Comments on: A Bad Year for Tools is a Good Reason to Buy More

By: John Otto Haas

John Otto Haas — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 20:40:39 +0000

We have a 6′ shovel with holes in the blade, to keep it light-weight. My problem is that it has no name and I cannot remember where I got it. Does anybody out there know of such a thing and will you give ma an email address where I may purchase it?

By: Kris at Blithewold

Kris at Blithewold — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 11:09:38 +0000

Kathy, do you already have a hori-hori a.k.a. a Japanese digging knife? Might be just the thing for replacing the narrow trowel – I’ve been abusing mine for about 15 years – for digging, planting, weeding, whacking, dividing and I don’t think I could break, bend or ruin it if I tried! (Lee Valley has them) Losing it is my only worry – I think it just needs colored duct tape …

By: Curtis

Curtis — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 19:53:33 +0000

My trowel broke the very tip off. It is still usable but I would like another trowel for the kiddos. They break if trying to dig up rocks, as I soon found out.

By: Kathy Purdy

Kathy Purdy — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 02:23:55 +0000

I wonder if you have duct tape on your shovel for the same reason we have it on ours? Long time ago my DH bought a top-of-the-line shovel at Agway. The shovel was guaranteed for life, but you had to be able to prove it was Agway’s best to get your replacement shovel. The sales clerk actually suggested to my husband that he cover the brand imprint in the handle with duct tape so that if (when) the shovel broke, he could just peel away the duct tape and easily claim a new shovel. And we have indeed replaced the shovel at least once in this manner, maybe more than once, I can’t remember.

By: Ellis Hollow

Ellis Hollow — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 02:09:58 +0000

I swear by my transplanting shovel. I still use my big one (with duct tape on the handle like yours) for turning over veggie beds. But the transplanting shovel with it’s short (but not kid-sized) handle and ~6 inch wide by 12 inch long blade is great in established perennial beds.

By: Kathy Purdy

Kathy Purdy — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 11:24:08 +0000

That is the driveway! I don’t have that much bare dirt–it’s all covered by weeds. I suppose I could have laid them all out on the grass. It didn’t occur to me at the time.

By: mss @ Zanthan Gardens

mss @ Zanthan Gardens — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 01:33:18 +0000

Lee Valley has a wish list function. I will have to check that out. The first five years of our relationship our Christmas gifts consisted of two boxes: an Amazon order and a Lee Valley order.

The thing that really caught my eye about this post is the dirt on which the shovels are posing. Is that dirt in your garden! Are you gardening on nothing but rocks and dust. Gracious! Please tell me that’s a driveway or something.

By: Carol

Carol — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 22:55:06 +0000

Any reason is a good reason to buy a new garden tool! And it is always more enjoyable to use a good, well-made tool that fits “you”. I like the hand-forged trowel at Lee Valley, but it is a bit wider than your narrow trowel in the picture, not too mention a bit high-priced. But I can’t imagine it ever breaking.

Carol at May Dreams Gardens

By: Annie in Austin

Annie in Austin — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 20:57:31 +0000

A broken trowel, ketchup and a video camera – I can imagine what would have happened when my son was that age! Your photo is really cool!

My favorite is similar to the ‘poacher’s spade’ seen in some catalogs, but it came from a hardware store labeled ‘Drain shovel’. Those of us who jam our beds too full need a tool that can sneak into the border to add and subtract.

Happy Digging, Kathy!

Annie at the Transplantable Rose

By: Kathy Purdy

Kathy Purdy — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 18:08:45 +0000

My kid didn’t know they could break, either, but he found out when you stick them under a tree root and start prying, the tree root wins.

I use that narrow trowel for three tasks: 1) planting little 6-pak seedlings in the spring 2) planting small bulbs in the fall and 3) anytime I can’t find the trowel I really want (the big one). I think I should be looking for a tool that can do tasks 1 and 2 well, and not be stuck on getting a trowel, per se.