Organic Answers Column – April 2, 2025 – Hori Hori
Hori Hori Knife Garden Tool
In a world of fancy battery operated tools and specialized garden implements, one of the simplest and most versatile is the Hori Hori knife. This Japanese gardening tool’s name means “dig dig.” The size of this multi-use tool (that looks like a weapon) ranges from 11 to 15 inches from blade tip to top of the handle. The size of the blade will vary, but the average is under 7 inches long and up to about 2 inches wide.
These days there are many manufacturers of the tools and the styles usually include a full tang from the blade through the handle, assuring a sturdy tool for digging, cutting, prying, or chopping. They show up at several price points, but all these knives work well. Pick one that fits your hand well and is made of the most durable material your budget will allow. The best blades are made from high-quality stainless steel that won’t rust over the course of time. Some of the less expensive models use lower quality steel that rust and lose their edges. The blade should have two different edges, one side smooth sharp edge, the other a sharp serrated edge that looks and functions like a saw blade.
The stainless steel hori hori blades keep a sharp edge and don’t rust.
Both sides of the blade are typically marked with lines that indicate inches to help you gauge the soil depth when planting. The tool blades are concave in shape to make digging and planting easier.
The hori hori hand tool has several uses. The blade shape and the extra weight, compared to typical trowels, work beautifully for planting small transplants. The sharp edge can be used for a small hand ax or to cut open bags and other containers, and use it to run around the inside of a potted plant that may be tightly root-bound. The serrated edge can cut through small roots, and the concave shape makes it easy to dig out weeds, even the tough ones. I commonly use mine to remove soil from the flares of buried trees and other woody plants.
The tools still work even when they’re rusty, but stainless keeps a sharper edge.
Hori Hori knives are available with wooden, plastic and bamboo handles. Some come with sheathes that can be handy. The best sheaths are made from thick natural leather with connections for your tool belt, several seen in online listings lately also come with sharpening stones or long carbon steel sharpening rods. Good hori hori knives are sharp so you may want to invest in quality leather gardening gloves.
The Sun Joe Hori Hori Knife is common in gardening stores and is pretty good, but doesn’t have a full tang. I had one but my dog chewed up the handle. Since I was in the market, I looked at the options and discovered what I think is the best hori hori knife on the market – the Barebones Hori Hori knife. It is 13″ long, heavy, has rounded bamboo handle, high quality steel blade and butt end for hammering. It costs more but feels good in your hand and works great.
