Hori Hori: The Most Useful Gardening Tool?

I've always been intrigued as to why people really love these hori hori knives so I decided to review one.

Links

ebay hori hori – this one is an affiliate link. I’ll get a commission if you buy it. You probably wont buy it though unless you’re in Italy because although it looks cool, the delivery is expensive.

Amazon trowel – Affiliate link – genuinely it’s the best trowel I have now. So much more robust than the older (more expensive) trowels I already own.

Amazon – Wolf Garten weeding knife. I haven’t used it but the Wolf Garten tools I do have are solid and well made. Affiliate link

favourite hoe card – no affiliation

barebones hori hori – no affiliation, just the cheapest place I could find it online

Niwaki hori hori shown in video

[raysilverman]

I just bought one, but was second guessing myself. Then I watched your video and felt reassured. I loved your balanced, humorous, wise presentation.

[julian.morgan]

Best tool I've ever used for trimming back grass that's over lapping paving slabs or tidying up a lawn's edge . . . . is a bread knife with a serrated edge. Some time ago, frustrated by how utterly crap lawn edging tools are for lawn edging, I did of course borrow the bread knife from the kitchen. Mrs M didn't notice for a while. Now we have a garden bread knife and a kitchen bread knife.

[jjkay]

Yes, you don't need one. I used to use a WW11 bayonet to deal with Buttercups. Trowels and forks can do most things. Why spend the money.
I spent a lot on mine and it was worth it. It's a joy to use and benefits from that indefinable feel where you know that nothing else will do. A sort of kinesthetic umami. Okay, enough of the pretentious crap.
Oh, and the serrated edge is brilliant for root pruning.

[JBNat]

hahahaa always a laugh. I got one of these as a gift a few years back and I can count on my fingers how many times I've actually used the thing. Agree with you on most points. It's just quite fancy and nice isn't it? It's basically useless on my allotment because the ground is full of massive stones so if you use it to dig it'll lose its edge so fast.

[gedelgo]

I struggle with tool fixation sometimes. Doing something and thinking "this is hard" so I buy some trinket but the task is still hard and I'm down $40 and the garage is a little more full.

[KerriCaudill]

It is the best carrot digger I've ever found. So much easier than a regular trowel.

[sqeekable]

I like mine from BlizeTec. It has wicked saw teeth on one side that I find useful. And my handle is really nice quality, feels great. Plus it has measurements down the blade in inch and mm, for depth planting, extra perk not the selling feature though. I had to add a bit of fluorescent tape to handle so I don’t loose it in garden,

[evalindell]

I bought mine about 40 years ago when I visited my brother that lived in Tokyo. I had never seen a thing to weed that looked like that here in Europe. It didn’t cost more than at the most £5. It is beautifully made and I use it all the time when I weed and have done so since I bought it. The funny thing is I bought it in a small garden section in a food store together with knifes and sissors. So good quality and sharp. Yours look so cheaply made and not at all made in Japan!

[AmirsAllotment]

I don’t have one, nice to hear an honest review though, like you said I have spotted many YouTube gardeners with them 😊

[muddyboots]

You are a gardener. Just realised. There are clues in this video that made me research more. Great to have your professional knowledge. You can only watch so many amateurs. Thanks for sharing. Although I am a lady I quite like your humour too.

[Jupiterbaal]

I think "The Subtle ✨hand trowel✨" has a fairly good ring to it as fantasy novels go 🧐

[stevewebster]

Ha, that does look lovely. But all my most used tool are ancient, inherited stuff and a really cheep dandelion weeding tool. any new stuff has broken within hours (particularly forks and spades - what do they make them of these days...?!)

[miguelvalladares]

I used one for taking soil samples for a University class . Is a nice tool, and if you buy a basic morakniv, you will have the ultimate combo, for camping or Geography stuff.
My Hori Hori is a important Copy made in el Salvador, steel is 1095 caebon, Brand is Imacasa, but was made for them by Condor knife and Tools.

[Karl-ph]

Best tool I own. Mines the niwaki one and it does everything I need it to from weeding or twatting through unwanted roots it’s even good for lifting patio slabs 🤣 I recommend them to all of my clients.

[WiscoWrestler]

This one would have been better if it had a seated blade with can be useful for cutting roots and dividing plant

[howarddavies]

I have one and I like it, mine has a scabbard which is useful. They can bend in hard soil but then again they can be bent back unlike my posh trowel which snapped. Also good for cutting asparagus spears.

[sal]

Ha!! I must have trowels growing all over the garden so I’m not risking buying something expensive to bury in the garden

[Asparaguspeas]

It is the god of gardening tools, plus I feel bad ass using it which is maybe the entire point ? 🤣 mine had a aerated edge and a sharp knife edge it’s literally able to do everything

[leonleese]

I use a Spear & Jackson border fork since I got married in 1967 they sold them in Boots in those days.
Carbon steel needs cleaning and drying after use. And yes sharpening.
I rough weed first if it’s wet, just loosen em first about an 18 inch wide strip. Then hope they dry out a bit drop weeds in a bucket then make a dump. This year if I’m able I’ll use a shredder in the that it will start a compost heap. Just to see what happens.
It amazing how. Many weeds can grow in a small plot if you ignore thins for a year. 😡

[kimadams]

I like mine, but then what I got was Fiskar's Hori-Hori clone with a dandelion notch at the tip, and a sawblade on one edge. In my case, the original one was $7 CAD at a thrift store. I like it because this puppy is in no danger of snapping in my sometimes hard digging situations, I can saw roots with it (and dig dandelions) and when I put it in the holster at my hip, I can carry it around and not weigh myself down with tools: it's a good general tool. My boss rolls her eyes at it, but occasionally borrows it when she forgets her trowel. But no WAY was I going to spend ten times that amount for the real deal.