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My favorite garden tools | Pruners, spades & more | The Impatient Gardener



I’m sharing all my favorite garden tools. I have a garage full of tools, but these are the things I use and look for regularly.

This is NOT a sponsored video! Items that I received for review or for other projects are noted below. I bought everything else.

Some of these tools are pretty expensive. Let me be clear here: YOU DON’T NEED EXPENSIVE TOOLS TO GARDEN. I’m just a gadget geek who really loves playing with tools and instead of a closet full of shoes (note the flip flops) I have a garage full of gardening tools. 

In addition to the tools I mention here, some brands that offer less expensive but very good options are Corona and Fiskars. 

#GardenTools #TheImpatientGardener

Here are links to all the tools I mention (or a close substitute for items that are no longer available). Prices given in the video are current as of September 2019, but prices change all the time (I bought many of these pruners for far less than these items are currently selling for). 

Some affiliate links may appear below. I may make a small commission if you purchase through these links. Thanks for your support. You can see all my favorite products on my Amazon storefront: https://www.amazon.com/shop/impatientgardener

– A.M. Leonard Deluxe Soil Knife: https://www.amleo.com/leonard-deluxe-stainless-steel-soil-knife/p/4752/
– Sneeboer Planting Trowel: https://www.gardentoolcompany.com/products/planting-trowel-by-sneeboer?_pos=1&_sid=9682c384c&_ss=r
– Troy-Bilt Telescoping Bypass Loppers (provided for a project): https://amzn.to/32DqMTr
– Garrett Wade Folding Pruning Saw (provided for a project): https://www.garrettwade.com/a-folding-pruning-saw-for-serious-work-gp.html
– Bahco Ergo Bypass Pruner: https://amzn.to/2ZZgEb1
– ARS VS-8XZ Pruner: https://amzn.to/2O0EFam
– Niwaki GR Pro Secateurs: https://www.niwaki.com/store/gr-pro-secateurs/
– Niwaki Garden Snips: https://www.niwaki.com/store/niwaki-garden-snips/
– Niwaki Garden Shears: https://www.niwaki.com/store/niwaki-garden-shears/
– Atlas Nitrile Gloves (pack of 6): https://amzn.to/2LOKq8j
– Leather rose gloves (similar): https://amzn.to/32Dr4K1
– Sneeboer Ladies Spade: https://www.gardentoolcompany.com/products/ladies-spade-by-sneeboer
– Sneeboer Royal Dutch Hoe: https://www.gardentoolcompany.com/products/royal-dutch-hoe-by-sneeboer
– Expandable rake (similar): https://amzn.to/2LuQbsS
– Bahco Lawn Shears: https://amzn.to/32E6IAw

My name is Erin and I love sharing inspiration and information with real-life gardeners. I live and garden in southeastern Wisconsin, zone 5. 

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Music: Cute by BenSound.com

44 Comments

  1. CLTserendipity

    Why didn't you teach people how to sharpen their pruners and loppers? That would be really helpful and useful info. Also, it's easy to paint the handles of all your tools orange. Makes them easy to find and put away after a job.

  5. Cathy Sahlfeld

    I always think abt who will have my garden tools when I’m dead. My most beloved tool is a wood handled dandelion tool I got for $1 at an antique store.

  6. Marilyn Mourdock

    Have you ever tried using a weed puller called a Weed Hound? You hold it about waist high, step on a plunger that encircles the weed and then you pull it out of the ground. It only really works when the ground is soft, but it is great for weeds like dandelion or plantain.

  7. jojoc170

    as a professional gardener ill recommend to check out silky zübat saw and felco nr 8. those are my most used and go to tools

  8. stuart Anderson

    I share your enthusiasm for garden tools, especially. Dutch and English, however, again like you, over the years a number of them have stayed in the ground, waiting to be found. The tool I tend to use most of all is a Dewit long handle trowel, and swivel handle Felco pruner, which I have used for the last twenty one years.

  10. Лунтик Ци

    Ars pruner has absorbers, Niwaki Pro hasn't. It is essential for arm, when you cut not thin branches.
    Ars VA-7 – esiest cut ever.

  12. John Jude

    To get the seedlings from them plants out of the 72 ct packages,
    I took the cheap egg flipper cut the flipper's flat flipper off at the cut the flipper's from the handle shaft and hat the cut end then mushroom the shaft like a spoon shape and file the cut end for safety
    I find this handy to get the young plants to plant

  13. grrttlc2

    If you like the Niwaki, try Okatsune; Cheaper, they come on small sizes and I think youll find they otherwise have all the things you like about the Niwaki.

  14. Mark Roberts

    Very good review of great tools. Niwaki doesn't actually make most of those tools. It would be good to find out the names of the manufacturers like Oketsune or Tobisho,, because many are sold in the US. Also, it would be great if you did a "good" episode on doing hand sharpening to create a truly sharp edge. This is on a water stone, diamond plate, or ceramic stone up to at least 1,000 grit minimum. These work far better than any of the cheap hand drawn edge sharpeners most videos show. Those create a poor edge at best.

  19. FrankEdavidson

    Big spade head = lazy person's burden.
    They don't make spades long enough for tall people. I thought the Dutch ones might be a bit longer. I'm not aware of Serbian brands (also a population with tall average heights).
    I prefer forged carbon steel long-handled tools. Carbon steel is much stronger than stainless steel, particularly any welds. I enjoy looking after them and still use my grandfather's tools Bulldog, Spear and Jackson
    A two year old stainless steel rake snapped on me the other day.
    Jakoti shears – meant for sheep shearing (I got a selection of livestock tags when I ordered them, lol) but great for detailing grass round clothes poles etc, detailing topiary and hedging, chopping up handfuls of green stems for compost, trimming green manure.
    Felco 903 diamond sharpener – I just wish the '+' holsters with the sharpener holder was out when I bought my holster.
    Builders trowels – I just already had them
    Vintage carbon steel hand fork with twisted tines and wooden handle – much better than the flat pressed pattern ones in my heavy soil.

    I find the Japanese hand e.g. pruners a bit little for my hands.
    Much of the developing world subsistence-farms and gardens with one tool, may be a mattock in one area, may be a machete in other areas.

  20. Tracy Gonzalez-Rogers

    This was a very informative video. Just what I like. Anyway you could do one on tool cleaning and maintenance particularly blade sharpening? Thank you so.

  25. Mindy's Place

    I am here to tell you that you don't need fancy tools. I use a shovel and a hand trowel for the most part, but I am going to the hardware store today to pick up one of those garden knives and a spade. This is the second video I've watched that recommend them and making my life easier at this point is a bonus. My garden is huge and I can use all the help I can get.

  27. John Clarke

    Stihl HS-80 hedge trimmers. I makes short work trimming hedges, like the Holly hedge I have on the front of the house. A little heavy, but it does a good job leveling up and squaring up this hedge. It does not balk at cutting one inch diameter limbs, either. No extension cord to cut into, like I have done all to many times with electric hedge trimmers. Mine crank up in a couple of pulls and run as long as I need them.

  28. 2PRETTY FUNNY THINGS

    😆😆you continue to crack me up. The scroll for the head cut off….to be so real and wonderful. Thank you. Great tool list. Going to check out several. That rake just blew my mind…

  35. samantha durfee

    I would rather buy garden tools than shoes. My sneakers I have had for the last twenty years I finally threw one pair away. I buy more tools than I should. My husband always misplaces or leaves them outside. So I usually have a few of the same kind .

  36. michelle belle

    I love garden tools. Last year I bought the Niwaki shears for my topiary hedges. Then I bought the longer ones too because my hedge is ten feet tall in some places. I love them. Can’t use the electric ones anymore because they were starting to cause nerve damage in my ear. One of my most favorite tools is a hand cultivator I bought at Kmart over thirty years ago. I watched your sharpening video and bought all the stones and cream ate too. I’ve been looking at those shovels. They’re beautiful.

  39. etteluuap

    WOW! Just great. I'm a newbie (and 72) so these descriptions and costs are SO helpful. Thank you!

  40. kimchee94112

    That Niwaki looks like Okatsune you could get here from Amazon, Ebay. I'm going cordless getting rid of the gas ones. It's between Milwaukee and 80V Kobalt. So far a blower, pole saw, hedge trimmer, weed wacker, cordless sprayer, getting an 18" chainsaw this monday. Roll around portable scaffolding for the fruit trees, much safer than a ladder. I like the long trench shovel for digging deep holes for planting trees or fence posts.

  41. Rachel Manitowabi

    I was paying serious and intense attention to your tool review, then comes the fur, dogs, the cat and drool! Hahaha – hilarious! 🤣

  42. Pamela H

    For me:
    Felco #2 pruners & AM Leo deluxe soil knife (pink 😁) in the AM Leo double pouch are my daily drivers
    Bahco harvesting snippers are great for light work
    Silky folding saws (Gomboy & Super Accel)
    Bahco loppers – lightweight and cut great
    (Fiskars power gear loppers for dirty work)
    Bahco shears
    Corona nylon pouches fit the folding saws & snips perfectly
    DeWit push-pull hoe
    AM Leonard nursery spade WITH the foot pads.
    Hand rake – "the claw"
    All-metal spring rake
    Benchmade folding pocket knife
    Echo makes pretty nice Kevlar gloves for chainsaw days
    …. so many good tools. 🥰

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