Cool Tools

There's a tool for almost every garden job. Here's a look at some of the most common and how to best use them.

• Planting Hoe: The sharp end is used for making furrows or weeding; flip the head and use the other side for covering seeds.

• Korean Hand Plow: An ancient tool that still has a place in today's garden. The hand-forged tool is good for cultivating, furrowing, digging small holes.

• U-Bar Digger (broadfork): Shoulder-high handles, the weight of the tool itself and your own force help drive the digger's tines deep into the ground. Good for aerating, loosening soil without disturbing soil layers. Some people claim success using the digger to penetrate compacted soil.

• Potato Rake: Not just for potato digging, this tool is useful for cleaning plant refuse and mining for rocks. Similar to a cultivator but has longer tines.

• Edger: Used for controlling grass creep into garden and ornamental beds. Some edgers, like the one pictured, let you use your own body weight to help cut a clean edge.

• Mini Claw: Good for weeding and for cultivating and aerating soil without disturbing soil layers.

• Deck Rake: Used for cultivating soil and raking debris in raised beds.

• Garden Hoe: All hoes are not alike: Besides the type of handle and blade, the angle of the blade in relationship to the shaft can vary considerably. Test the feel of the hoe--and your back's reaction to it--while you're still in the store.

• Shovel: There are dozens of types of shovels--varying in type and length of handles, shaft and blade--and designed for a variety of purposes from digging to transplanting to cutting borders. Shovel makers have grades of shovel quality.

  Often a shovel fails where the wood enters the socket or at the junction between the shaft and handgrip. Check for reinforcements in those joints and for a label that tells you what kind of soil the shovel is good for. For exceptionally tough soils, you'll want a strong shovel, usually with a steel collar, thicker steel in the blade and either heavy-duty fiberglass or ash handles.

• Pick: Breaking up soil doesn't have to break your back. Used from the kneeling position, picks can give you a lot of leverage, and you don't have to use both arms. Often hand picks come with three tines on one side that are helpful for cultivating.

• Soil Scoop: This tool is handy for moving soil from bag to pot or in a small bed. The pointed end and serrated sides are useful for digging in soil that's not too tough. Some scoops, like the one pictured here, come with seed-dispensing holes.

• Tamping Bar: This weighty tool can dig a hole and break up rocks and pry them loose.

• Garden Fork: Probably the most underused tool in the garden. A good fork is invaluable for digging in tough soil (less pressure is required than a shovel to penetrate the ground), for cultivating and loosening soil, for minimizing root damage when you're moving plants and for moving coarse mulch. A digging fork has longer tines.

• Trowel: The trowel may be the most frequently used hand tool in the garden--and you probably have more than one. They come in all shapes and sizes (down to 1 1/2-inch wide for transplanting seedlings). The best trowel provides good balance, a cushioned handle with a blunt end (to protect the heel of your hand when digging) and a contour that keeps your knuckles out of the soil. Some, like the transplanting trowel pictured, have depth gauges engraved into their heads. This narrow-bladed trowel is good for punching through tough soils and for digging holes in tight spots.