Hori Hori - the awesome multipurpose garden tool

I just submitted my BB for sharpening a Hori Hori and as I was the first to attempt this task. I thought I’d write a few words for those who may not have come across this wonderful tool. There’s a video in the BB if you want a visual introduction.

I love the way Japanese innovate. They’ve created a near perfect garden tool with the Hori Hori. It’s a trowel, a saw, a seed dibber, a knife… It’s the best tool I’ve ever used for planting bulbs especially in the lawn. It cuts through turf and any roots you might encounter. The blade has a rule on it, so you can easily measure the depth of your hole. I use it along lawn boarder edges and path edges. It’s great for removing weeds between slabs. I can spend all day in the garden, pottering about and it’s often the only tool I use.

So if you’re thinking about buying one of those gimmicky bulb planting tools, that only last one season, then I suggest getting a Hori Hori instead. Yes - I bought the single use gimmick . . .

The Hori Hori is a lot like a chef’s knife for the garden. Get a good one!

I love my hori hori! When I started doing field work, a hori hori was a required tool for every single field botany class. Nothing worked more easily or quickly for digging up samples or sawing through a root quickly. The length and point are also just right for reaching down the back of a wader to reach that annoying itch. I was constantly dropping mine and losing sight of it, so I wrapped the handle in orange tape. It's helped me find it amongst overgrown garden beds, too!

I want to believe, but I find them too small or too awkward. So I reach for other tools.

But my DW loves her Japanese hori-hori. It sees constant use in her perennial beds.

Do you have a recommended one to get. My husband bought me one a few years ago and last fall it snapped off at the handle leaving the blade in the ground. I wasn't even in clay soil.

I like Barebones and it comes with additional feature bottle opener / twine cutter. I bought one for my Dad and he’s very happy with it.

Make sure you get with a through tang - the blade metal running right through the handle.