The garden hoe is a useful tool for ongoing garden maintenance. Once a border has been cleared of any perennial nuisances, like dandelions, the hoe can be used to keep a border looking its best. The blade is small enough to fit around plants in your border.

Here are some things you should look out for when buying a garden hoe.

Blade

Most hoe blades are made of carbon steel for its strength. The only drawback to a carbon steel blade is that they are more susceptible to rust than the stainless steel ones. One of the benefits carbon steel has over the stainless steel blades is that it’s easier to sharpen.

Type of hoe

There are a few different types of hoes with a variety of blades.

• Dutch hoe - This is the most commonly used. It has a sharp, wide and open blade that skims across the surface of the soil taking out weed as it goes.

• Draw hoe - This hoe has a blade that is one solid piece and is at a  90° angle to the handle.

• Stirrup hoe - This hoe is named so because the blade and mount is shaped like a stirrup.

• Heart-shaped hoe - This hope is good for breaking up compacted soil, making furrows or drills.

Handle length

The handle length is something that you should be aware of because, like all long handled tools, it will depend on you. There’s no point getting a hoe that is too big or too small for you because you’ll end up straining yourself.

Best Garden Hoe

Here is Gardenwilds top 5 best spade.

No. 5 |

This is a good lightweight option because of the tubular handle but it still feels robust. The blade is sharp and moves through the soil well. It’s made of stainless steel which as we’ve said before won’t rust as easily but is harder to sharpen. The soft grip handle on the end is comfortable even when pushing into compacted soil.

I would say this is a good option for a home gardener or someone who has problems with their back.

For these reason this is No. 5 on Gardenwilds best garden hoe.

No. 4 |

I’m a big fan of Wold Garten and their products have featured in my best hand cultivators, best loppers and best rakes blogs. They make solid reliable tools… with red handles.

This hoe is both sharp and durable and it moves through the soil with ease. The angle of the blade is perfect for my height meaning that I don’t have to stoop. The locking mechanism works really well.

This Dutch hoe is part of a series of interchangeable heads that fit Wolf Garten handles.  One of the things that I really like about interchangeable heads is that they’re compact. You can fit a number of heads in a bag and then you only need one handle.

For these reasons this is No. 4 on Gardenwilds best garden hoe.

No. 3 |

This garden hoe is great for manoeuvring around plants in your border because of the blade size. The blade is sharp and easily works the soil.

The wooden handle is comfortable but I would say a bit too small for me. I’m 6’ and I had to stoop down to use this hoe. This is an important point to make because if you spend prolonged periods of time stopping you are going to hurt your back.

For these reason this is No. 3 on Gardenwilds best garden hoe.

No. 2 |

The handle is made of hardened aluminium which makes it light. One of the things that I like about this hoe is the teeth on the inside of the blade that further break up the soil. This gives the soil a finish you might otherwise have to use a hand cultivator to achieve.

This hoe is robust and well made. It's a good size for me to use and the blade is sharp and brakes up the soil effectively.

For these reasons this is No. 2 on Gardenwilds best garden hoe.

No. 1 |

Here’s our number 1! The Spear and Jackson Dutch hoe is well made and a very comfortable tool to use. The angle of the carbon steel blade is perfect for my height. The ash wood handle is nice and long so it doesn’t hurt my back.

The blade slices through compacted soil with ease. This is a good hoe for people doing regular garden maintenance jobs where time matters. It makes very light work of the border and leaves them with a good professional finish.

For these reason this is No. 1 on Gardenwilds best garden hoe.