Garden Claw Tool
When I started writing this blog I didn’t realise how many different names this tool has. We just call it The Claw. But it can be called gardening claw, gardening cultivator, hand rake, claw rake, grubber, hand cultivator or stubby rake. Regardless of what you call it, the hand cultivator is a must have basic hand tool.
The garden claw tool can be used in a variety of different ways. We use it primarily for clearing smaller unwanted garden material such as annual weeds, leaves or unwanted herbaceous root structures out of beds and borders. We also use it to fluff up the soil to give it a good clean finish.
Here are some things to look out for when you’re choosing a hand cultivator.
Durability
Your claw needs to hold together and maintain its shape. The first thing that happens to cheaper or less robust brands is the prongs start to bend and break. Then all of a sudden you have a one pronged claw.
Comfort
How the handle fits in your hand is important. If the grip moves or you can’t grip it properly you’ll end up with blisters.
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Best Garden Hand Cultivator
Here is Gardenwilds top 5 best hand cultivators
This ‘grubber’ isn’t going to win any beauty contests anytime soon. And it’s probably not the most comfortable tool to use, although we use this one quite a lot and there’s been no complaints yet. What you do get is a really solid, consistent tool! We have used this cultivator for a long time and as far I can tell it hasn’t bent, twisted or moved at all.
The best feature of this cultivator is that it is one of the multi-changeable heads for a range of Wolf Garten handles. Which is amazingly useful. There are a number of situations where you could require both up close work and (once attached to the Wolf Garten handle, we use the 150cm) work over a large area. Plus once you have a handle there is a range of tools that fit.
For these reasons this is No. 5 on Gardenwilds best garden hand cultivators.
I’ve used this quite a bit this year. I think the thing I like most about it is that it is how heavy duty it is. There isn’t a lot I’ve encountered in a border that this cultivator won’t be able to work. Design-wise it a pretty standard three pronged cultivator but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It has a light weight handle with good grip and the prongs are sharp enough to cut through hard compacted soil.
For these reason this is No. 4 on Gardenwilds best garden hand cultivators.
This is the first 5 pronged claw we’ve mentioned. I actually like the 5 prongs more than the 3. I think they give a better finish to the soil and it’s more efficient at racking as they go. I don’t think they’re as heavy duty as the three pronged ones we’ve already mentioned. However that isn’t to say it’s not durable.
I’m not sure why it’s a ninja claw? Maybe it started life as a deadly weapon but then had to diversify as the demand for ninja weapons dropped and branched in gardening. Deadly weapon or not, it is a very good cultivator!
For these reasons this is No. 3 on Gardenwilds best garden hand cultivators.
This 5 pronged claw is a very robust model. The stainless steel shank is forged in one piece to the blade which makes it very durable. It boasts being stock proof and bend proof, and to be fair, it hasn’t bent yet… which isn’t a shock (sorry). It’s exactly what you would expect from Japanese master blade craftsmen.
It is a really good hand cultivator. It makes light work of compacted soil and feels robust in a way that isn’t common in 5 pronged claws.
For these reasons this is No. 2 on Gardenwilds best garden hand cultivators.
Here is our number 1! We’ve been using the claw for a number of years and it seems to win outright every time. One of the things that I especially like about the claw in the cupped shape of the prongs. This shape serves not only to take effectively but also leaves your hand in a better position in relation to soil. It’s quite good at getting into the areas that are too tight for anything else. The sharp prongs make light work of compacted soil and give a professional finish, which is something that we are all striving for.
For these reasons this is No. 1 on Gardenwilds best garden hand cultivators.
