Ok, I’ll admit, we just love our gardening tools. But not just any garden tools, high quality gardening tools made of things like quality hardwood and stainless steel. At Celtic, we use a wide variety of garden tools to work our farm and garden, and grow some amazing flowers. We put all of our gardening tools through some hard work, and have figured out over time what lasts, and what doesn’t. From Japanese Hori Hori Garden Tools for weeding, to dibbers that help us plant tubers and bulbs, we put any tool through a harsh treatment. See and read about garden tool sets.
With so many different garden tools on the market, how do you choose the best gardening tool set? Here are some resources to help you pick the right gardening tools for you or as a gift.
Garden scissors or snips are commonly used in Japan, and are very popular now across the globe for their simplicity and for what they add to the standard garden tool set, or gardening kit. Read more about this relatively new addition to your garden tools.
Known as the Japanese Gardening Knife, this versatile tool pllays a solid role in any gardening set. Read more about this awesome garden tool, and why every gardener should have one in their tool shed or garage.
Ok, so you need a little tutorial on gardening tool names and their usage? This primer will review all the garden tool set names and what they do. From trowels, to Hori Horis, you can find all the names of your mystery garden tools here.
Also known as a seed planter or bulb planter, the dibber or dibble is a great addition to any gardener’s tool set. Read more about how to find a great dibber.
What makes the best hand pruners, and how to buy ones that are right for you.
We have been through a lot of different pruner shears in our time gardening and on the farm here at Celtic. And I can tell you, there is nothing worse than using a bad set of hand pruners all day. What are some of the key problems with pruners? Well, here is a quick list of things we have experienced over the years:
Cheap Metal Pruner Blade – any pruner that is black metal is typically made of cheap steel and will rust, pit and get dents in the pruner cutting blade. We like stainless, shiny blades for all our garden pruners.
No leverage – Sometimes we have to cut thick stalks and branches with our pruning tools. Many pruners have straight handles with no offset, and this means no leverage in the blade, and pain in the hands.
Not Wide Enough – to cut those big dahlia stalks, or the sunflower broom handle shoots, we need an opening that can handle a decent diameter.
Heavy – low quality hand pruners weigh a ton (cheap steel).
Poor Spring – low quality pruners are not snappy when you open and close them due to a cheap metal spring.
Ok, enough of the bad stuff, the question is, how can I tell a high quality set of pruning shears? Here you go:
This is just a quick article on how to spot the best pruning shears when you are shopping. If you want to see our recommended shear for pruning, you can find it here in our store:
Q&A about the best bulb planting tool for your garden.
Planting bulbs can be a laborious task at best, and having the right bulb planting tool can help in the process. But with a handful of different tools on the market, how do you pick the right tool for you? Well, it depends. Bulb planting can consists of different seasons, different bulbs and different soil types. Whether you are a spring bulb planter, or a fall bulb planter, whether you are a tulip bulb planter, or planting any broad variety of bulbs, one size may not fit all. Here is a quick overview of all the bulb planters, strengths and weaknesses, and when to use them.
Ah, the good ol’ dibbler. If you are interested in the history of the dibbler as a bulb planting tool, you can read an article here: Dibbler Bulb Planting Tool. Essentially this tool has been used for planting bulbs and seeds for centuries. The modern day dibble for bulbs is hand turned of a hardwood (maple is the best), and has a thick lower body for a larger hole for the bulb to drop. It has a handle, and measurement marcks so you can plant your bulbs at the right depth. The flat tips helps for soil contact for the bulb. Our handheld bulb planting tool, Dibbler, is made for loose soil, and provides a great way to plant both fall and spring bulbs like tulips, daffodils, crocus and much more.
I guess I am a traditionalist in the garden, but taking a drill with this on the end of it…well, seems a bit excessive. Some folks swear by this tool for planting bulbs in the garden. I have never used one, but I would think it would get heavy during planting more than a handful of bulbs, especially in harder soil.
This metal bulb digging tool essentially takes a quick twist, and extracts a soil plug and leaves a hole for planting your bulb. It works well, but you have to shake out the soil typically, and it is hard to get into packed soil. It can be useful, as you can usually put the hative soil right back into the hole once the bulb is planted. Beware of these, they are usually made of cheap metal and bend easily. If you can find a good solid one, it will last you.
When you buy gardening tools, there are soooo many different choices online, and the Hori Hori Garden Knife is no exception. With everything from the basic Japanese inspired version, to the futuristic Hori Hori that looks like a battle weapon, its difficult to figure out how to pick the best garden knife for your needs. Here is a Hori Hori breakdown to help you buy a quality tool that will help you in the garden for years.
The Hori Hori Blade – did you know Hori Horis became popular in Japan as Samurai sword makers transitioned to peaceful times? There are a few things you should look for in a blade. First off, it should be made of stainless steel, you don’t want a rusty hori hori. If its black, or edged in black, it will rust. Secondly, it should be concave (curved). I use my Japanese tool to scoop constantly, and if its not curved, you can’t scoop. It should have a serrated edge for cutting/sawing, and a smooth edge. Your Hori Hori should have measurement marks on the blade to help in planting and digging. Lastly, it needs to have a full tang. What’s a tang? The part that goes into the handle of the blade.
The Handle – Plastic has no place in the garden. It’s an environmental no no, and its just ugly, am I right? A Hori Hori is a traditional tool, and there are some that are nice to look at, and just feel right in your hand. A wooden handle keeps tradition, wont melt or warp in the sun, and just looks damn good 🙂 We prefer rosewood, for its durability, aesthetics and how it sheds water. Also, the handle should have a hole. Why? I use my Hori Hori constantly as a row marking helper. With a hole you can run marking string through the hole and make accurate lines. Lastly, there are several Hori Hori’s with round handles as compared to a flat handle. The flat Japanese blade handle is the traditional handle for a reason: it provides strength and stability when digging.
Buy From A Reputable Source with Experience – Would you have a painter do your plumbing? Buy your Hori Hori from a source with experience, and that actually uses what they sell, and that has reviews from gardeners/farmers on their site. How can you tell? Inquire and ask a question.
Read the Reviews – There is a ton of misinformation out there, and the best source of real, usable info? Other gardeners that have purchased the same tool. Review will give you insight into wether the product is really good, or just bleh. Look for passion and ooomph to make sure the purchasers really mean what they say about their Hori Hori Tool.
So, short and sweet. We have quite a bit more information on Hori Horis on our site, as it is our favorite tool on the farm for just about everything in the garden and landscaping.
A Guide on What to Use to Sharpen Garden Shears, Pruners, Scissors, Shovels and More
Ok, we’ve all experienced it. Excited to clip those new flowers or that just ripened vegetable, you anticipate the clip, excited and ready to go for it, and with a squeeze of the hand, bleh. The stem mushes in your blades or fails to cleanly cut. Our tools enhance the pleasure of gardening, and having sharpened, clean blades can enhance the gardening experience and speed with which we glide through our rows or throughout our landscape.
So what is the best tool to sharpen a gardening tool? There are a number of garden tool sharpening tools and techniques, and below is a list:
The File
The old standby: the rusty file. You can use any fine file to sharpen large blade tools like shovels, hoes, weeders, lawnmower blades and more. Note: this is will not produce the sharpest edge, but will remove rust and get rid of the dull edge on large tools.
The Rotary Tool
Rotary tools are a great power tool for general garden sharpening and maintenance. They are relatively inexpensive and can do rough sharpening, and fine blade sharpening as well.
The Diamond Stone
Diamond stones are a great multi-purpose sharpener for a variety of garden tools. You can use them once you have a dull blade, and have removed any rust. They have a fine and coarse side typically, and can help you hone a nice edge on any tool.
These paddles arelight and portable. They usually come in a set, and are portable. They are typically used for touchup after initial tool sharpening and maintenance, and are quite handy. See our Garden Tool Sharpening Kit
The angle grinder, aka “the beast”, is a great tool for quickly getting through rust and steel on large gardening tools. Shovels, hoes, lawnmower blades are no match for this tool.
So how do you use these tools? Subscribe for follow on posts on how to use them to sharpen all you garden tools.
Cleaning, Sharpening and Protecting Your Gardening Tools
Ok, we are all guilty of leaving a tool or two dirty or dull. Who wants to do maintenance of garden tools when there are plants to tend? The fact is that gardening tools need love and care, just like flowers and vegetables, and if you neglect them, they will either break, or make your gardening experience less than optimal. So how often do you need to maintain those garden tools? Well, at least at the start and end of the season, but if you are like us on the farm, with heavy garden tool use, you should do it weekly or at least twice per month. So what is required? See below, and note, for convenience, at the end of the post are picture links to the Amazon products I used.
Clean Your Garden Tools
A brisk cleaning of your garden tools can be done after every outing. Leaving dirt caked on the tool and handle invites rust and decay. You can wash them with a hose and remove all dirt, but you can also wash them with a brush and some mild detergent. Dry them with a towel and let them sit in the shade to dry.
Removing Rust from Garden Tools
Rust is the devil when it comes to garden tools, and unfortunately, they live in the perfect environment for this killer: heat, water and dirt. The best way to keep rust at bay is proper storage and a daily cleaning. If rust prevails, get out some steel wool and start scrubbing. The rust should come off with a few strokes. You can also apply some light oil or WD40 to loosen the rust. Be sure and wipe your tools clean when done.
Taking Care of Garden Tool Handles
The garden is harsh on steel, but even more harsh on wood handled tools. If you are like us, you love your wood handles, and probably don’t tend to them as often as you should. If you have neglected your handles over time, fear not, a little sand paper can take away the greyness of time, and help to restore the beauty of the wood. Wooden handles require an oil like boiled linseed oil for protection. Apply the oil to the handle and let it soak up the love. All wood handles can take an application, even your Hori Hori Garden Tool. WARNING: Read the label on linseed oil rags, and do not leave them out and about when done, they generate great heat as they dry and can combust! Take it from someone who experienced this first hand.
Sharpening Garden Tools
If you have ever dug with a dull shovel, or tried to prune a tree with dull garden scissors, you know it just makes the job harder. Tools can be sharpened with a variety of methods, outlined below:
You don’t need something fancy, a simple sharpener with do, and there are different methods for each tool (standby for focused posts on Sharpening Your Garden Tools).
For convenience, see our diamond sharpening paddles that provide a quick and easy way to sharpen your tools.
How do you pick the best set of gardening tools? With so much junk out there in the market, choosing a set of garden tools that will last and provide years of service out in the garden can be a daunting task. Especially if it is a gardening gift for a special person in your life. Here is a quick guide to finding quality gardening hand tool sets online, and making an informed choice when you go to buy.
How to Examine the Garden Tools Construction
The Tool Handle – gardening tools need to be comfortable when working in the hot sun, and we prefer wood handled tools, hands down. If you take care of a nice set of wood handled garden tools, they will last you years. No plastic in the garden!!! Plastic handles will fade to ugly in the sun, have reduced strength and will easily crack over time or if the hand tool is left in the garden.
The Tool’s Working End – stainless steel is the way to go here. Soil, sun and water are rough on a garden tool’s surface, and plain steel or cheap painted metal tool heads will rust and fade over time. A stainless tool that cleaned after being used in the garden will provide a gardener solid years of service.
The Tool’s Collar – Make sure that the collar of the tool, or where the tip of the tool enters the handle is also stainless steel. Many cheap tools have flimsy, weak metal collars that either rust, or come loose over time to contribute to tool failure.
Welds – Make sure the tool doesn’t have point welds. Welding points on the metal connection points should be continuous, and bigger than just a small point.
What Tools Do I Need?
As a gardener and farmer, I cannot carry all the tools in my shed: i need to have a garden tool set that provides me all the functionality I need when doing my chores in the field or garden (By the way, our gardener’s apron will provide more carrying capacity for all your garden tools ;). ). So how do I choose? Here is the perfect set of gardening tools:
The Hand Trowel – okay, it’s a little shovel. The garden hand trowel is the most used tool, and can provide most gardener’s a ton of use in the garden setting.
The Hand Cultivator – the hand rake. This tool provides great function as a garden tool, and allows for moving soil and mulch in the bed, weeding and loosening of the soil surface.
The Garden Scoop – The final member of our garden tool team is the garden scoop. Man we looked far and wide for this one, and use it constantly. Scoop soil, seed and fertilizer with out spilling. The member of the garden tool set is great for potting and digging large scoops, and will become a favorite.
And oh yeah, one last thing. You have to look good in the garden. Stainless and wood tools are timeless, and fun to use, and aesthetically pleasing. Don’t get caught with cheap tools :). To see our hand-picked garden tool set, click below:
How do you make sure you pick the best flower floral scissors as a gift or for that special someone? With many cheap options out there, it can be confusing on the best scissor to buy. Here are some frequent questions to keep your investment in a nice pair of scissors safe.
What material should my flower scissors/snips be made of?
There is a lot of junk out there in the market when it comes to flower/floral scissors. Black steel scissors will rust and lose their cutting edge when exposed to water and flower plant fiber. Our garden scissors are made to last and endure the riggors of the flower garden, flower farm or floral shop. Stainless steel floral snips/flower scissors are preferred. Dont use cheap scissors!!
We always get the question: Why the Japanese style flower scissors? Although these floral scissors are light, they are strong and the curved hanlde is made to fit any gardener/florists hands. The scissors are free, without resitance, so it gives you complete control, as if they are an extension of your hand. We recommend the Japanese style garden scissor for control and ease of use.
What length of blade should a flower scissor have?
What length of blade should a flower scissor have?
The blad length should be as short as possible on flower scissors, but still be able to cut through thick flower stalks with its scissor blades. The short blade length helps with cut accuracy, and can eliminate using your garden scissors to accidentally cut stems you want to keep.
How much will a good flower scissor cost?
How much will a good flower scissor cost?
Cheap flower/garden scissors can be purchased for $10-20, and are typically black/black finish. They are made with cheap steel that will rust. Stainless garden scissors/snips will run between $25-50, but will last a lifetime if treated well, and will outperform any other garden/floral cutting snip or pruner.
Where can I buy the best flower scissors/snips?
Where can I buy the best flower scissors/snips?
Well, glad that you asked. We have chosen our flower scissors for their style and quality. You can buy them in our online store in our garden tool section here:
Ok, I have to admit, when I first used them out in our fields, I felt kind of funny. It’s like bringing a steak knife out to do cut lavender, right? Were they really up to the demands of the flower farm? We decided to evaluate a bunch of different garden scissors to find a set of these so called garden secateurs to see which ones we would put in our gardening tools section of our store. We used them to snip, cut, and prune. We ended up with a stainless steel garden snip that had a smooth action, was light and had nice small handles. Why stainless? Other garden scissors we tested (the black metal ones), rusted when they got wet, and became stiff, and did not fare well in the garden and farm environment. We love these scissors, for the following reasons:
They are beautiful. You have to look stylish when out and about 😉
The scissors are easy to hold and manipulate. When out in the fields, you need to be able to maneuver and snip at odd angles.
They are light. If you spend hours in the garden clipping, your hands can get tired from using the wrong, heavy garden pruners.
They remain sharp. Stainless steel scissors don’t rust and remain sharp even after snipping flower after flower, or stem after stem.
They fit perfectly in our apron. What good are garden pruner/snips if you can’t have them with you all the time. They fit perfectly in our garden apron.
Check out these great snips for yourself or a garden gift recipient and enjoy them today.
Ok, we may be going a little master of the obvious here, but there are soooo many uses for the Hori Hori Japanese Garden Knife, I wanted to make sure you get the most out of the investment, and choose wisely. There are a lot of cheap tools out there that can break , rust and crack. To get all you can out of this historical Japanese gardening tool, you will need to insure you purchase one with the following features:
Knife Edge – a sharpened edge for cutting and pruning.
Serrated Edge – all Hori Hori’s should have a serrated edge for sawing through branches and roots.
Concave Blade – to provide digging/scooping ability, the blade should be wide and concave.
Measurement Marks – for planting depth reference when planting with your Hori
Hole in Handle – This whole comes in hand when marking planting lines with string.
Stainless Steel Blade – Nothing is worse than a rusting tool
Do you know the name of your favorite garden tool?
Garden and farm tools have been around since the dawn of mankind, and garden tool names can be strange and in some cases not readily apparent. Here is a list of the most interesting gardening tool names, and a bit about their history.
Dibber or Dibble
The Dibber or Dibble – One of the most unique gardening tool names, the dibber or dibble is a seed starting/bulb planting tool that has been used in some shape or form for centuries.
Hori Hori
The Hori Hori – the name for a Japanese Garden Knife/Tool is Hori Hori, and is literally the Japanese word for “dig, dig”. It is one of the best garden tools, and comes in all shapes and sizes.
Garden Tool Hand Trowel
The Hand Trowel – this garden tool is often called a shovel, but its proper garden tool name is the hand trowel.
Hand Cultivator
Hand Cultivator – the hand cultivator looks like a bent fork, and is used for weeding, smoothing and spreading in beds
Garden Tool Hand Fork
Garden Hand Fork – the garden hand fork is a small version of the garden fork and is great for weeding and digging up roots and tubers.
That’s a quick set of garden tool names. Check back for more unique names.
