Garden hoes have so many purposes that it's an essential tool to have. A good garden hoe can last for years so it's important to choose the kit that you can trust, but with their endless diversity, this can be a difficult decision.
If you're experiencing tough going in your garden, then perhaps you're not using the right tool for the job?…
Whether you're weeding, digging, breaking up soil or simply shaping your garden, we've selected the best garden hoes that can accomplish what's needed of them.
Draper Digging Hoe
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This heavy-duty hoe from Draper is an ideal option for any type of digging, but the hoe's weight and size makes it particularly good at trenching and tilling the soil. Manufactured from hardened and tempered steel, the blade is sharp enough to cut through tree roots and thick turf.
When digging, it's important to be wielding an easy-to-use tool. The Draper Digging Hoe is well-balanced, and the light hoe head and smooth hardwood handle allow for easier digging - perfect when removing roots and vegetation.
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Niwaki Forked Hand Hoe
This nifty little hoe is a versatile tool to add to your garden collection. The three-pronged hoe can be used for digging, planting and weeding. The prongs are also great at breaking up soil, so if you're needing to prepare seed beds, this Niwaki tool can handle it.
Using the birch handle, the tool can be effective at prising out unprisables from the ground, such as roots, clumps and rocks. The 447g hoe is made in Japan by trusted brand Niwaki and shippable worldwide.
31cm Bronze / Copper Phoenix Garden Hoe Hand Tool
Buy from Farrar & Tanner (£98.00)
This bronze hand hoe has two heads that allow the hoe to complete a number of tasks, making it a fantastic all-rounder for the avid gardener. The two-pronged head can break up soil and loosen weed roots, while the diamond head can dig them out. The side of the diamond blade can then be used to scrape and tidy away the dug-up roots, and the flat side can flatten the soil back down again.
The hoe is made from hardwearing bronze that is supposedly able to help the growth of plants and crops, thanks to copper-trace elements enriching the soil.
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Spear & Jackson Elements Draw Hoe
The draw hoe is ideal for loosening and dislodging weed roots and mounding and shaping soil. The long-handled Elements Draw Hoe from Spear & Jackson is an excellent choice, with a head made from heat-treated carbon steel.
To maximise durability, the ash wood handle is weather-proofed and the head is epoxy coated for improved resistance to rust, scratches, humidity and alkaline in the soil.
Spear & Jackson Traditional Onion Hoe
An onion hoe can offer precision when weeding and hoeing in those narrow, difficult-to-reach spaces in between your crops. This Spear & Jackson hoe has a mirror polished stainless steel-finish head, with a fine, sharp edge for precision.
The weather-proofed handle has a leather wrist strap attached, which also doubles up as a handy hanging hook.
Kent & Stowe Stainless Steel Long Handled Multi-Weeder
The angled head and four sharp sides of this multi-weeder allow for an easy push/pull action when hoeing. The Kent & Stowe tool is multi-use: it can be used for weeding, furrowing, cultivating and edging. The sharp blades can cut through roots under the soil and the compact shape allows for use in borders, beds and tight spaces.
The head is made from stainless steel and the handle is constructed from FSC-approved ash wood.
Kent & Stowe Stainless Steel Long Handle Dutch Hoe
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A Dutch hoe is an essential tool for any gardener. The open blade allows for the hoe to glide below the surface of the soil to sever weeds from the roots.
The Kent & Stowe Dutch Hoe can be used in a push/pull motion for easy weeding. It has an ash wood handle and a 170mm x 130mm stainless steel blade.
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WOLF-Garten SHM Multi Change Swoe Style Hoe
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It's important to have different shaped hoes for different purposes, so this Swoe Style Hoe from Wolf-Garten can make a big impact on your weeding. The blade, with a 12cm width, is curved at a tight angle to be able to pick away at weeds that are hidden amongst and behind plants.
As with all of Wolf-Garten's multi-change tools, this comes with a 10-year guarantee.
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Sneeboer Royal Dutch Hoe
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The Sneeboer Royal Dutch Hoe is a fantastic all-purpose weeding tool. The sharp, serrated blades make this comparingly more effective at cutting through compact soil than a standard Dutch hoe. The 'teeth' also add accuracy when picking out certain weeds in busy soil.
With a lightweight ash wood handle, the hoe weighs just under 1kg. It also comes with a 10-year guarantee (1 year for the wooden handle).
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Kent & Stowe Stainless Steel Oscillating Hoe
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This oscillating hoe is great for slicing right through weeds that are under the surface. The blade is self-sharpening, meaning it will continue to do its job over time.
The swivel head is a double-edged blade, perfect for cutting weeds in a push/pull motion. The hoe offers manoeuvrability as well as agility thanks to the oscillating head.
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For tough jobs, consider a pickaxe - great for breaking up compacted ground. See our guide to the best pickaxes you can buy.
