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.
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
As I work on the farm and garden daily, I don’t go anywhere without my Hori Hori Knife and Tool. I find new uses for my this Japanese Gardener’s Tool every day. I carry it every where I go, and like to have it handy for all types of chores, and it saves me trips back to the garden shed. Either on my gardener’s belt or in my gardener’s/florists apron, it is always ready for action or any chore I can sum up. There are many known uses, but I thought I would create a list of expanded uses for this great garden tool i have found over the years:
As its namesake describes, it is great for digging with its concave Hori Hori Samurai-like blade.
It can be used as a quick soil aerating tool to get oxygen to a plants roots and surrounding soil.
The Hori Hori blade is great for getting weeds at their roots, and with a flick of the wrist can get them root and all.
The serrated blade is great for cutting through stubborn roots, and root balls.
The Hori Hori works quite well as a pruning device for small branches or as a small saw for larger branches.
It works great as a marker stake, and with a hole in the handle, and some string, it makes garden marking easy. You can also use it for planting rows as a line reference.
I use it as a propagation tool to cut through large root balls and separate.
The Hori Hori Knife edge cuts through landscape fabric quite well and makes cutting X’s simple.
Opening bags of soil and amendments can be done quickly with the sharp Hori blade
The sharp blade can help in harvesting flowers or vegetables.
It’s great for cutting through irrigation tubing
No matter your use, buy the Best Hori Hori you possible can and use it throughout the garden or farm to make your chores a breeze. Just be careful! The blade is sharp!
Information About How to Find the Best Hori Hori Japanese Garden Tool
Buying tools for the garden nowadays is confusing and overwhelming: Just how do you choose? If you want a Hori Hori, the options are endless and the market is plagued with unknowns and stores that ship from China (Just try and get customer service from them). Here is a great, quick list of frequently asked questions on our Hori Hori Garden Tool from customers for you to use in your hunt.
What is a Hori Hori?
What is a Hori Hori?
A Hori Hori is a Japanese Gardening Tool that provides multiple functions. It’s name literally means “to dig” in Japanese.
What are the uses for the Hori Hori tool?
What are the uses for the Hori Hori tool?
The Hori Hori can be used for the following garden chores:
As a trowel and for digging in the garden
As a garden knife for cutting roots and pruning
For weeding, you can scrape with the Hori’s blade
As a propagation tool, the Hori Hori is the best tool for dividing plants
The Hori Hori can be used as a scoop
There are many, many more uses.
What are the features of a quality Hori Hori?
What are the features of a quality Hori Hori?
We have an article that can help you find the best Hori Hori in the market: Hori Hori Garden Tool
You can also buy our Hori Hori Garden Knife here: Buy Hori Hori Tool
What does "full tang" mean with a Hori Hori Garden Knife?
What does "full tang" mean with a Hori Hori Garden Knife?
The tang on any knife or tool is the portion that extends into the handle. A full tang provides maximum strength and control, as the steel of the Hori Hori blade is a single piece. Full tang Hori Horis are preferred for a durable, strong garden tool.
Are Hori Hori's still made in Japan?
Are Hori Hori's still made in Japan?
Hori Horis are still popular with Japanese Gardeners, and they are made throughout the country. Like many other countries, they rely on Chiese steel to make their garden blade tools.
There are so many options when I search, how do I choose the right Hori Hori?
There are so many options when I search, how do I choose the right Hori Hori?
Buyer beware, many of the sellers of Hori Hori’s online drop ship product from China, meaning they have never even used or evaluated the product. Here at Celtic Farm, we tested several manufacturers, and actually use the Hori Hori’s on our flower farm that we sell.
The Hori Hori Garden Tool: The Ultimate and Best Tool for Gardeners
We use our Hori Hori tool every day at Celtic Farm, and highly recommend them to friends and customers as the ultimate garden tool.
Have you ever been in the garden and need a tool that you did not bring? The Hori Hori Garden Toolis a barebones implement that can provide many of the functions that avid gardeners require.  This digging tool is often referred to as a garden knife”, “soil knife” or “weeding knife” and is a true Swiss Army knife for the garden. The word Hori literally means “to dig “, and Hori Hori is used as a digging sound in the language.  It has a specialized concave blade that is serrated on one side and can be used for the following:
weeding in the garden
cutting roots
removing plants
digging
measuring depth
planting bulbs
sod cutting
plant propagating through splitting
as a hand axe for chopping
as a trowel
as the all around, ultimate garden tool
How do you find the best hori hori garden tool? Here are some things to look for when trying to find this ultimate garden tool:
You want to purchase a full tang Hori Hori. If you are not familiar with the word tang it describes the continuous portion of the blade that extends into the handle of a knife. Why the full tang on your garden knife? A full tang provides the maximum strength and control when using the hori hori in the garden. Cheaper knives have minimal extension of the tang into the handle. YOu can see a full tang hori hori here: Best Full Tang Hori Hori Garden Knife
3 Rivets in Your Hori Hori Handle. The full tang wont help you if its not securely connected to the wooden handle. Quality Hori Hori’s will have 3 rivets on the handle.
Stainless Steel Blade.  A stainless steel blade provides the rust proof strength required when using the digging tool in the garden.
Curved, serrated blade.  Make sure the blade has a concave curve, and that the serration is of high quality for optimal use of the tool as a saw and cutting implement in the garden.
Measurement marks. – I find it really handy to have inch marks on the inner part of my hori hori blade. This is the ultimate tool for planting bulbs in the garden, and makes the ultimate garden tool even better.
Blade length. The Hori Hori blade should be between 6 and 8 inches, with the handle about the same. This length gives perfect balance and provides for the one hand, barebones tool performance that makes it such a joy to use.
