7 Best Garden Trowels to Fill Every Digging & Planting Need
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Some people might not get how particular gardeners are about their favorite hand trowel. It’s the same kind of thing as people who will use only one type of pen or pencil. One just works for you, and once you’ve found it, that’s it.
If you haven’t found the best garden trowel for yourself yet, you should definitely take a look through this list. An excellent tool that you really love using can make all sorts of tasks in the garden much easier and more enjoyable. Whether you’re weeding or digging holes to plant new bulbs or saplings, you need the right tool.
On this list, I’ve gathered several of the best garden trowels that are for sale. I’m sure that you can find one that will be your new favorite or get a new one that can help you with that one task you’ve been struggling with.
Key Takeaways
I can’t count the number of different hand trowels I’ve used over my years of gardening, and I’ve used all that experience to help me build this list. Overall, the Fiskars Ergo Trowel is the best garden trowel for everyday use. It’s equally useful for planting and weeding, and it’s heavy-duty enough to work in tough soil conditions without bending or breaking.
When I think about all those garden trowels I’ve used, from the cheap ones I picked up randomly to the expensive ones I carefully selected, it’s exactly those features I’ve always been looking for. But, I’ve also included some garden hand trowel options for specific use cases, such as planting bulbs (the Edward Tools Transplanter Trowel) or working in soil with lots of roots (the Japanese Serrated Edge Garden Trowel).
dewitgardentools / Instagram
Best Overall: Fiskars Ergo Trowel
Why This is a Quality Choice: The Fiskars Ergo Trowel is an excellent product that proves that simple and tested design is often all you need. There’s nothing particularly unique about this trowel, and that’s part of what makes it the best garden trowel on this list. It’s simply well made and does its job.
Who is this for? This is the sort of standard trowel that every gardener should have on them at all times. It’s an all-purpose tool that you can always find a use for, even if you’ve got a whole bunch of specialty trowels around.
Flaws but not deal-breakers: This hand trowel doesn’t have a very sharp point, which makes it easier to use in soft soils but can be a struggle if you’re dealing with some particularly hard or packed soil.
Blade Material: Cast Aluminum | Handle Material: Cast Aluminum with plastic and rubber | Length: 12.5 inches | Weight: 6.4 ounces
Best Budget: thovorrnl Cast-Aluminum Garden Hand Trowel
Why This is a Quality Choice: This garden trowel is another simple yet effective product that doesn’t have many features added on. It feels very well-constructed, despite the budget pricing. I found that the wide shovel is great for tasks like filling pots and moving dirt, as it holds a lot of weight in each scoop.
Who is this for? I’d say that this is best for people who do some gardening on occasion but aren’t out every single day. If you just need a simple hand trowel for a great price, it’s an excellent option.
Flaws but not deal-breakers: The hard rubber handle isn’t fused into the blade itself, which means that there’s a risk of breaking with very heavy use. This does help the trowel feel light and easy to use, though.
Blade Material: Cast Aluminum | Handle Material: Rubber | Length: 11.8 inches | Weight: 4.6 ounces
Best Traditional: DeWit Forged Hand Trowel
Why This is a Quality Choice: This garden trowel by DeWit is a premium product that holds value in its excellent materials and construction. Its strong, alloy steel blade is capable of cutting through densely packed soil. That’s especially the case if you use a sharpener to keep its edges on point. And, lastly, I have to point out the fact that the simple wood handle looks and feels great.
Who is this for? As a pricier option, I’d say that gardeners who’ll be using their trowel a lot and want a truly excellent product could consider getting the DeWit Forged Hand Trowel.
Flaws but not deal-breakers: Although many people would prefer the wooden handle to something plastic or rubber, it can be a bit tough on your hands if you aren’t using gloves.
Blade Material: Alloy steel | Handle Material: Alloy steel and wood | Length: 12 inches | Weight: 8 ounces
Best Serrated: Japanese Serrated Edge Garden Trowel
Why This is a Quality Choice: The Japanese Serrated Edge Garden Trowel does an exceptional job at digging through tough soil as a result of its heavily serrated blades (that are very similar to a hori hori knife). It even makes short work of the thicker roots that you sometimes have to go through when planting in the spring. You can also use the serrated edge to help you measure how deep you’re planting, which is helpful for bulbs that need to be planted at a very specific depth.
Who is this for? If you’re planning to grow plants or flowers from bulbs, this is the perfect tool for you.
Flaws but not deal-breakers: The narrow blade doesn’t hold a ton of soil, but that makes it easier for you to dig down when planting.
Blade Material: Alloy steel | Handle Material: Alloy steel and wood | Length: 13.5 inches | Weight: 7.7 ounces
Best Sharpened Point: Kemaier Heavy-Duty Trowel
Why This is a Quality Choice: Of all the trowels on this list, this one has the sharpest point and is therefore the most effective at making it through tough soil. It also has a couple other notable features, like a printed ruler to help you precisely measure how deep you’re planting. It also has one serrated edge, which can be useful for dealing with any troublesome spots.
Who is this for? Gardeners that live in clay-rich environments or often find themselves working with waterlogged soil could benefit from getting this product.
Flaws but not deal-breakers: At over 10.5 ounces, this is the heaviest tool on this list to lug around. But it’s meant to be a heavy-duty tool that can take on any challenge, whether that’s roots or clay or rocks, so the weight makes sense.
Blade Material: Stainless steel | Handle Material: Stainless steel and rubber | Length: 12.6 inches | Weight: 10.56 Ounces
Best for Transplanting: Edward Tools Transplanter Trowel
Why This is a Quality Choice: The Edward Tools Transplanter Trowel is almost the complete opposite type of trowel from the last one on the list. It feels really light and easy to use, with a thin blade that’s great for digging small holes for transplanting flowers and vegetables. It also has an engraved ruler in the blade to help you judge how deep you’re digging.
Who is this for? If you do a lot of transplanting in soil that tends to be light and easy to work with, this is the ideal tool for you.
Flaws but not deal-breakers: As you’d expect, the main flaw of this tool is that it’s light and can feel flimsy compared to some of the other tools on this list. I wouldn’t recommend using it in very tough conditions, but it’s excellent if you don’t need a very heavy trowel where you’re working.
Blade Material: Aluminum | Handle Material: Rubber | Length: 12.44 inches | Weight: 5.6 ounces
Best for Weeding: Garden Weasel Multi-Use Trowel and Transplanter
Why This is a Quality Choice: The last product on this list is the best garden trowel to use for weeding and breaking up soil for planting. Its ridged blade is great for pulling up soil and helping you access those annoying weeds that root themselves really deeply. It’s also foldable, which makes it super easy to store and transport.
Who is This For? If you’re more concerned with weeding and preparing your soil to plant loose seeds than you are with transplanting, I’d recommend this product for you.
Flaws but not deal-breakers: Its unique shape takes some getting used to, but once you figure it out there’s a lot of different tasks you can accomplish with it.
Blade Material: AluminIron | Handle Material: AluminIron and plastic | Length: 13 inches | Weight: 11 ounces
garden_weasel / Instagram
Buying Considerations for The Best Garden Trowels
Material
Garden trowels are usually made from aluminum, stainless steel, or carbon steel, each of which has pluses and minuses. Aluminum is the lightest material but also a bit easier to deform from use. Carbon steel, on the other hand, is the hardest material but is prone to rusting if used in wet conditions. And when it comes to stainless steel, you’re in between the other two: it’s harder than aluminum but more resistant to rust than carbon steel.
Length
The length of a garden trowel’s blade determines how deeply you can dig with each scoop. Personally, I prefer a medium-length garden trowel that can work in most contexts. But, if you’re planting something that needs to go deeper in the ground, you’ll want a longer shovel. Some plants, however, don’t need to go very deep, so a very long blade will be overkill.
Handle
Finally, it’s crucial to find a hand trowel that ergonomically fits your hand specifically. This is almost entirely up to personal preference, though. Some gardeners prefer a trowel that’s wider where it fits into their palm and thinner where their fingers are meant to grip. On the other hand, some gardeners prefer a straighter handle that doesn’t vary in width at all.
If you’re not sure which you’d prefer, try picking up some tools you have around the house and see which ones feel comfortable in your hands. That will be a good guide to which trowels will suit you.
How I Choose These Products
As I wrote above, I leaned heavily on my personal experience when I was putting together this list. The Fiskars Ergo Trowel, which I picked as the best garden trowel, is my go-to trowel whenever I’m headed out into the garden. I only recently started to use a hand trowel with a serrated edge, and I have to say that I found it really useful for dealing with the more overgrown patches of my garden.
In addition to tools I’ve tried out on my own, I also relied on customer reviews and company reputation to help me round out the list with lots of options. I hope you’ve found on this list a garden trowel that you can imagine becoming a vital part of your gardening routine. Every gardener needs a trusty trowel!
fiskars / Instagram
Final Verdict
Overall, the Fiskars Ergo Trowel is the best garden trowel for everyday use in the garden. It’s a multi-purpose tool that you can always rely on, which is exactly what a trowel should be. I’ve had mine for a couple growing seasons already, and I know I’ll get the exact same one once it wears out.
FAQs
What is the toughest garden trowel?
In general, the toughest garden trowels are made from carbon steel. That’s the material that will take the longest amount of time to wear down. However, a carbon steel hand trowel will sometimes face issues with rust, so some gardeners would say that a stainless steel hand trowel has more longevity.
Is a trowel good for weeding?
Trowels are a great tool for most weeding work. They’re great at breaking up the top layer of soil and allowing you to pull out roots without breaking them. However, it’s sometimes better to use a thinner implement for pulling out weeds that have very deep roots, since trowels have to move a lot of dirt in order to access deep root systems.
How do I know which trowel to use?
I’d say that the best garden trowel to use is one that you feel comfortable with and doesn’t cause any strain to use. If you’re trying to accomplish a task and find that your regular trowel just isn’t cutting it, I’d recommend investigating what feature of the soil is holding you up. Clay-heavy soils, for instance, are sometimes easier to work on if you have a very sharp and pointed trowel. But, other situations might call for other tools.
