Since it's digging, dividing and planting season, let's see some of your favorite tools you use in the garden.

I use this curved and pointed planting spoon when I want to dig and remove some pieces (rhizomes, bulbs, etc...) from a clump. I like that you can use the curve to dig under the desired pieces without disturbing the rest of the plant. ( I have the red handle)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004OKPMMS/

I also use this small serrated paring knife to carefully remove rot in rhizomes that are in and out of the ground. Why this knife?...because it was a gift and laying around unused. You know what, I love it and the size is perfect.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0028LXDOY/

I have a cobra head for weeding that is a joy. It pulls out tap roots with ease. I can also use it to break up the soil around rhizomes that get buried from all the rain moving the soil around. And dig with it too.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000JKONAO/

Otherwise I use a sharpened trowel. Learned from years doing site work in archaeology that trowels will cut through plant material, move soil, weed, etc. I use an actual Marshalltown trowel, the trowel of archaeology. Funny to see that they now even come with archaeology pouches (so you don't cut yourself on the edges). If they can be used to dig up artifacts without damage they can be used around rhizomes!
Example below (mine has seen 30 plus years of action)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003A83GIM/

Nice tools Leslie!

I use a large screw driver for weeds with a tap root.

Hey, it works!

I ordered that serrated spoon, Rob. Looks like a workable tool for me - could be handy for
thinning clumps. for the tip!

My favorite new tool is a garden claw. It looks like this. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000WOMYMG/
I use it for breaking up soil for new beds. It gets under roots, and dislodges rocks. It's the best!

I'm sure you will grow to love it Jan.

I used to have two of the blue garden claws Liz. (One I gave to one of my sisters and the other vanished.) Once the clay soil dries up here, it's like concrete. That hard soil makes it impossible to use that tool. Even a front tine tiller is near impossible to use on the dry soil. It bounces around like crazy and beats you up and wears you down.

I have a couple more tools to share later on.

my favorite tools: http://www.hidatool.com/kusaki...

http://www.hidatool.com/garden...

http://www.hidatool.com/garden...

my favorite store for handtools. they also do a fantastic job of sharpening scissors and knives, pruning shears, etc.

That Ichiban weeder looks pretty fierce. Would work well as self defense in the garden too!


I have to add that I use garden scissors a lot and these Fiskars have been really great. They have a wire cutter, come apart for cleaning, a sharpener in the blade cover and have been durable. The product description gives all the uses.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Fis...

A pooper scooper with a small rake works great in the yard for clean up of leaves and other small debris. Less stress on the back too.
Will post pictures of my other two favorite tools soon.

Barbara - would not have thought of that combo!

It's works really well.... And for its original purpose too.

I never work on my knees due to old injuries, I bend from the waist, unless using a spade. Therefore a lot of my tools are of the short handled variety. One that I use all the time, and have it repaired if broken, is this one.



It is weighted right and the wide end is sharp enough to chop through a inch thick root with two chops. The three pronged end gets under buried rocks and roots and allows me to pull them out without much effort. I use this tool for many things.

I also use these if my first choice of tool does not fit the bill. The little hoe is for surface weeds, the pick is for tap roots vines and the axe is for saplings and limbs that are too large for other tools to manage. A gardener is always armed.

Goodness, jungle warfare in the garden!

bonnie, i use that three prong chop thing, too. you're right, it's weighted just right, so even i can swing it when i have to chop roots. (i forgot to mention that it's one of my favorite garden tools, too.) i do a fierce battle with palm roots a lot. the roots are plentiful, fibrous and tough. especially handy when i want to make a new bed for my iris, and the palm roots have invaded an area .

(mental image : 4'10", round and short septuagenarian swinging
in a fierce battle with palm tree roots.)

that is i.

Daphne,

We had a palm tree, too, but had it removed. It was expensive but worth it.

Nice tools Dapne! That little Kusatori Ichiban Weeder looks pretty scary!

Bonnie, that first tool is similar to one of my favorites too. Yours looks heavier and stronger than mine.


Another favorite is a small hand rake. It's not the one in the link below, but it's very similar to it.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000UGPSSS/

I also love these leaf scoops. They make short work of a large debris pile.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000H5SZ1Y/

I think some of us are on the same page with the digging hoe. I love it and have several of them. I have a few of the wing weeders too. It slices right through the weeds. I could not live without either of these tools. With acreage, I couldn't live without the Quad and cart either. The cart was made for me somewhere around 1989-1990ish. Looks like it needs a new battery...




With all my tools on the Quad, can I pass for the junk-man?

I could sure use a quad and cart to haul wood chips up on the hill. It's a real knee killer bringing things up up there.

Barbara, it looks like you have some scary tools aimed at your face while you're driving.

I've never heard of a Saw Tooth Sickle, a Kusatori Ichiban Weeder, a cobra head weeder, or a wing weeder. So I'm liking this thread and thank you for sharing your tools with us.

I've never worried about it because I drive very slow. Plus the tools are so packed in the crate I'd be surprised if anything fell out.