With the holidays upon us, it’s natural for passionate gardeners (like ourselves) to place gardening items on the old ‘Wish List’. Thinking back over the most recent gardening season, I’ve come up with a list of tools that worked well for me and that I would recommend to other gardeners. And, in case Santa is reading this, I’ve even tacked on a few tools at the end that I’d like to have.

Here’s what I have and love:

Winged Weeder

I love the Winged Weeder because it has a simple design and takes little effort. The triangular-shaped blade is attached to a handle, and by simply shuffling the blade across the top ¼ to ½-inch of soil, you can easily dislodge shallow-rooted weeds. This works best with those small weeds that pop up en masse in early spring but are too small to pull up by hand. I’ve also used the winged tips to clean out the cracks in my sidewalk and to make small rows for sowing seeds. The Winger Weeder is available in two blade sizes and two handle sizes—one appropriate for weeding while standing and one for weeding while kneeling.

Cobrahead

The Cobrahead is another weeding tool, but to my mind because of its design has a different application. The business end of the tool is like a long, thin, steel thumbnail welded onto a curved shaft. I use this tool to dig out larger weeds with more of a root system and also to cultivate the soil. Turn the blade on its side and scrape the ground with it and you’ll remove the small weeds. I’ve also used it for creating rows for planting seeds or fertilizing. The Cobrahead comes in both long and short handle sizes, and there is also a mini-size.