The Iowa Gardener: These hand tools make great gifts for gardeners

Hand tools make great, simple gifts for the gardeners in your life — and you, too. They’re reasonably priced, and the only maintenance they need keeping them relatively clean and dry when not in use.

So I’m sharing a list of my very favorite hand tools. I can’t pick a favorite, but I can say I would not like gardening without any one of them.

Garden and home centers carry some of these tools, but all can be purchased easily online, as well.

Cape Cod Weeder

With its pointed tip, this tool is indispensable for getting weeds out of nooks and crannies with surgical precision. Twist it slightly and it’s also ideal for wiping out swaths of small weeds or loosening just the top layer of soil. Twist it again and pull it through the soil to make a fine furrow for planting seeds. Hack it into the soil and it will effectively gouge out small planting holes. Cost: $25 to $65 for the long-handled version to prevent kneeling

Asian Plow

Also called an E-Z digger, Ho-Mi digger, or Korean hand plow. It’s similar to the Cape Cod weeder, but has a slightly different design that makes it stronger and move more soil. Its tip is less precise but stronger. If you twist it slightly, it also will plow up soil. But it’s really good for hacking hard soil to dig up roots or plant a larger plant and for digging larger furrows or moving more soil or tougher material, like gravel. Be sure to get the one that looks like a twisted heart, not the less-effective version shaped more like a simple blade. Cost: $25 to $45 for the long-handled version.

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Curved Pruning Saw

This nimble saw fits between tight branches and saws through even hardwoods quickly and efficiently, with both strokes of the blade. It will easily cut fairly thick branches with minimal fatigue to your arm and wrist. Cost: $20 to $120, depending on type of blade, handle, construction, and if a sheath is sold with it.

Garden Knife/Hori knife

It seems like every month I find a new use for this knife. It’s not particularly sharp, but it’s excellent for digging narrow deep holes, weeding out dandelions, ripping open plastic bags of things like mulch, plunging into a small area (like a pot), and loosening the soil, digging out deep narrow tree seedlings, and more. Cost: $15 to $50, depending on the materials used and if a holster is included.

Veronica Lorson Fowler is co-publisher of the Iowa Gardener website at www.theiowagardener.com.