The Easy Digging Pointed Hoe - a product review

Good tools are a gardener's best friend and I learned a long time ago that paying a little extra for quality instead of just grabbing the best deal at your local big box store is always a wise decision.  This dawned on me about twenty years ago when I paid $40 (a lot then!) for a Fiskars shovel. I questioned my sanity at the time but that shovel was a game changer and I still have it to this day. 

I don't use garden hoes as much as shovels since I no longer have a vegetable plot but often a chore arises when one comes in handy. Case in point - my recent pathway project where I removed all the existing sod and started over. I had been using a regular grub hoe and I wish I had come across this pointed hoe before I started.

The Pointed Garden Hoe from Easy Digging is a powerful tool. It is very sharp and does an amazing job at penetrating tough soils such as clay. The head is one solid piece of premium grade steel and measures 8" across at the widest point. The head must be assembled to the handle but this is simple to do. Just insert the handle and align it with the marked circle and align the slot.  Hammer the wedge in about 1/2 of the way and, holding it by the top of the handle, pound the wedged end up and down against a concrete floor or surface.

The hardwood handle is very solid and heavy. It measures 5' in length and long enough to prevent stooping.  

 

In addition to easily breaking up hard ground, the hoe is good for digging furrows and hilling potatoes. I have found that it is also quite good for digging up deep-rooted weeds. I've been using this on Italian arum which begins to pop up everything this time of year. One strong jab into the ground and the point of the hoe penetrates deep enough to extract the weed and the bulblets.

If you need a good hoe for the garden or want to give a gardening friend a nice Christmas gift, this is a purchase that should last a lifetime.

Disclosure: Easy Digging sent me a garden hoe for review. I reviewed the tool at my own discretion and without any compensation.The comments here are my own personal opinions.

Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy