MY FAVORITE GIVEAWAYS: THE TOOL I'M NEVER WITHOUT

I've written about the prize for the second day of giveaways this week so many times on the blog, regular readers are probably sick of hearing about it. But the fact is, you'll rarely find me in the garden without a hori hori (or a soil knife, if you prefer the term).

A hori hori does almost everything I need a hand tool to do. Most often I use it to weed, either by popping up them up, or by digging deep and cutting the root. I also use it to plant smaller plants, using it sort of like a trowel. I also deadhead with it, cut open bags, trim twine and generally walk around the garden feeling like a badass (carrying a giant knife will do that).

Last year I talked about the hori horis I've loved before. I ended up getting the A.M. Leonard Deluxe Soil Knife and I've been using it for a year (and wrote about it here). I've found it to have some important benefits over other soil knives I've used. For one, the handle is rounded and much more comfortable in your hand. It is also bright orange which is a much bigger deal than I realized. Because I often stick my knife in the ground, I used to lose them all the time. For weeks at a time. The orange helps with that a lot.

So today I'm giving away an A.M. Leonard Deluxe Soil Knife to one lucky reader. This one's on me because that's how much I like this thing. I bet you will too.

To enter, use the Rafflecopter widget below to login and leave a comment telling me about your favorite garden tool.

IMPORTANT: In order to leave a comment, you need to go to the bottom of the post and click on "50 comments" (or whatever the number is up to) in order to leave your comment. I've made it bigger and highlighted it to help you find it.  Additional entries are available by liking The Impatient Gardener on Twitter or Instagram.

Yesterday, several people reported problems with commenting. I've changed the commenting form view in hopes that that will help (apparently with the way it was, you had to have third party cookies turned on in your browser). If you have a hard time commenting, just drop me an email at impatientgardener@gmail.com and I'll make sure you're entered.

I'll pick a winner on May 6. And don't forget, you can still enter to win a Perfect Garden Hose.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

MY FAVORITE TOOLS (PART 1)

I love tools and gadgets and I'm always searching for the next great thing. There is such satisfaction that comes from having the right tool for that job. In my quest to have the right tool for every job, I have accumulated a shed full of tools, about half of which I ever use and maybe 10% of which I use frequently.

So I thought I'd share with you the tools I use for each job in the garden and I hope, at the end of this, you'll share your favorite tools me with.

As a quick aside, I want to say that every piece of equipment I'm talking about was purchased by me; nothing was supplied as a test or a trial. So I'm factoring in cost when I consider how much I like these tools.

I'm going to start with the tools I use the most. These are my core tools and the ones I use almost every time I'm in the garden.

1. BAHCO BYPASS PRUNERS

I know that Felco pruners are supposed to be the be-all and end-all of pruners for serious gardeners and I've seen gardeners nearly come to fistacuffs over which pruners are best. I have never tried Felcos, but I have a hard time thinking I'd like them better than my Bahcos.

The main reason I love these pruners is because they come in sizes and mine happen to be small. I never realized how fatigued my hands were getting from repeatedly opening a pruners that was too big for my grip until I got a set of pruners that was properly sized. I have had these $25 pruners for four years I think and while I'll likely ask for a new pair for Christmas, these will still serve as a good backup pair. I keep them oiled and sharpened and they do their job nicely.

It doesn't look like Bahco is making this specific pair in the small size anymore, but they do make a slightly nicer (and more expensive) version (the ergonomic PX-S2) in a small size. I've given these to both my mom and sister-in-law and they both swear by them. They are about $45 on Amazon and it's money I'd happily spend.

2. A.M. LEONARD DELUXE SOIL KNIFE

Earlier this year I wrote about my love of hori horis (aka soil knives) and mentioned that I was trying this one out this year and promised I would report back.

Well, I love it. It combines all of my favorite features of the various soil knives I've tried into one tool. I've not had to sharpen it yet, which is rather surprising, and just the other day I was cleanly and easily cutting back some spent stems when I didn't have my pruners on me.

It's about $22 from A.M. Leonard.

3. SNEEBOER LADIES SPADE

This is the newest addition to my gardening tool arsenal and the one I'm most enthusiastic about. I wanted to get a proper spade, something with a handle that was an appropriate length. I also sort of coveted a shiny stainless steel blade, something I'd read a lot about.

I found myself at Garden Tool Co.'s website, where they had several high-quality spades to choose from. Since I was completely flummoxed about which one I should get, I sent them an email and got an almost immediate reply from one of the owners, Blake. He went through the differences between the spades I was considering and then recommended that I go with the Ladies Spade. I'll admit, I was skeptical. Having only used very large shovels in the past, I thought I would get frustrated with a significantly smaller blade, but Blake pointed out that the theory is that you want to get maximum effectiveness without undo strain or tiring too quickly (I'm sure there is a bell curve for this).

And that's when I realized that buying a spade is just like buying a paddleboard paddle. When I researched what paddle to get for my paddleboard I spoke with a lot of people who knew a lot more than me about it. My thinking was, why wouldn't I get the biggest paddle they make? I'll move more water with it and go faster. But the experts explained to me that only the biggest and strongest paddlers get the biggest paddles (and this is why the come in different sizes, by the way). Most women use a smaller paddle. It still moves a lot of water, but it takes much less effort to paddle, so you tire less quickly and you don't hurt yourself in the process.

So I ended up with the Ladies Spade and it was love at first dig. It was a ton of money to spend on a spade but I really feel like this is one of those heirloom tools that I could have forever. Plus, it is a joy to use. It has great balance, the handle feels great and it has a step protector on the blade (a must for me).

I see that it is on sale right now for $112. I have no idea how long that sale lasts, but if I didn't already have one, I'd buy it without a second thought for that price.

As for the Garden Tool Co., Blake wrote back to me a few days after I received my spade and said I was welcome to exchange it for another if I didn't absolutely love it. That's the moment I fell equally in love with the company as I did with the spade.

4. FIBERGLASS HANDLE SHOVEL

I don't know what kind of shovel this is or where it came from (other than probably a random big-box store), but it's a workhorse. I don't use it as much anymore (and never for any digging since I got my Sneeboer spade) but it is good for moving mass quantities of material, such as a big pile of soil. We've had this one for at least six years after breaking several wood-handled shovels.

Those are the four tools I reach for the most. In the coming days, I'll show you what I use for edging, watering and pruning, but in the meantime, what's your favorite gardening tool?

Check out Part 2 (Pruners and rakes) and Part 3 (Weeding, edging, watering and wheelbarrows).

IN SEARCH OF THE PERFECT GARDEN TOOL

Several years ago, my gardening life was changed. I discovered the hori hori aka soil knife. Instead of carrying around various trowels, pruners and weed extractors, I could garden with one tool.

Hori horis pretty much do it all. They cut open bags of mulch or pieces of twine. They dig out weeds, they create trenches to plant seeds, they cut off small branches and free potbound plants from their containers (by destroying the container). And most off all, I felt like a gardening badass wielding a big ol' knife in the yard.

I had two main problems with my original hori hori: Its wood handle was not particularly comfortable to use and meant that if I stuck it in the ground for a second I might spend the next 20 minutes looking for it and there was no ergonomic design to it at all.

Then I found out about the Professional Gardener's Digging Tool, which is sort of a hori hori on steroids. I thought this would be improvement I had been looking for. First, it has a red handle so I wouldn't lose it as much. Second, the handle is offset from the blade so you get a lot more digging power. And third, there is a nice hand guard that you can use to push against.

But the the blade on it is very thick. This is good for serious digging because there's no way this thing is going to break, but it's not good for any of the other things I like to do with my hori hori. The blade wasn't really sharp at all, so cutting plastic bags was reduced to poking a hole in them and ripping. It was also no good for light pruning. One of my favorite things to do with my hori hori is to stick it in the ground at the root level of a stubborn weed and turn it around it, cutting the roots. Because the blade on this was so average, that didn't work. And the thing is a beast, so it's not like you can stick it in your pocket or anything.

I don't know anyone who had tried a soil knife who hasn't fallen in love with it, at least in concept. So there must be several versions out there, right? They were surprisingly hard to find.

Here's what my perfect soil knife would have:

• A sharp stainless steel blade, flat on one side and serrated on the other.
• A brightly colored handle made of something other than wood.
• Some sort of ergonomic design to the handle. Ideally it would be offset, but I'd at least like something that conforms to a shape of your hand a bit. 

I posted on a gardening group on Facebook and these two were suggested to me (in addition to the very good suggestion of painting the wood handle of my existing hori hori a bright color, which is a thought that has occurred to me in the past but I've never done).

Fiskars Big Grip Garden Knife

This tool has a cast aluminum blade, but it is serrated on one side like I wanted. It also has a hand guard at the top of the blade to push on. I don't see that there's much in the way of a comfortable hand hold, but the handle is at least plastic and the tip of it is orange.

I'm not sure about that split tip. I'm not really sure what that would do. Rather than a fully curved blade like both of my soil knives have, it has a curved channel in the middle and straight edges. That's neither a positive or a negative in my book, just different.

The best thing going for this one is the price. It's just $8.99, meaning that if you lost it, it's not a huge heartbreak to buy another. Or you could buy a couple for different places (i.e., I might keep one on my car for when I run out to the community garden).

A.M. Leonard Deluxe Soil Knife

This tool has a stainless steel blade, with serrated and straight sides like I wanted. Those serrations look serious and there is a probably a good chance I could cut my finger off with this one. Imagine that tetanus shot. There are inch marks on the inside of the blade as well, but I'll be honest, I almost never measure anything in the garden.

It also has a bright orange handle with a bit of a flare as it meets the blade so that's kind of a guard. It has a thumb rest too, although until I actually got it in my hand, I'm not sure if I'd use that or not. Although the handle has some shape to it, it looks to be made of a hard plastic, whereas the Fiskar's one was "soft touch" so I presume there would be some give to it that might help with hand fatigue.

The little notch is for cutting twine, which I can see being useful, although really it's not that big of a deal to cut twine with the blade either.

This one is $21.99 plus shipping (since I don't think you can pick it up in most stores or on Amazon Prime). 

Want to guess which one I bought? 

Yep, it's the A.M. Leonard one. The reviews for it are stellar, but what really sold me was the stainless steel blade. I haven't received it yet, but I'm looking forward to getting my hands on it.

I'll do a review of it compared to my other soil knives in a few months after I've had a chance to put it through its paces.

What's your go-to gardening tool?

If you're looking for reviews on the traditional hori hori, Fiskar's Big Grip Knife and the Professional Gardener's Digging Tool, check out North Coast Gardening where Genevieve, who is a professional landscaper, has reviewed all three.

You know you're a gardener when ...

You absolutely loved the dowager countess' comment to her granddaughter Edith disparaging gardeners on Sunday's "Downton Abbey."

Edith (recently left at the altar and nearing "spinsterhood," at least her in estimation) needs a hobby and suggests perhaps gardening.

"Well no, you can't be as desperate as that," Lady Violet says.

If you're not a "Downton Abbey" fan (or if you call it "Downtown Abbey") you might miss the divine pleasure in that statement. The dowdy, quick-witted dowager countess (I call her that because I love the word dowager) is always quick to pass judgment and I can think of nothing finer than for her to mock my passion. Trust me, this kind of nasty comment from Violet is to be considered an honor.

Another way you know you're a gardener is when you get a rather utilitarian weapon-looking thing in the middle of January on the coldest day of the year (high of 2 degrees)  for a birthday present and you have to contain yourself from running outside to see you could plunge it in the frozen earth.

I give you the Professional Gardener's Digging Tool. This thing is a beast. I read about it (as is the case with many of my favorite gardening products) on North Coast Gardening and I dropped a hint about it way back in October. This is the (only?) benefit of a January birthday: if you didn't get it for Christmas you can still hold out hope that you might get it for your birthday.

This thing is like a hori hori on steroids. With a testosterone booster. It's insane and I love it. I found it hysterical that my main concern is cutting off my own hand but there is a sticker on it warning me to avoid underground power lines. You gotta love a tool that warns you of the potential to electrocute yourself. 

And best of all, it has a red handle, greatly reducing the chances of losing it in the garden, which happens all the time with my wooden-handled hori hori.

Now all we need is for that spring thaw. It is 14 degrees out there today; a sure sign that spring is on the way in Wisconsin.