Computer modification of Grant Wood's "American Gothic"
By Kevin Hand, Star-Bulletin
The right Tools for
your Garden
Experienced gardeners agree, choose quality over quantity and you'll be much more satisfied
By Lois Taylor
Special to the Star-Bulletin
IF you are going to have a garden, you'll have to have garden tools.
All the Oahu gardeners consulted on this subject agreed that a few expensive tools are a far better investment than a carport filled with rusty iron. When possible, buy tools of tempered, forged steel rather than stamped sheet metal. Buy only what you need to maintain your garden, and buy the best. And that applies even to the small stuff.
Trowels
These are for digging small holes, transplanting, weeding, cultivating and mixing small amounts of soil. Most veteran gardeners advise going by the feel. Pick it up - it should have a solid wood handle that feels good in your grip, and the metal should be forged or the trowel will bend the first time it meets a buried rock. Look for a sharp point and a drop shank (a curve where the metal tool fits into the wood handle) for easier digging.
Weeders
They are all pretty much the same, but the best advice here was to choose one with a red handle-it won't get lost in the pulled-up weeds. Or paint the handle yourself. Avoid green-handled tools for this reason. Some of the most experienced gardeners recommended thrift shop dinner knives as weeders. When the blade becomes dull, buy another one.
Cultivators
Leland Miyano, one of the island's most widely known and most serious tropical gardeners, uses the o'o stick invented by the early Hawaiians. The real hardwood ones belong in museums, but several mainland toolmakers are turning out contemporary versions of the sharply pointed long stick once used to grow taro. Like a small crowbar, they are now they are made of steel, but they do the same job, and do it well, Miyano said. For turning over hard, packed soil and for digging small deep holes, they are the best. If the ground is really impacted, tap the end with a hammer.
Pruning shears
While we try to avoid using brand names, Felco hand shears were mentioned too often to ignore. Available at garden shops and hardware stores, they were recommended by almost everybody. Hand pruners come in two styles, the bypass that has two curved blades that work like scissors, and the anvil that cuts with a moving steel blade closing against a fixed piece of brass. It's a matter of personal preference - both do the same job. Keep them clean and oiled, and sharpen them occasionally.
Lopping shears
What your hand shears won't cut, your lopping shears will. These are long-handled pruners for cutting twigs and small branches from trees and shrubs. The long handles give added leverage. The hook-and-blade is generally recommended as being easier to manage than the anvil, because the hook holds the branch while the blade slices through it.
Pruning saws
For small jobs, you can't beat the foot-long Japanese pruning saw with a curved blade that folds into a pocket in the handle. You should never try to force pruning shears through a branch, and should always use a saw. Saws are designed to cut through fresh green wood, and their teeth cut on the pull stroke. The serrated blade is dangerous, so use the saw carefully, and always return the blade into the handle.
Chain saws
You don't need one in the average home garden. Several gardeners said that if their trees need such extensive pruning that a chain saw is required, they hire a professional. Chain saws are serious.
Machetes
Miyano prefers the straight rather than the curved machete, and without the hook. He uses it for clearing tall weeds and harvesting bananas. Choose one with a fairly long handle, otherwise your arm will be doing too much of the work. If you want a shorter handled machete, he advises getting one with a heavy blade. The Philippine machetes are made from old truck springs, and the blade holds a sharp edge. You will occasionally see a stainless steel machete, but as with carving knives, stainless steel doesn't sharpen as well as ordinary steel.
Rakes
There are heavy steel rakes, used to smooth seedbeds and level soil, and there are garden rakes made of plastic, lightweight metal or bamboo. Local gardeners prefer the bamboo because it looks best and has more spring, but the other two varieties last longer. The lighter rakes are necessary to rake lawn clippings and leaves from grass, flower beds and paved areas. They are usually fan-shaped with a straight handle about 5 feet long. Also recommended was a short-handled bamboo rake, used with one hand to clean out flower beds and under hedges.
Shovels
The long-handled, round-pointed garden shovel is best for moving earth and digging holes. Pick a heavy one, and make sure that the metal socket into which the wooden handle fits is at least a foot long, or the handle will snap with use. Narrow bladed shovels are easier to push into the soil than broad blades.
Gloves
Local gardeners seem evenly divided between expensive goatskin garden gloves that offer great protection but are awkward to work in, and cheap cotton gloves that are flimsy but supple. Miyano and a few other ignore gloves and work barehanded. If you go this route, scrape your fingernails through a bar of soap before gardening. The residue under your nails will protect them from the dirt.
Lawnmowers
If you mow your own lawn, you have only two choices, the reel mower which you push or is power operated, and the rotary mower which is always power driven. You could get a goat, but the the neighbors would most likely complain. Electric mowers are good for small, flat lawns, but aren't powerful enough to do heavy cutting. And you are limited by the length of the cord. Rotary mowers cut when pushed or pulled; reel mowers use a scissors action and cut only when pushed forward. At the same price, pick a good mower with few extras over an economy machine loaded with them.
And then
Rubber hoses are easier to work with than plastic hoses because they are less likely to kink and easier to roll up. Old sheets are great for gathering garden debris - simply pile the stuff in the middle of the sheet, gather up the corners and drag it to the compost pile. You do have a compost pile? A 4.5 cubic-foot capacity wheelbarrow, either metal or heavy plastic, should also be part of your equipment. And optimism. Just go out there and start working because a green thumb is nothing more than a dirty thumb.