Which is the best hand hoe for weeding?
Tools for weeding come in such a wide variety of guises... because it depends what you are weeding, where you are weeding (the allotment or your patio paving), what your soil and ground is like, and your weeding style (complete cull or precision approach). Here is our full range of weeding tools but this buying guide is to help you choose between different hand weeding hoes from Sneeboer and Niwaki (Nb: if you are looking for long handled weeding hoes, we only sell the Sneeboer Royal Dutch long hoe at shows)
Firstly - make sure you want a weeding hoe rather than a trowel. Why not have a look at our other weeding buying guides - including which Hori Hori works best for weeding, and weeding forks.
Weeding hoe pre-selection:
Whilst both Sneeboer and Niwaki have large ranges, we always pick out the specific tools we think are the best in the range, to reduce confusion and help you to get the right tool in your hand. And we also have the Korean Homi. Apparently there's no ‘standard’ Homi hand hoe – its design varies across the country, with three slightly different shapes for different uses. The version we have selected and recommend is the plowshare-shaped homi (called the paddy field homi) as it has a distinctively different curve from the other weeding hoes we sell.
A slightly more detailed overview for each weeding tool:
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Sneeboer Pull Hoe and Fork - this is a quite a specialist hoe that has two sides to it - for digging and weeding precision. It's got a short handle length so it's a got a very different feel in the hand and means you need to be close to what you are weeding - but as with all Sneeboer garden tools it works brilliantly. Edd really rates having two functions combined into one tool.
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Korean Homi Essentially, it’s a hand plough. It’s got a sharp convex blade – meaning it can turn the soil over really well. Having tested it – it works well in our heavy soil, with the shape easily enabling you to pull through the soil and make furrows, pull out weeds, or – in our case, hack out some plants or rocks! The pointy tip is good too, for seed drills or digging around or getting into smaller spots.
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Hori Hori - this Japanese trowel is perfect for weeding. We know it's not a hoe, it's a trowel - but we've slipped into this buying guide because it would be completely remiss to not include it - becuase if you are considering buying a weeding hoe, you should also consider a hori-hori. There are different varieties you can buy and use (with or without serrations, original Japanese versions and more heavy duty designs - we have a different guide for how to select which is best). Most gardeners now have one. If you haven't - get one - we promise you'll use it for weeding and loads of other jobs around the garden!
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Sneeboer Royal Dutch Hoe - Lou cannot rave about this enough. Unlike standard hoes that bounce across the surface (especially when you have rubbish heavy soil like ours), this Royal Dutch Hoe from Sneeboer easily and effectively bites into the soil. It has a ‘crown’ shape (hence its name) meaning it clears weeds effortlessly on both the push and the pull – so it seems to cut weeding time down (always a bonus!). We do have these in full size – but they are a nightmare to send out (it’s 165cm long) so we only sell them at shows.
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Niwaki weeding hoe: as with all Niwaki garden tools, this Niwaki weeding hoe is sharp and effective. They know blades, so if you want to cut something – like weeds – then Niwaki is a reliable choice! You can draw this weeding hoe across the surface and you’ll clear up the weeds in no time. It’s a great option for cutting your weeds that has a different head shape to the Hori-Hori.
- The Niwaki Hand Hoe is for heavy duty weeding of large areas at the beginning or end of the season. It's got great weight and balance to turn over larger areas of ground ahead of, or after, planting.
Not sure about a weeding hoe? Why not have a look at our other weeding buying guides - including which Hori Hori works best for weeding, and weeding forks.