Whats your favorite garden tool?

[thistlebloom]

Now that I've had two weeks off from garden chores (is shoveling snow considered a garden chore?- I'm using a shovel) I was thinking about tools and how I love them , but if it came down to one, which would I choose?
I have a plethora of shovels, and some are fairly job specific,but the round nose, long handled one I reach for most. Same thing with the rakes, my shed bristles with them , but one metal spring rake in particular is my buddy. I don't use a hoe much, unless you count the stirrup hoe which is on my top 5 list. My wheelbarrow is indispensable and gets used daily, and of course all the little tools, trowels, cultivators, clippers... and thats where I realize that my clippers are probably my most used, hardest working tools I own. And the old leather holster they slide into, that clips to a back pocket. It's funny how often I''ll reach back for my clippers when I'm not "officially" doing yard work when I see a flower that needs dead heading, or a wayward branch, and grab air! So, even though I am" tool rich" and have many I probably couldn't do without, my clippers are my number one vote.


Here's a picture of another "hand tool it would be hard to do without!

I actually have two of these, one's a spare.

 

[journey11]

Mine would definitely be my clippers too. A good sharp, clean pair. I don't let anybody else touch 'em!

 

[thistlebloom]

My current favorite pair is my Stihl clippers. They have a comfortable grip, the blade lock doesn't get in the way, and they hold an edge. Last Christmas my husband gave me a pair of Felco's which I was so excited about until I used them a bit. I think they're over rated, and for the price you can do much better. The blade lock is so thin it is sometimes a two handed affair to lock and unlock, seems to get yucked up too easily .

 

[Collector]

I have a variety of tools that I like Ill try to narrow it down. For my B-day last spring my wife got me a spading fork, I love that thing for stiring up the compost pile, tilling small areas, plus tilling up our 4x8' raised bed. It also came in handy when I had to hand till the area for my wifes black berries. Next I think would be the sturrup hoe, it is an oldie I bought years ago at a yard sale, have used it a little. wife and i do mostly perenniel gardening so dont need it that much. Will get lots of use out of it next year doing a veggie garden im sure. It has a brand new handle on it, I broke the old handle clearing the area for the black berrie patch. I truely think that my favorite might also be my clippers. I prefer the anvil stlye over the scissor style though personal preferance only wifey likes the latter type better.There are many other tools in my arsenal but i think these are my favs, with maybe the clippers on top.(maybe)

 

[lesa]

Hard to choose- but you are right, always seem to pick the same rake, and the same shovel! The hands for sure! Friends say to me "My you have a green thumb" and I show them my hands and say, no "I have a black thumb!" Once that dirt gets in my finger prints, no amount of washing will get rid of it! Just about now- in December, my hands actually look clean! And I swear I always start out working in garden gloves, but then mysteriously they disappear and my hands are dirty!!
For a tool that I carry around in my pocket- definitely my clippers. Very useful!

 

[thistlebloom]

Yeah lesa, I know what you mean about the embedded grime stains, and I always wear gloves. (those should have been on my list of tools), I love me a pair of the Atlas thin gardening gloves!

 

[boggybranch]

Without a doubt or hesitation.......The Garden Claw (Gold "edition").

 

[vfem]

I call my favorite garden tool "Hubby"!

 

[thistlebloom]

 

[digitS']

I should probably leave V with the last word . . . (edited to add: and I see Thistlebloom is willing to.)

Favorite? I am going with a spading fork but put a slightly different handle on it.

Yes, the last couple of spading forks I bought had D-handles and I had to take them off and put long handles on them! Until a few years ago I could find long-handled spading forks locally. Maybe they will be back by the next time one is needed.

Many years ago, I did all my gardening, pret'near, with a shovel. I still make a lot of use of it . . . or, maybe, I have it in my hands for many hours during the growing season. A lot less gets done than in earlier years, without question.

I am not too fond of hoes but use them as required. A long-handled (there's that term again ) four-prong cultivator is preferable but for the individual weed, a sharp corner of the hoe is sometimes called for. I will use the dandelion weeder for just such purposes, as well.

Using the cultivator after going over the ground with a spading fork is a great way to kill weeds and prepare the ground for planting. If it is just a matter of leveling soil or killing tiny weed seedlings, a garden rake will suffice.

I carry a pocket knife every day of the growing season. It is hard to leave it at home during the off-season.

Steve