In addition to being an essential garden tool, a sharp-bladed hoe is a mood elevator. This phenomenon was first documented in the 19th century by a restless Ralph Waldo Emerson, who when confined indoors felt a strong urge to run for the woods to live with the squirrels.
But hand the man a garden tool and point him toward a weedy patch, and Emerson’s mood brightened immediately: “My good hoe, as it bites the ground, revenges my wrongs, and I have less lust to bite my enemies,” he wrote. “By smoothing the rough hillocks, I smooth my temper.”
In that spirit, we’ve rounded up 10 of our favorite hand hoes with the hope that you, like Emerson, may this suddenly “hear the bobolink’s song and see the blessed deluge of light and color that rolls around me.”
Above: From Japan, a 13-inch-long Weeding Hoe has a pine handle and a carbon steel blade. Specify either a left-hand and right-hand hoe when ordering; £15 from Niwaki (plus £10 Fed Ex shipping to the US). Above: Umtech’s Japanese Garden Triangle Hoe has a stainless steel blade and measures 15.5 inches long. It is $28.50 from eBay. Above: Made in Bozeman, Montana, a Pointed Garden Hoe from Fisher Blacksmithing is made with hand-forged metal set into a black walnut handle; $58. Above: A Japanese Sickel Hoe with a carbon steel blade and either a left- or right-handed grip is €27.50 from Manufactum. Above: From Austria and with a pointed carbon steel blade for planting, a Setzhaeundl Hoe is €29.50 from Manufactum. Above: From Barebones, a Precision Hand Hoe made of heat-treated stainless steel, bamboo, and leather is $19.95 from Gardeners Supply. Above: Burgon and Ball’s Razor Hoe is made in the UK and has a tempered stainless steel head; £13 from Hortus. Above: A Japanese Half Moon Hand Hoe has a carbon steel blade that is under 5 inches wide (“great for weeding in those tight spaces like between plantings”) and is $20.80 from Garden Tool Company. Above: A Barebones Square Hand Hoe has a heavy-duty blade to cut through roots. It is $19.95 from Gardener’s Supply. Above: A Japan-made Garden Landscaping Triangle Hoe by Asaka has a steel blade and wood handle and is $21.50 from Amazon. For more essential garden tools, see:
When you register as a free Member of the Remodelista family of websites (Remodelista, Gardenista, and The Organized Home), you gain access to all current posts plus 10 archived posts per month, our internal bookmarking tool, and the community bulletin board.
Access 10 archived posts (older than one year) per month on each site
Use of our internal bookmark tool, so you can save products, posts, and other pages for quick reference
Access to our community bulletin board so you can ask and answer design-related questions
Unlimited access to the Product Catalogs, Design Travel sources, and Architect & Designer Directory listings
Choose from our ten newsletters to keep up with the latest on the sites
Or Subscribe for Maximum Value!
For $5/month ($59.99 paid annually) you'll enjoy unlimited, ad-free access to Remodelista, Gardenista, and The Organized Home and all the benefits of Membership.
Annual subscribers pay 50% off the monthly subscription price of $9.99
×
Subscribe to the Remodelista family of websites
For $5/month ($59.99 paid annually) you'll enjoy unlimited, ad-free access to Remodelista, Gardenista, and The Organized Home and all the benefits of Membership.
Annual subscribers pay 50% off the monthly subscription price of $9.99
×
Sorry! As a registered member you get 10 free posts from our archive (posts more than a year old) every 30 days. You have reached your limit for this 30-day period. If you would like to access unlimited posts from the archive (ad free, too), become a subscriber today, and keep reading as many articles as you want.
Full Access Individual Subscription
Benefits include:
Unlimited access to Remodelista, Gardenista, and The Organized Home sites
Ad-free browsing environment
Unrestricted access to 30,000+ archived posts
Receive the full-text daily newsletters
All features that Members have access to
Annual subscribers pay just 50% off the monthly subscription price of $9.99
Sorry! You have reached your limit of three (3) free posts from our archive every 30 days. You can increase this to 10 posts by joining as a free Member, or read unlimited posts with no ads by becoming a paid Subscriber.
Subscribe to the Remodelista family of websites
For $5/month ($59.99 paid annually) you'll enjoy unlimited, ad-free access to Remodelista, Gardenista, and The Organized Home and all the benefits of Membership.
Annual subscribers pay 50% off the monthly subscription price of $9.99
Become a Member at no charge
When you register as a free Member of the Remodelista family of websites (Remodelista, Gardenista, and The Organized Home), you gain access to all current posts plus 10 archived posts per month, our internal bookmarking tool, and the community bulletin board.
Access 10 archived posts (older than one year) per month on each site
Use of our internal bookmark tool, so you can save products, posts, and other pages for quick reference
Access to our community bulletin board so you can ask and answer design-related questions
Unlimited access to the Product Catalogs, Design Travel sources, and Architect & Designer Directory listings
Choose from our ten newsletters to keep up with the latest on the sites
Manage Newsletters
Congratulations on becoming a Subscriber to Remodelista, Gardenista and The Organized Home! You now have access to many great features across the sites:
Unlimited access to all three sites
Ad-free browsing environment
Unrestricted access to 30,000+ archived posts
Receive any of the newsletters, including the the full-text daily Remodelista and Gardenista newsletters
Use of our internal bookmark tool, so you can save products, posts, and other pages for quick reference
Access to our community bulletin board so you can ask and answer design-related questions
Congratulations on joining as a free Member of Remodelista, Gardenista and The Organized Home! You now have access to many great features across the sites:
Access to all posts published in the past year
Access 10 archived posts (older than one year) per month on each site
Use of our internal bookmark tool, so you can save products, posts, and other pages for quick reference
Access to our community bulletin board so you can ask and answer design-related questions
Unlimited access to the Product Catalogs, Design Travel sources, and Architect & Designer Directory listings
Choose from our ten newsletters to keep up with the latest on the sites
If at any time you want to become a Subscriber and enjoy unlimited, ad-free access to all our content, just go to the My Account link and choose Subscribe.
Have a Question or Comment About This Post?
Join the conversation