The Gardenista 100: Best Hand Tools Worth Passing Down

Buy a good hand tool once and it lasts a lifetime—witness Michelle's 25-year-old Felco pruners. For the second installment of our Gardenista 100 guide to 2015's hundred best outdoor products, we've rounded up new and classic tools to love now and pass on later.

Cutting Tools: Pruners

Above: Photograph by John Merkl for Gardenista.

Garrett Wade Leather Grip Bypass Pruners: $67.50
Don't let the leather-sheathed handles fool you—these mean business. Perfectly balanced, pleasantly weighted, forged steel blades make quick work of bushes and small branches.

Garrett Wade Premium Anvil Hand Pruner (Berger, Germany): $64.75
New for spring; the only anvil-style in our mix. Designed for dead wood—leave live cuts to bypass blades.

Felco No. 2 Pruner: $53.65
The original model, everyday favorite of LA landscape designer Judy Kameon (gardens for Sofia Coppola, Mike D of Beastie Boys). For more: Required Reading: Gardens Are for Living.

Pruning Shears

Barnel Hedge Shears 27.5": $52.99 on Amazon
Used by Steve Lannin, gardener to Arne Maynard at Allt-y-Bela estate in Wales. Lightweight. Watch seasons change: A Gardener's Diary: A Year in Wales with Arne Maynard.

Niwaki Mamiya Shears (hand-forged): $204.17 from Niwaki
Carbon steel blades, white oak handles, made by a fourth-generation blacksmith near Tokyo. Sets a high craftsmanship standard.

Niwaki Okatsune Precision Hedge Shears: $85.66 on Amazon
Tool of choice for Jake Hobson, sculptor of cloud-pruned trees. Two-toned white oak handles, made in Japan. Learn more: Topiary: Cloud Pruning as Arboreal Art.

Loppers

Above: Anvil loppers. Photograph by John Merkl for Gardenista.

Two types: bypass (overlapping blades) for live wood; anvil (blades meet) for dry/brittle wood.

Above: Bypass loppers. Photograph by John Merkl for Gardenista.

Garrett Wade Premium Loppers: Anvil $60, Bypass $40, Both $85
Featured in a past giveaway.

Felco 21 Loppers (Swiss, adjustable bypass): $104.49
Michelle's choice. For specific needs: Felco Lopper Comparison Chart.

Digging Tools: Hand Trowels

DeWitt Dutch Trowel: $28 at Terrain
Dutch toolmaker since 1898; guaranteed to hold a sharp point and not bend.

Fisher Blacksmithing Garden Trowel: $58 on Etsy
Forged the old way—steel heated to red glow, shaped on anvil with hammer. Bozeman, Montana. Sharp point, hand-turned black walnut handle. Meet the maker: Fisher Blacksmithing Tools for the Gardener.

Sneeboer Great Dixter Trowel: $43.10 from Garden Tool Company
Long, thin blade for narrow crevices; ash or cherry hardwood handle.

Diggers: Hori Hori Knives

Nisaku/Tomita Hori Hori Tool (stainless, Japan): $25.86 on Amazon
Classic Japanese design. With California leather holster: $39.50. Learn more: My Most Versatile Garden Tool: Hori Hori Knife.

Diggit Hori Garden Knife (Seattle): $35
Dull edges—sharp enough for roots/sod, safe for hands. Round handle for all-day comfort. Guaranteed not to rust, even in PNW rain.

Cultivators

Red Pig Three-Tine Hand Cultivator: $35.85 at Garden Tool Company
Hand-forged in Boring, Oregon; tang twisted into wood handle so joint won't loosen. Maker profile: Red Pig Garden Tools, Hand-Forged in the USA.

Gardener's Lifetime Cultivator: $29.95
Swedish steel, made in Holland by a fourth-generation family business.