Hori hori gardening tool

As Christmas approaches with frightening speed, we may be buying gifts for gardening friends, or being asked what we ourselves might like as a present! Here are some of my ideas.

Hori hori: recently a friend of mine returned to Sydney after seven years in the US, where she worked for quite some time in Central Park in New York as a gardening volunteer. She told me about the hori hori, a Japanese tool that is widely used by gardeners there. I had never heard of it but decided to buy one for myself and am now hooked! The hori hori is a basically a gardening knife that can perform many functions by way of its design. It is made of a solid, sturdy piece of stainless steel about 18 cm long with a wooden handle. It is sharp on both sides but very heavily serrated on one side, so it slides through the soil very easily.

The serrated side of the hori hori can be used like a saw to cut thick stems, vines and roots, and to divide clumping perennials. The non-serrated side can be used like a knife to slice off small weed seedlings just below the soil surface, to shear off old growth of perennials, to remove deadheads, or even to harvest fruit and vegetable crops. The blade can also be used to open bags of mulch or potting mix, or to cut twine. This side of the blade can be honed with a sharpening tool like those used for secateurs. The tool is concave with a sharp tip, so can be used to loosen soil, dig out weeds and plants, and make holes for planting like a trowel. The tool is also marked like a ruler, making it easy to space plants at the correct distance or depth, in the case of bulbs! The tool comes in a leather pouch for storage. There are many brands available on the market, but I think it's probably best to get a genuine Japanese one. The name hori hori is said to be the sound made when digging tough soil with this tool.

Garden snips

Garden snips

Garden snips: this tool is just a very compact pair of secateurs that I keep in a jar on the hallstand just inside my front door. They are useful for cutting the herbs growing near the door, or for those times when I have just ten spare minutes or so that I can spend trimming off a flower few deadheads or wayward stems in my front garden. It certainly isn't full-on gardening, where I need to be decked out in full gardening regalia and with all my equipment by my side for a few solid hours of work. But those couple of minutes can make a difference to the look of the garden and can also be very therapeutic, and this little tool is always on hand for the task.

My new gum boots

My new gum boots

Gum boots: after the incredible rain our gardens have received this year, I was pining for a pair of gum boots, as there were times when my garden was literally so sodden, that I couldn't venture out into it. My recent birthday saw my wish realised and I am now ready if (as one glum prediction suggests) La Nina is going to hang around for quite some time to come.

The new sunglasses

The new sunglasses

Sunglasses: my birthday also saw me receive some new sunglasses, essential wear for gardening work to protect eyes from harsh UV sunlight. My sunglasses really do get a workout - often lost for ages in the garden when put down absent-mindedly, one pair actually ending up in the compost heap, emerging a twisted wreck some months later due to the heat generated by the decomposing pile! I've vowed to look after the new pair more diligently.

Book voucher: there are lots of new gardening books that have been published this year that would make great gifts for gardeners, including Diego Bonetto's Eat Weeds: A field guide to foraging - how to identify, harvest, eat and use wild plants and ex-Botanic Gardens director Tim Entwistle's memoir Evergreen: The botanical life of a plant punk; if not sure of what your recipient would like, a book voucher is perfect. Along the same lines, a voucher for a nursery is also a welcome gift, and can give much pleasure to someone as they wander around working out exactly what they will buy.

Garden journals are very useful

Garden journals are very useful

Garden journal: I have always kept a garden journal to write down my thoughts, successes, failures, ideas, lists of plants bought, what is out in my garden in any particular month and so on. I also sometimes describe gardens I have visited and plants I would like to try one day. The many volumes are an invaluable record of my gardening journey and have helped me in many ways to improve my garden. They also provide a good laugh at times when I read my early, earnest entries of how I was going to make an English cottage garden. Any old exercise book can be used but there are so many beautiful blank books available, and also some that are specifically intended for garden journalling.

Kneepads for gardening

Kneepads for gardening

Gardening knee-pads: with a slightly dodgy knee, I always wear knee-pads to protect the joints when gardening and I think they would make a good gift. It's worth seeking out robust ones, as many are simply not up to the job and wear out too quickly or don't secure well enough. The best ones I have had (pictured) are made of thick, moulded, rigid plastic and are waterproof. Sometimes the best ones are found in hardware stores in the section for tradesmen.

More gardening gift ideas can be found here.