but so far, it’s been sturdy enough for my needs.
As I get older, this One Touch Revolution Spray Gun has been a game changer. Traditional spray guns for hoses require you to squeeze and hold a “trigger,” and that really does fatigue the hand quickly. That’s not so good when you suffer from arthritis. And if you don’t already, you will! The control mechanism for water-flow on the ‘One Touch’ alleviates hand fatigue with a simple rolling action using your thumb. Genius! ‘One Touch’ also has nine different water-flow patterns, and thanks to its heavy-duty metal construction, all of those positions still work perfectly – despite all the times I’ve dropped it on the sidewalk (hence all the dings you see in the photo). Plus, it comes in six bright colors that really set the Dramm products apart.
Now, for the four tools on my own holiday wish list:
If you love a gardener, then you’ll indulge their need for Felco pruning shears. Renowned the world over for their craftsmanship, Swiss-based Felco makes a line of pruners for every purpose from small snipping and trimming work to flower pruning (even hoof clipping!) – and for every hand size. Some models even have rotating heads and ergonomically designed handles. Now, because there are so many types of Felco pruning shears, I suggest you find a place that sells them and purchase a gift card for that store, rather than buying a pair without the recipient trying them out in-person. Felco’s are a special purchase and are crafted so well that this may be the only pair your honey / friend ever owns.
The traditional Japanese handheld weeder, or ‘nejiri gama’, is the tool my friend Amanda swears by. It’s the same basic concept as the Winged Weeder I mentioned, but it uses a pulling motion to slice through small and shallow-rooted weeds (the Winged Weeder employs both pushing and pulling). The hoe-shaped blade is offset from the handle, making this tool to own if you are left-handed (I’m a lefty so I notice these things). If you search around on the Web you will find several different versions of the ‘nejiri gama’. In my search, THIS ONE caught my eye.
For years I’ve used an East German pocketknife with a hand saw blade (it also has a cork screw in case you are thirsty!). The blade does small jobs just fine, but it’s a bit of a bully; i.e. its saw teeth are kind of coarse. My friend, Katie, has a Gator Exchange-A-Blade Saw, and I’m envious. The blade length is a bit longer than 6 inches (longer than my 3.5-in. blade), but the cool thing about it is you can swap out the blade types between a course blade and a fine blade. It has a soft-rubber grip for easy holding. Beefy construction with premium stainless-steel blades lets you saw through things effortlessly.
Another of Katie’s must-have garden tools is a spade that really works, and for her it’s a flat landscaper spade, like the Razor-Back Landscaper Spade, although any sturdy, all-steel blade-plus-handle brand will do. The flat blade of a landscaper spade makes it ideal for removing sod. Katie uses the 6-in. wide blade to edge garden beds because for her, it’s the perfect width. “And it still digs a hole pretty darn quickly,” she adds.
There you have ‘em, ten tools that are perfect for holiday gift giving (and receiving). Happy holidays!