Garden Tool Buying Guide
With so many tasks to accomplish in the garden and even more tools on the market to help you with each, it can take time to decide which tool is right for the job. This guide will help you sort through all the gardening tool options and pick the one you need.
First, let’s go over the tools used for transplanting. The GardenBee has a few options, each great for a specific use. The GardenBee Trowel is a great all-around tool for digging in the garden. The durable construction makes this trowel strong enough to handle any digging jobs. The GardenBee Transplanter has a narrower digging blade than the trowel, making it best suited for relocating small plants and flowers or moving soil. The GardenBee Scoop is ideal for moving large amounts of soil in your garden beds. The oversized scoop head quickly moves soil while still offering a lightweight tool.
The Barebones Garden Spade has a bamboo handle with a steel spade, built to last and provide you with years of use. The sturdy construction on this tool can handle even the toughest of native soils in the garden.
The Fiskars Cultivator has three durable fingers for loosening soil, aerating, and assisting in weed removal. Its one-piece design creates a durable and lightweight tool that won’t loosen or bend at the neck. The GardenBee Stainless Steel Rake offers a heavier-duty option. It is constructed with a wooden handle and satin-less steel. This rake is the choice for harder ground and will last you years.
Sometimes, you need a tougher tool than a trowel for digging or trenching and can cut. Great news: we have two excellent options to choose from. The Fiskars Big Grip Knife has an aluminum blade with a serrated edge on one side. A split-tip for help with pulling weeds by the roots. This knife has a slight scoop within the blade for digging in tough ground. The second option, the Barebones Hori Hori Knife has a walnut handle and tempered steel blade, making it the ideal choice for trenching, cutting, and digging in your garden. The concave blade has a serrated edge on one side, a bottle opener, and a sharp edge for cutting.
How about tools for pruning? DripWorks sells various pruning and snipping tools to ease your harvest. Felco and Fiskars brand pruners are top quality, but let’s discuss the differences between their options.
Felco offers many styles of pruning shears. These pruners have a lifetime warranty through the manufacturer and have been a top name in the industry for many years. They are manufactured in Switzerland from high-quality materials. Blades can be sharpened or replaced if needed. Replacement springs are also available. DripWorks carries 2 versions of the Clasico Felco pruner- Felco 6 and the Felco 2. For a ergonomic handle, there is the Felco 8. All the classic Felco’s are great for medium to large hands. There is the Felco 160 Small, or the Felco 160 Large for larger hands. All variations have hardened stainless steel blades capable of cutting up to 1” diameter branches.
The Fiskars brand makes several tools for different uses in the garden.
For large, heavy pruning, Fiskars has three options. The Fiskars Telescoping Bypass Lopper has adjustable handles from 25’’ to 37’’, which makes reaching high branches a breeze. The razor-sharp blades are ideal for cutting up to 1’’ in diameter green material. Try a pruning saw if you have even larger debris that needs to be cut. The Fiskars Fixed handle Pruning Saw has a 13’’ non-stick coated blade with hardened teeth for added strength. Also available is the Fiskars Folding Pruning Saw with a 7’’ folding blade. This saw has double grind teeth to create cutting power on both the push and pull movement and the blade folds and locks into the handle for safe storage.
Fiskars makes three versions of a pruner. The Fiskars Softgrip Large Bypass Pruner is best for larger hands because it has a long, sleek handle and a non-stick-coated blade. These pruners are best for cutting material up to ¾’’ in diameter. The Fiskars PowerGear2 Pruner has patented gear technology to increase your leverage on every cut. The contoured handle with a unique rolling design makes cutting branches up to ¾’’ in diameter a breeze. Fiskars Pro Pruners have an adjustable blade tension to match your hand strength, and the steel can handle pruning material up to 1’’ in diameter.
The Garden Snippers are a robust pair of garden shears, and the Fiskars Multipurpose Garden Shears offer DuraFrame handles and precision-ground blade edges. These shears make clean cuts through stems, wire, and, with a saw tooth blade, larger branches. The garden shears have a safety lock to keep the blades closed when not in use. The Fiskars Micro Tip Trimmer makes quick work of smaller pruning jobs. These trimmers are popular for many uses, including deadheading, trimming, shaping small plants, and sewing and crafting projects due to their sharp and delicate snipping precision. An option with a slightly smaller blade for the most fragile trimming would be the Fiskars Comfort Grip Floral Snips. Comfort Softgrip handles reduce stress and have a nonslip coating for safety. The blades are fully hardened stainless steel to hold sharp edges longer. It includes a blade cover to protect your blades when not in use. The Barebones Garden Scissors offer an ambidextrous grip with large bamboo handles to accommodate any hand size. With tempered steel blades, you can use these scissors to harvest or cut twine. The blades can also be easily resharpened if needed.
To keep all your tools organized and readily available, the GardenBee Garden Tote bag keeps everything right where you need it! This tote bag is water—and soil-resistant and large enough to carry and store tools. It's a great universal home store organizer as well as a garden tote.
At DripWorks, we are available to help you make the right choice. If you have further questions, please jump on our LiveChat or call our dedication customer service team at 1-800-522-3747, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. PST.