The Essential Weeding Tool Kit for Beginner Fine Gardeners: A Comprehensive Guide

Fine gardeners are tasked with the insurmountable job of keeping the garden weed-free and tidy. You can maintain a garden with just your hands and a lot of willpower, but chances are you'd like some tools to help you along the way and make maintaining the garden more enjoyable. Here are the basic gardening tools that I use and think belong in every fine gardener’s weeding tool kit:

1. ARS Hand Pruners

2. Blade Sharpening Tool

3. Japanese Weeding Sickle

4. Hori Hori

5. Hula Hoe

6. Hand Rake

7. Shrub Rake

8. Hand Saw

9. Little Pal Shovel

10. Bucket

11. Tarp

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1. ARS Hand Pruners

The most important tool in my bucket is my trusted pair of ARS HD-130DX 7 inch Hand Pruners. There are so many versions of hand pruners to choose from, but once you’ve tried the ARS Hand Pruners you’ll never use a different brand, version, or design again. These pruners come in a variety of colors (mine are teal), but the color isn’t the most important part. They’re lightweight, which means my small hands never get tired or sore from constant use. The Japanese steel blade is sharp and designed to cut stems and branches up to ½ inch diameter and can be easily sharpened. You may not need these pruners for digging up weeds, but they help in snipping weeds into smaller pieces, clipping ground suckers, and doing a bit of light pruning while weeding (because who can resist a light prune?!). However, your ARS hand pruners are only useful if they're clean and sharp; which, leads me into the second most important tool: a sharpening tool.

2. Blade Sharpening Tool

I’ve used a few different sharpeners, and they’re all relatively similar. However, I’ve been enjoying this 6 in 1 blade sharpening tool by Spear & Jackson, which has several different sharpening blades for a variety of tools and is equipped with a cleaning eraser and oiler. The handled design ensures you won’t cut yourself during sharpening and is built to store the oil and cleaning eraser. I like to sharpen my pruners every morning before starting a job, and this set is really handy and easy to use. Additionally, other tools such as the weeding sickle, Hori Hori, and hula hoe can also be sharpened with this blade sharpening tool.

3. Japanese Weeding Sickle

Third on my list is my favorite weeding tool, often referred to as a Japanese weeding sickle or hand plow. These weeding tools have a long bamboo handle with a very sharp sickle made out of Japanese steel. The weeding sickle comes in both left-handed and right-hand configurations so everyone can feel comfortable using. I particularly like this tool for weeding because it allows me to do several things with just one tool. For instance, the sharpened blade allows me to scrape the ground around plants, which disrupts smaller weeds by dislodging the plant from the soil. The tip of the blade can be used to dig into the soil to remove larger weeds with taproots. This action is perfect for digging up dandelion roots and dock. I also like how this tool is shaped, because it allows me to reach around the base of a plant and drag the sharpened blade along the soil in a circular motion around the plant. This type of weeding is especially important in densely plated gardens where you need to weed around clumping plants that aren’t widely spaced.

4. Hori Hori

Next on my list is an alternative to the weeding sickle (and also of Japanese design) and it is called the Hori Hori. This is the sward of fine gardening, where you can decapitate invading weeds to save ornamental plants in destress. I jest—but am sort of serious too! This little sward has a serrated edge and comes with a leather sheath that can be clipped to your belt for easy access. The Hori Hori is often used as a digging tool that does double duty as a weeding tool. The tip of the steel blade is strong, but not super sharp, and is great for digging small holes for bulbs or planting 4-inch potted plants. The blade can be used similarly as the weeding sickle (mentioned above) by scraping the soil surface and dislodging smaller weeds.

5. Hula Hoe

Both the weeding sickle and the Hori Hori are meant to be used while kneeling or crouching low to the ground when maintaining garden beds. However, this can be ergonomically challenging for long periods of time or for those that have knee and back issues. Because of this, my fifth tool is a hula hoe. The hula hoe (AKA stirrup hoe or oscillating hoe) is meant to be used standing up and is a great tool when weeds are just emerging and ornamental plants are more spread apart. To use, stand straight up with your hands about 1-2 feet apart on the handle (like you would position yourself to use a rake or shovel) put the stirrup on the ground, press gently, and wiggle back and forth over the weeds to disrupt the soil. Note that the stirrup should be positioned so that the flat end of the stirrup is on the ground and makes an obtuse angle between the handle and the stirrup (i.e., the stirrup shouldn’t lie flat on the ground). This tool is simple to use, but can be challenging to master—only because the user’s posture makes all the difference! While using, check that your back is straight and you’re not bending over. Constant bending while using the hula hoe will make a very sore and not so happy gardener!

6. Hand Rake

Next on my list is the hand rake. Small, compact, and designed for using while kneeling and crouching, the hand rake allows easy maneuverability around plants to rake out dislodged weeds and tidy disrupted compost. I really love using the hand rake because it allows me to stay down on the ground and continue working in the same area (versus standing up to use a full-size rake). Bonus points goes to the hand rake because there are fewer tines on the rake, allowing it to fit in those hard to reach places under and around plants.

7. Shrub Rake

At the end of a weeding job, however, I do really love to do a final rake over a larger area. The shrub rake has a full-size handle and is designed to be used while standing, but is compact and has fewer tines than a full-size metal or plastic leaf rake. This design increases maneuverability around densely planted garden beds. This is also a great too for individuals that would prefer to spend more time gardening on their feet.

8. Hand Saw

A good hand saw is an important tool to keep in the garden bucket for those unforeseen circumstances. Chances are, when you go to a property to do a weeding job, you typically won’t need a saw; however, when there’s a branch too big to cut with your hand pruners, or a low-hanging broken branch that needs to be taken care of, you’ll be glad you had the saw with you. The 10 in Carona folding hand saw has been my go to for the last year. It has a sturdy plastic handle that folds into the blade when not in use. There’s a safety button that locks the blade open or closed and it’s also easy to operate (no finagling necessary!). Carona makes this saw in several sizes, but I prefer the 10 in blade because it can saw though larger branches when needed.

9. Little Pal

I used to work on a landscaping crew and the first time I showed up with a Little Pal (AKA mini shovel), I was laughed at (ok, its size makes it laughably adorable). But within the first day, I had my boss asking to use Little Pal after she saw just how darn useful and handy it is! This mini shovel is easy to use while kneeling and you can dig several smaller holes and plant without ever having to get up off the ground. Littl great for digging up smaller plants that will be transplanted somewhere else. For weeding, the mini shovel is great for digging up deep taproots and especially blackberry roots. Adding the Little Pal to your arsenal of weeding tools is well worth the cost and will make you chuckle every time you use it.

10. Buckets

The last two tools on my list aren’t exactly what most people would describe as “weeding tools,” but buckets and tarps are so integral to my kit that I couldn’t leave them off this list. You may be wondering why a bucket is on this list, and I’m here to tell you that you actually need two buckets! You need one bucket to store all your hand tools (minus the hula hoe and shrub rake) and another bucket to toss weeds in.

Staying organized on the job or in your personal garden is important for saving time and keeping tools together. It’s easy to lay a hori hori down on the ground and forget it at the job site. Save yourself the time (and tears once you realized you forgot your tool and have to drive back to the job site to get it!) and just put any tool you’re not using back in the bucket. Keep the bucket close to your work area so all tools are at an arms-reach. The tool bucket can be carried anywhere around the garden and also makes clean-up so much quicker and more organized at the end of the day.

The second bucket is for tossing all those weeds in. Some people prefer making piles of weeds and then coming back later to pick them up. I prefer to remove all weeds from an area and toss them in a bucket. This method spreads the clean-up process throughout the entire weeding job and allows me to ensure all weeds have been removed from an area. Once the bucket is full, I toss all the weeds onto a nearby tarp to move to the woods/compost/larger bin later. Buckets come in all shapes and sizes and don’t have to be fancy at all. I suggest using either a 5-gallon bucket or reuse a larger black plastic pot (3 or 5 gallon sizes work). I find that the black plastic pots are the best because you don’t have to pay for them and their shorter height makes tossing weeds in easier.

11. Tarps

And last but not least, tarps! Can I talk about how much I love tarps? My favorite tarps are on the smaller size and of “medium” durability and thickness. Tarps allow you to make easy to clean up piles of weeds, spread all your tools out on so they don’t get lost in the grass, can also be thrown over your tools quickly when it unexpectedly starts raining, and can become the liner or your car or truck for easy cleaning at the end of the day. These are just a few examples of what tarps can be used for—but the possibilities are endless. I suggest having at least two tarps, as they’re cheap and you’ll find yourself needing more than one often enough!

These are the essential tools in my gardening bucket and are not at all an exhaustive list of the tools you may need to do all gardening jobs—but it’s the essential starter pack for any new (or seasoned) gardener tackling a weeding, planting, or light pruning project. What’s your favorite gardening tool that you can’t live without?