Two weeding/cultivating handtools.

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It's All In the Wrist
I have three scuffle type Hula Hoes in my storage shed. People keep giving them to me because I'm a gardener and seem to think I have a personal vendetta against weeds. That's not true. In fact, I let many of the weeds grow to maturity without any thought of running the blade of a long handled hoe through their roots. I do on occasion remove weeds in my vegetable beds because I don't want them competing with my food crop. My raised beds have such loose soil I can easily pull most weeds with two fingers.

On the other hand there are times I'd like to work a little compost or maybe a bit of fertilizer between the rows of growing vegetables. I usually use a hand cultivator which has three metal prongs but it can be a bit wide on narrow rows and sometimes hangs up on roots.

While browsing a garden catalog I came across two plastic handled weeders/cultivators and decided to give them both a try since they were a bit different in design. Basically, eachis a short metal blade attached to a plastic handle. One was manufactured in Canada and called the Garden Bandit™. The other is manufactured in the USA under the name Le Weeder.

The Bandit has a U - shaped blade with a total 2-inch width and Le Weeder more of triangle shape cutting edge with a 3½-inch width. Both have plastic handles but the Bandit is a solid piece while Le Weeder is two pieces joined together with screws.

The Garden Bandit™.
Le Weeder.

In the garden I found myself using the Bandit more often than Le Weeder because of the sturdier feel, narrower cutting edge and the fact that I could stick the thing in my back pocket when not in use. One strike against Le Weeder was the raised lettering on the handle. If you're not wearing gloves the raised letters become irritating if not abrasive to fingers and palm.

In my gardener's mind, both tools could be improved. I really like smooth wooden handles on my hand tools and it would be nice if the tool had a belt clip or a way to attach it to a belt loop for carrying in the garden. You also have to have pretty good sized hand to get a good grip on either of the tools.

I purchased The Garden Bandit for $9.98 and Le Weeder for $5.98 not including postage and handling. Garden Bandit has a website if you're looking for additional information about the tool. Both tools can be found on the Web at Pinetree Garden Seeds.