One Hand Trowel To Rule Them All

“As the pen is to the writer, as the brush to the painter, so the trowel to the gardener! This implement must be right – must be, to its user, perfect.” – Mrs. Francis King, The Well-Considered Garden, 1915.

The trowel, for my own hand, is an American one purchased long ago from A.M. Leonard while in the employ of one of Deer Valley’s magnificent 5-Star resorts. There, for nearly ten years, I labored building a splendid garden. My trusty trowel and I planted a lot of bulbs and annuals, shrubs, and perennials then, and in the years since. It may be that every gardener is prepared to assert that he or she has the perfect trowel. However, as it is, mine has accompanied me, without a hitch, for nearly a quarter century. The dimensions of its blade are an ample three and five-eighths inches wide and 6 inches long. The length of the trowel is 14 inches. The handle and blade are of a solid piece of powder-coated, heavy gauge steel and are set at a slight angle to each other, thus providing excellent leverage. The top of the handle is trimmed out with hardwood which offers comfort to the hand. It will remove a sizable hole in a single motion, making planting of one-gallon containers, and smaller, swift and easy.

In 1821, William Cobbett,  of English fame, while exiled for two-years from his native country in Long Island, New York, drew upon his horticultural experiences to pen The American Gardener. In the opening of the first chapter he wrote,

“Those who have gardens already formed and plants, have, of course, not the situation to choose. But, I am to suppose, that new gardens will, in a country like this [America], be continually to be formed; and, therefore, it is an essential part of my duty to point out what situations are best, as well with respect to the aspect as to the other circumstances.”

So what has been your gardening “circumstance” over the years?  Have you tried a number of trowels over the years, only to have them break or fall-apart? Are you ready for a new trowel – a better trowel?

From my years of horticultural experience I can confidently recommend the A.M. Leonard Steel Nursery Trowel – 14 Inches as a garden tool that will improve your gardening “circumstance” for many years to come.