The Gardenista 100: Best Hand Tools - Gardenista
Buy a good hand tool and it will last a lifetime (Exhibit A: Michelle’s 25-year-old Felco pruners). These Leather Grip Bypass Pruners from Garrett Wade may look pretty with their leather-sheathed handles, but don’t be fooled. Photograph by John Merkl for Gardenista. Also from Garrett Wade and new this spring to the company’s offerings, the Premium Anvil Hand Pruner is made in Germany by trusted landscape toolmaker Berger. 2 Pruner is the company’s original model and the everyday favorite of LA-based landscape designer Judy Kameon, whose gardens surround the homes of celebrities Sofia Coppola and Mike D. of the Beastie Boys; $53.65. From Portland, OR, Barnel Hedge Shears are used by Steve Lannin, gardener to British landscape designer Arne Maynard at his Allt-y-Bela estate in Wales. The 27.5-inch lightweight shears are $52.99 on Amazon. New from Japanese toolmaker Niwaki, a pair of hand-forged Mamiya Shears set a high standard for craftsmanship. Niwaki’s Okatsune Precision Hedge Shears are the tool of choice for Jake Hobson, a sculptor who shapes trees in the soft, billowy style known as cloud pruning. Photograph by John Merkl for Gardenista. Anvil loppers. There are two kinds of loppers: bypass loppers (with overlapping blades) and anvil loppers (with blades that meet to cut). Photograph by John Merkl for Gardenista. Michelle uses Felco 21 loppers, made in Switzerland with adjustable bypass blades; $104.49. Dutch toolmaker DeWitt has been manufacturing garden tools in Holland for more than a century. This Garden Trowel from Fisher Blacksmithing is made the old fashioned way its steel is heated to a red glow then shaped on an anvil... ...with a hammer Made in Bozeman Montana it has a sharp point to penetrate soil and a hand turned black walnut handle 58 on Etsy A specialized trowel from Dutch toolmaker Sneeboer, the Great Dixter Trowel has a particularly long and thin blade to make it easy to dig in narrow crevices and tight spots. For devotees of the traditional Japanese hori hori tool, this one is a classic: made in Japan of stainless steel by Nisaku/Tomita, the Hori Hori Tool is $25.86 on Amazon. For those of us who don t trust ourselves around sharp blades the Diggit Hori Garden Knife is an alternative with an equally... ...enthusiastic following Made in Seattle the knife is guaranteed not to rust even if left outside all year long in Pacific Northwest rain 35 This Three-Tine Hand Cultivator is hand made in Boring, Oregon; the tang is twisted into the wood handle so the joint will not come loose; $35.85 at Garden Tool Company. Gardener’s Supply Company partnered with a fourth-generation family-owned business in Holland to manufacture a line of long-lasting basics. The Gardener’s Lifetime Cultivator is made in Holland of Swedish steel; $29.95.