DO YOU DIG IT?
We’ve done the digging and rooted out the weeds to find our pick of the crop in trowels. By Richard Hood
When it comes to naming the most versatile, oft-used tool in the garden shed, the humble hand trowel is hard to beat. The hand fork may possess superior delving and prodding capabilities, but for shovelling compost, digging seed drills (and not to mention the vanquishing of snails and cat droppings from raised beds) a trowel beats its slender-pronged sibling hands down.
There are multitudes on the market, but which should you plunge for? We’ve been digging around – looking for ergonomic, effectively designed trowels that will consistently stand up to the rigours of a hearty gardening spree – and have unearthed 10 of the best.
Spear & Jackson Neverbend Weatherproof Garden Trowel: £10.49, Amazon
The boastful “Neverbend” moniker of this stumpy trowel almost sounds like a challenge to the gung-ho gardener to prove otherwise. With its decently proportioned, rust-repelling carbon steel blade, this trowel can certainly withstand plenty of mistreatment. The short tang (the bit between the handle and the blade) makes this implement feel extra sturdy in use.
Wilko Garden Hand Trowel: £5, Wilko
This bargain trowel ticks all the boxes, boasting a rust-resistant stainless steel blade, comfy ergonomic handle (made from sustainably sourced, FSC-certified wood) and handy hanging strap. It doesn't feel like it’ll stand up to too much misuse – you wouldn't want to repeatedly plunge this trowel into frozen earth for instance – but task it on potting up duties and light weeding and it’ll cope admirably. For five quid, you can’t really go wrong.
Burgon & Ball FloraBrite Yellow Hand Trowel: £10.99, Burgon & Ball
Designed for the careless gardener who is prone to misplacing tools, this brash luminescent trowel will shine like a beacon from the undergrowth when parted from its owner. The tool feels reassuringly weighty in use and offers up a deep dish blade area for maximum soil scooping capabilities. Available in two retinawrecking colours: yellow and pink. (It’s also endorsed by the Royal Horticultural Society, which clearly knows a thing or two about gardening).
Sneeboer Heart Shaped Trowel: £36.95, Harrod Horticultural
You’ll have to dig deep into your pockets for this pricey prince of the toolshed. It’s hand-forged from steel and boasts a cherrywood handle, so it’s not the sort of thing you want to lose in the compost bin. The wide, heart-shaped head makes it ideal for digging seed trenches, and the super sharp pointy tip helps this trowel glide into hard-packed, stony ground. Choose the “engrave a message” option if you’re looking for a gift (or just want to treat yourself, of course) and add up to 75 characters for an extra £7. Comes with a 10-year guarantee.
Burgon & Ball Rockery Trowel: £12.99, Notcutts
Based on a Victorian design, this slender, stainless-steel tool is meant for dipping into the nooks of a rockery where a traditional-shaped trowel would struggle to reach. The blade of this shiny-beaked tool also wraps around the handle, making for a sturdy trowel to wield. The mirrored finish on the blade helps it slip into the soil, with the curved, narrow point making it a breeze to prize out troublesome weeds. It’s also a useful tool to have at hand when transplanting delicate seedlings.
Niwaki Hori Hori: £23, Niwaki
Is it a knife? Is it a trowel? This Japanese garden tool can be used as both. The sides of its slim, carbon steel blade curl upwards slightly, making it a useful soil shifter, while the sharp pointy end excels in precision weeding duties that involve poking, prodding, delving and slicing. This handy implement, which a beech wood handle, comes with a choice of belt-mounted sheaths for quick draw garden engagements when weeds need to be expelled in a hurry.
Roughneck Round Point Micro Shovel: £11.99, Wickes
Hailing from the robust Roughneck range of heavy duty tools that includes jemmy bars and sledgehammers, this micro shovel fills the gap when you require something bigger than a trowel but smaller than a spade. The fibreglass D-shaped handle provides welcome purchase for tough digging jobs, while the sturdy steel cutting head glides into stony soil with assured ease. It’s the perfect tool for digging out the root balls of small trees and shrubs where space can prove tricky to use a larger spade. This micro shovel also happens to be a favourite amongst detectorists, where it is used for unearthing roman coin hoards/rusty tin cans.
Kent and Stowe Stainless Steel Border Hand Trowel: £14.99, Amazon
Do your bones clack like castanets when bending over to tend your borders? With a long-handled trowel you can wage war against weeds while remaining (relatively) upright. This super-sized 60cm long trowel from Kent and Stowe offers excellent leverage and reach when delving and digging, and will also save your hands from a savaging if conducting your gardening business in beds containing prickly plants. The smooth, gently tapered ash handle makes this tool a joy to wield.
Dewit Tulip Shaped Trowel: £19.99, Dewit
It looks the world like a sinister medieval torturing device, but this curiously designed tool is based on the shape of a tulip, and was designed especially for the 2011 Chelsea Flower Show. The zig-zag cutting edge makes this tool a kind of fork-trowel hybrid, which allows for short work of claggy soil and rips through stubborn roots. There is plenty of soil-shifting capacity in the large scoop, and the ergonomic, FSCapproved ash handle feels reassuringly solid during prolonged trowelling sessions.
Pedigree Steel Transplanting Trowel: £10.80, Pedigree
Pedigree is the hand tool division of Bulldog – an ace spade maker that is renowned for producing highquality garden implements. This trowel keeps up the family tradition. It feels strong and nicely balanced when battling weedy borders, and the depth gauge inscribed on the stainless steel blade makes for a handy reference point when planting bulbs that require plunging in at a specific depth.
The Verdict
We dig the Spear & Jackson NeverBend trowel. True to its word, the Neverbend never bent during testing.
Have we missed any brands? Do you agree with our expert's choices? Drop us a line with any feedback or questions on indybest@independent.co.uk