When it comes to looking for the best garden hand tools, I think it’s fair to say it’s not an easy task with so many different styles that are now available. Looking for the best garden, the trowel is no different. They now come in many different shapes and materials in this article. We hope to bring you not only the best but a better understand of what to look for when making your purchase.
The garden trowel can undertake many different jobs from cutting thought soil in the boarders thought to potting plants. However, with so many different makes, you may be confused, as I was, and this let me on a search to find the best.
IN A HURRY? HERE’S OUR TOP PICKS…
Last update on 2024-04-21 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
We lay out the top 5 best garden tool reviews right at the top, for the people who just want to know what is the best available today. However, if you want to know a little more about the trusty trowel, then we have a guide to show you all the essential things you want to consider.
1. Fiskars Ergo Trowel
- GARDENING ESSENTIAL: Heavy duty, ergonomic hand trowel ideal for a variety of gardening tasks like digging in tough soil, maintaining your herb...
- MAXIMUM POWER AND PRECISION: Cast-aluminum head boosts power for digging in tough soil and enhances rust resistance; Ergonomic handle allows for...
- LONG-LASTING AND RELIABLE: Polished aluminum head stays sharp through heavy use and provides excellent durability for lasting value; Fiskars hand...
- QUALITY GARDEN TOOLS: Designed to help you cultivate a better garden, Fiskars garden and yard tools are equipped with smart technologies and...
- INCLUDES: Fiskars Ergo Trowel with hang hole; Full lifetime warranty
Last update on 2024-04-21 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Created with ease of use and endurance in mind, the Fiskars Ergo Trowe at 13 inches wide, features an orange and black plastic handle that is great for helping to prevent hand and wrist fatigue. Its bright color also makes it easy to locate should you misplace it either in the grass or in the garden. Furthermore, there is a hang hole on the handle of this gardening trowel so that you can hang it on a hook when you want to put it away.
Ergonomic Design
The handle is ergonomically designed, meaning that it’s a little contoured to provide you with a firmer grip, and there’s even a non-slip surface in the center.
Since it’s made from aluminum, the trowel weighs only around 3 ounces, making it perfect for avoiding wrist and hand strain. This especially comes in handy if you spend a lot of time outdoors gardening, pulling weeds, planting flowers, and in general use a trowel frequently. It also keeps the handle from bruising your palm, as can happen with repeatedly pushing it into compacted soil, or using it to pull weeds, etc.,
Rust Resistant Trowel Head
The polished trowel head made from rust-resistant cast-aluminum won’t rust if you forget the trowel outside, and it rains. The sides curve upward, so it holds soil without spilling, which is great for when you have to dig holes or fill buckets with dirt. And the long-lasting design means that it won’t break even during vigorous digging.
Furthermore, it’s inexpensive and does its job well, digging relatively quickly through even dense soil. Lightweight and rust-resistant, it provides excellent value for the price.
2. Wilcox All Pro 202S Trowel, Stainless Steel
- UNBREAKABLE METAL: No fear of bending or breaking due to high quality, ultralight, rugged heavy-duty 16 GA. stainless steel
- PUT GARDENING BACK INTO YOUR HANDS: Works well for deep bulb planting & breaking up stubborn clods in the garden. Cuts through hard soil
- NO-SLIP GRIP: Handle is coated in heavy duty plastic for a comfortable and tight grip when digging or transporting materials
- PERFECT FOR CAMPERS & HUNTERS: Whether you're camping, backpacking, or treasure hunting, take your trip to a whole new level with this portable...
- NO FUSS, NO HASSLE: All Wilcox All-Pro gardening and cultivating tools come with a lifetime warranty and are proudly made in Iowa, USA
Last update on 2024-04-21 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
This trowel is built to last unlike some other weaker models and has earned its position as one of the best selling trowels out there today. The entire trowel is made from high-grade stainless steel, giving it excellent durability, and it is also rust-resistant and not prone to bending.
An excellent trowel for breaking down hard clumps of earth and for digging deep holes. One of the best features of this trowel is that it has sharper edges that many other brands of gardening trowel lack.
Moreover, this trowel has leather handles of superior quality and a head with depth marking great for planting bulbs, so you will be able to tell whether or not the hole you dig is at the proper depth. All in all, makes for an ideal choice for your gardening needs.
3. Garden Guru Super Strong Garden Trowel
- ONE TOOL ALL GARDENERS USE - Planting, transplanting, removing stubborn weeds, mixing soil and compost or scooping fertilizer, the Hand-E Garden...
- POLISHED STAINLESS STEEL - Rust Resistant Blade is Thick for Strength and Durability, Wide and Concave for Scooping, Properly Designed for...
- COMFORTABLE ERGONOMIC HANDLE - Large and Thick with Thumb Rest on top and Finger Grooves on bottom. Well Designed for those in search of an...
- NOT JUST FOR GARDENING - Strong, rugged and well suited for nearly all outdoor assignments. Placer mining for gold, metal detecting for lost...
- 🌱 Responsibly Produced: Garden Guru uses recycled and recyclable materials where possible, and is committed to reducing environmental impact....
Last update on 2024-04-21 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
One tool for all gardeners needs – Whether it’s planting, digging out weeds, transplanting, or what have you, this gardening trowel is a marvelous tool. Made from stainless steel with an ergonomic grip, it is ideal for weeding, digging in the garden bed, transplanting, whatever your needs, this hand shovel will take care of it.
Created from polished stainless steel, this item is both rust and stain-resistant. Made of lasting and strong material, the trowel will not bend or change its shape under the stress of normal use. The manufacturer is so certain of their product’s durability that it provides a lifetime warranty.
The handles come in a fantastic design that gives the maximum user grip. It can be used for scooping soil or fertilizers, and for removing weeds without difficulty. Not only is the blade made to resist rust, but it is thick for better-added strength and to make it longer lasting.
Furthermore, this product comes with an Ergonomic handle for greater comfort in use, including a thumb rest on the top and finger grooves on the bottom. A firm grip that lessens hand strain and fatigue.
All this, plus it comes with a lifetime guarantee. This shows the manufacturer’s faith in it’s long-lasting, sturdy capacity.
4. Wolf-Garten LUSM Multi-Change Hand Trowel
- Part of the Multi-Change Range
- 8cm Width
- Strong and Robust
- Ideal for Planting and Transplanting
- 10 Year Guarantee
Last update on 2023-09-07 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
This trowel is perfect for planting shrubs and other plants around your garden. Durable and multi-purpose, it can be used with any one of an array of handles for a variety of garden tasks for which you need to bend or remain standing made with prongs, tines, and blades that are strong enough to withstand ordinary wear and tear, bending, and the constant threat of rust.
Created from top-notch metal, this hand trowel is an excellent tool that has been designed to last. The proof of this is the 10 year guarantee that it comes with. This is a multi-tasking tool that provides you with all the tools you will require for keeping your border plants in excellent and thriving. Moreover, this tool is lightweight and easy to use. Just click on the different handles and click the tool head so that it’s locked into place, and you are ready to go.
For those of you out there who are fervid gardeners and know the frustration of breaking trowel after trowel that was supposed to be sturdy and strong, this just may be the answer to your prayers.
5. Radius Garden 106 Ergonomic Aluminium Hand Scooper
- Use this monster scooper like a giant trowel for digging, planting, mixing soil and potting. Ideal for raised beds & container gardening.
- Ultra-lightweight, die-cast aluminum blades are stronger than steel and will never rust.
- Slightly oversized, flattened elliptical grip for ergonomic comfort. Made from a comfortable non-latex, thermoplastic elastomer and brightly...
- Classic design with modern materials
- Lifetime Guarantee (Continental US Only)
Last update on 2024-04-21 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
This product is made by the top brand Radius Garden and is truly an excellent gardening trowel. With an Ergonomic design that greatly improves the efficiency and performance of the trowel, this item is lightweight, but with a special grip that is truly unique. But while the appearance might seem a bit strange, the special Radius Grip does its job amazingly well, eliminating hand and wrist strain while providing the ultimate in ease of use and strength.
The huge scooper enables you to mix soil, quickly fill up your gardening pots and is even so sturdy that you can use it to stir hot coals in your outdoor grill. The aluminum blade is serrated so that you can tear open bags of soil or slice through twine, plus it is sharper and more powerful than steel and rustproof.
The special hand has a non-latex, comfortable grip that’s perfect for those gardeners out with compromised hand strength due to arthritis, or even carpal tunnel syndrome, or a variety of other illnesses. This grip is so good that it has been patented, and can give you a firm grip even when wet.
This is a truly great trowel that has been a long time in the making, and for which gardeners everywhere have been a long time waiting. It is exactly what you need to ensure that your gardening chores will become easier and to restore that old pleasure you used to take in gardening.
Best Gardening Trowels Buying Guide
When it comes to selecting a choosing the best garden trowel, I think it’s fair to say it’s not an easy task. However, with a little research on all the critical components of a garden trowel, the task of finding the best is made a lot easier.
Some may say that this is a simple tool; this holds a little truth, but accessing some of the key components of a trowel and seeing how they will be applied to your yard will give you a much better tool than aimlessly choosing one.
So below, I have included some of the critical components and what you should look for when making your purchase.
How to choose the best gardening trowel
A trowel can be defined as a small shovel that fits in the gardener’s hand. It has a pointed, scoop-shaped blade attached to the handle. It is commonly used for breaking up earth, digging, planting, and weeding, well-known for being versatile and durable. When it comes to both experienced and new gardeners, a trowel can get the job done for both of them, although the experts at Gear Hungry recommend, especially for those who recently got interested in landscaping, to take the time and check out different options for them to choose the one that suits their needs the most.
There’s an immense variety of gardening trowels to choose from. However, it is important to keep their quality in mind, since those who are constructed poorly don’t tend to last long. This is mainly because they can be subjected to a lot of torque while digging in loose, dry potting soil. According to the experts from The Fabulous Garden, a narrow rod connecting the handle and the scoop needs to be avoided at all costs, mainly because they prone to bending, regardless of how sturdy the model is. However, if this is the model the buyer is going for, it is important to make sure that they’re heavyweight with a secure weld.
Plastic handle trowels are another thing to be wary of, especially if it connects right to the scoop. Even if there’s a small nub of metal on top of it, this doesn’t give the user enough leverage, prompting it to snap off once a lot of pressure jumps straight onto the mix. Now, light-duty trowels shall be avoided as well, since they’re not as sturdy as regular models. On the other hand, there are a few more things to take into consideration while buying these tools:
Material
Garden trowels are often made of stainless steel, fiberglass, polystyrene, and aluminum. While all of them have their respective advantages and disadvantages, which require to be pondered when it comes to choosing the one that is more suitable for the task. There are also carbon steel garden trowels, which are not prone to fatigue and can be burnished, giving them a long life. They also have a strong blade and great wear resistance. However, a carbon steel garden trowel can rust and it’s usually heavy.
On the other hand, stainless steel garden trowels are made of this strong iron alloy with a minimum of 10.5% chromium, often being paired up with nickel, titanium, and copper, enhancing its strength. This is the most common variety available, often being the most suitable for hard ground. Not only that, but it’s also rust-resistant and it has low soil addition. The only disadvantage of this garden trowel is that it’s expensive. On the other side of the spectrum, their plastic equivalent is cheap and made from a carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer, creating a strong but lightweight material. It comes in bright colors but it doesn’t make much impact on the soil and breaks easily. This is mainly because the blade is not sharp, so it wouldn’t be wise to use it for heavy-duty work.
Summing up materials…
An aluminum garden trowel is as cheap and lightweight as a plastic one, but it’s rust-resistant. Sadly, it’s the least durable of them all, since it’s not as strong as steel blades and loses sharpness rather quickly. It’s also prone to chipping, so it’s important to be careful. On the other hand, the expensive bronze garden trowel, the former being its only disadvantage when compared to other materials, can endure corrosion and deters slugs from the garden. Similar to its stainless steel counterpart, it has low soil adhesion and it’s durable as well. This interesting fellow has sharp edges, making it suitable for working in the garden. On the other hand, the preferred option for digging in hard soil is the stainless steel garden trowel, mainly because it’s strong enough to dig in hard soil.
Blade
Aside from the length of the blade, it is important to see whether it’s been beveled, curved or pointed, which allows it to break down the toughest soil. When it comes to digging deep into the earth, a narrow, long blade is the best option, whereas its wider counterpart is more suitable for scoping out soil and transplanting flowers and small plants. However, if the user needs to measure soil, they should opt for one that has gradation marks to keep track of their work. There are even garden trowels with back-blade wings, which are the best option to remove tough weeds and roots.
Now, when it comes to its sharpness, this is a key factor that determines how efficient it is. This becomes important for digging and scooping. The sharper it is, the easier these two get. Of course, it is important to mention that it doesn’t last forever. Thus, it might seem like a no brainer, but the user shall keep an eye out for when it starts loosening up.
All our recommendations above are very shape tools and made to stay shape with lots of use.
Handle
The comfort of the handle shall be taken into consideration when it comes to working in the garden for a long period. The best option would be an ergonomic design that combines a soft material with a secure grip. Paddled handles with a contoured grip tend to be suitable for those who want to have extra leverage without elevating hand and wrist strength. On a side note, a larger handle with a palm rest made of rubber and finger grip with a contour shape can also help with this issue. Of course, deciding whether using a long or a short one, the former giving more control while digging deep in hard and compressed soil, while the latter is good for scooping from a small plant or flower housing.
Warranty
According to 10 Best Garden Trowels in 2020, some garden trowels come with a limited lifetime warranty. Of course, this won’t always be the case, hence why it’s important to check whether they have one or not. This will come especially handy for factory defects, saving a few bucks in the process. Reputed brands are the most likely to offer a warranty, contrary to their generic counterparts.
What I like to see if anything comes with a warranty are two-plus years this shows the company in question believes they have built a product that is going to last and they trust it will last. But with this said a garden trowel with no warranty would not put me off unless it’s being abused by the user you really shouldn’t be breaking a trowel unless of course, you are tackling a job that a trowel is meant to be used on.
Budget
It goes without saying that there’s a wide variety of prices. This depends on brand reputation, design, handle material and quality of the product. Of course, this should not be a major concern while purchasing a garden trowel, since it all depends on what the customer is looking for.
The best may be different for each person, it all comes down to what the individual wants from there new tool. Use the above factors that I have listed to narrow down your selections and then chose your best doing this will help you pick a tool that will last you many years.
Conclusion
A garden trowel is a must-have hand tool for any gardener and I really hope that my article really helps you find the best garden trowel for your needs.
All my recommendations above are trowels that are from brands to be trusted. Also, I have put each on stress test its important when reading reviews is to read old reviews from people who have been using the tool for months if not years.
We have plenty of other tool guides on my websites like the best hedge shears or best hand loppers both hand tools, for the more traditional gardener.
I hope that you find a tool in my list that is going to last you many happy gardening years.