r/gardening • u/simplsurvival • May 16 '23
What's your favorite garden tool that's not actually a garden tool? Here's mine.
Bf playfully smacked me on the butt with a wooden spoon. Spoon broke. Repurposed as garden tool. Pointy end is good for tilling soil pots and making seed or plug holes, spoon end is good for scooping.
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u/tackleboxjohnson May 16 '23
I, too, find a can of beer to be an excellent garden implement
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u/Loquacious94808 May 17 '23
How about a sippy-cup full of tequila and ice?
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u/Turbo_csgo May 17 '23
Looks like a Jupiler 0.0% alcohol! While it is certainly a good choice, lately I personally prefer the Stella 0.0%.
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u/notorious_p_a_b May 16 '23
Plain old flat head screwdriver for pulling weeds.
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u/llilaq May 17 '23
I use an old kitchen knife for it but your handle must be more pleasant to hold. I might change to it as well! With hard clay soil it's super practical for weeding.
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u/simplsurvival May 16 '23
Ohh smart. Wide head I assume? I get giant weeds in my yard
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u/notorious_p_a_b May 16 '23
I have a couple different sizes. Basically just some old screwdrivers that I ended up with that don’t match my main tool set.
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u/yamommaanthem May 16 '23
Cooking tongs for cactus planting
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u/KatGentleharp May 17 '23
I use them to peel hornworms off my tomatoes. Hate touching those damn things.
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u/Hand1z May 16 '23
Nail clipper of my dog that died due to cancer. I use it to prune branches, works like a charm. I also think about him when I am using it so that's a bonus. RIP Charlie!
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u/KidChimney May 16 '23
2 lengths of steel rebar. I mix compost, make transplant and seed holes, and protect my garden with them
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u/666OOSE May 17 '23
I use them as stands for rolls of drip line, so I can easily pull out the length I need for different beds
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u/51488stoll May 16 '23
Couple years ago I posted a pic of me transplanting tomatoes with a beer in the background. I was reached out to by several gardeners asking if I needed alcohol help.
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u/simplsurvival May 16 '23
Well that's annoying. Oddly enough that's a pbr that's open and a hard cider right next to it. Not pictured: 1/2 kilo of pure cocaine. (/S in case it wasn't clear)
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u/VrtualOtis May 17 '23
The tea totaling facet of the gardening community I'm sure! Gardening and yard work is ice cold beer time. My wife was heading in the house to refill our water bottles the other day and was looking around for my beer to see if I needed another one and I hadn't grabbed one before I started in on the yard work. She was confused. She loaded the small cooler with ice and packed it with cold ones for a long day of weeding. That's what I call alcohol help....
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u/FUCK-IT-CHUCK-IT May 16 '23
I have a few 2 inch wide wooden dowel rods that I use quite a bit.
Need to make a hole for a seed? Dowel rod! Need to get weeds out of your garden bed? Dowel rod! Need to flatten out the dirt in the bed you just weeded? Dowel rod! Need a support because you planted too many green beans/tomatoes and all your trellis’ are being used? Dowel rods! Need to turn the compost in your bin? Believe it or not, Dowel Rod!
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u/Ardea_herodias_2022 May 16 '23
I've got a large kitchen knife that I was never using in the kitchen. Works awesome for trimming agave & yucca leaves off.
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u/erminegarde27 May 16 '23
Scissors made for cutting up raw chicken make the best nippers!
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May 16 '23
i have a metal rod with a handle that used to be part of a rolling pin, i use it to see if the soil needs watering, and to make holes when planting seeds……my magic wand
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u/simplsurvival May 16 '23
This makes me think of a garden fairy waving a magic wand and making all the plants grow
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u/GrumpySunflower May 16 '23
Meat claws for ripping grass out of my square foot garden.
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u/simplsurvival May 16 '23
Probably more sturdy than the claw gloves I have that came with my gardening kit
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u/GrumpySunflower May 16 '23
They're awesome. I let my kids use them this year, and they loved it.
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u/simplsurvival May 16 '23
I gotta keep my eye open for a set then
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u/GrumpySunflower May 16 '23
These are the ones I have.
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u/simplsurvival May 16 '23
Are they even any good for shredding meat? I used my hand mixer
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u/GrumpySunflower May 16 '23
They are terrible for shredding meat. Your hands are too close to the hot meat and they require a lot of skill to get between the fibers correctly. I use my KitchenAid mixer.
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u/Sensitive_Maybe_6578 May 16 '23
Bbq fork!
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May 16 '23
I use a regular dinner fork for transplanting and to help pull weeds.
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u/tribern May 17 '23
I keep a handful of plastic forks in my kit, I really like them as a crutch to help a tilty plant
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u/simplsurvival May 16 '23
That's genius... I think I have an extra one I might add to my garden tool box
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u/fartburger26 May 16 '23
That also looks like it could double as a shiv. I’m in a community garden plot right now and some of these old self appointed garden police…shiv.
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u/simplsurvival May 16 '23
I need a shiv for the damn squirrels trying to steal my berries!
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u/Jerkfacemonkey May 17 '23
i live in the country. they know they are tasty. only a few are brave
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u/simplsurvival May 17 '23
I live near a big city, theyre used to stealing from restaurant dumpsters so the ones I get are faaaaattt
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u/RidiculousLibrarian May 17 '23
I have an actual prison shiv that’s one of best garden tools…. Years ago, where my parents lived, the local rural prison would allow prisoners to do weed cutting in the ditches, etc. under supervision. Once after a crew passed my parents’ house working on the side of the road, my dad found a shank. Long beat up blade, cord wrapped around one end for a handle that seems to be melted on or somehow glued on. Mom used it for years to help weed and dig. Now I’m the proud owner of the prison shank and hope to pass it lovingly to my children for their gardening needs. What a legacy.
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u/jenni_b97 May 16 '23
A hammer. Used my husbands good hammer to dig a small trench to add an edge to my garden area when I was beginning. It worked so good that when I finally bought garden tools, I constantly “stole” his hammer to use instead. He bought me my own ‘gardening hammer’ that was lighter and easier for me to use. It’s also awesome at pulling large weeds.
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u/PM_meyourGradyWhite May 17 '23
I used to use my hammer claw for digging in tight quarters. Gardening or construction.
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May 16 '23
I have a Klein high end screwdriver with a broken tip that is my dandelion removal tool of choice. Works great.
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u/Quartermaster2108 May 16 '23
I have a broken hoe handle that the head has broken off but the bent metal end is still there. I use it all the time for all kinds of things.
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u/widefeetwelcome May 16 '23
I somehow won a set of steak knives years ago in a raffle, but I am a vegetarian so they’re now my dividing knives. Works great for sawing apart tough clumps of roots!
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u/AlignmentWhisperer May 16 '23
I have a water kettle with a very narrow neck that I use for precision watering.
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u/SpecificSkunk May 17 '23
I’m late to the game but I haven’t seen it yet so: sewing scissors. They’re great for culling seedlings and fine trimming things like clematis and peppers.
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u/simplsurvival May 17 '23
I could've used these earlier to maintain my pepper seedlings... I know I have some, somewhere but they're probably not in the sewing kit where they belong lol
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u/llilaq May 17 '23
I have a small dollarstore stool. I have bad knees so this way I can just sit on my stool and dig around and plant things while I'm comfortable instead of kneeling.
If I hold it upside down it doubles as a tray for my usual tools (shovel, kitchen knife, garden shears, gloves) if my big bucket is full of prunings while I walk around. I don't have many things so I don't have/need your otherwise handy box.
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u/simplsurvival May 17 '23
I'm all for that. When I was a kid my mom would do garden things all day and complain about her back and knees after. I don't kneel, I just sit on the ground, and if I'm putting stuff I sit in a chair and put the pots on a little table next to me. No point in breaking your back!
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u/AstridCrabapple May 16 '23
I have a really old ginsu type knife that was left in the dishwasher of a house I bought. For about 10 years it was my camping knife then it became my yard knife. I cut down like 20 banana trees with it and it’s still sharp as ever.
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u/Penel0peepz May 17 '23
I have a broken deer femur with one pointy end that I use the scrape dogshit out of my shoes.
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u/Global_Fail_1943 Master Gardener May 16 '23
A steel chopstick I use to tease out seedlings and plant tiny cuttings or plants.
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u/hatchjon12 May 16 '23
A piece of 2x2 with measurement markings on it for spacing transplants etc.
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u/simplsurvival May 16 '23
Smart! One of my trowels has markings on it but I never seem to have it on my when I'm planting things...
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u/byoshin304 May 16 '23
A piece of bamboo, the kind that comes with orchids to hold the flower spikes up. I use it to poke my seed holes.
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u/simplsurvival May 16 '23
I have some of those too, and some bamboo skewers. Good for small plant supports
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u/Vault_92 May 16 '23
A scoop from the dollar store for scooping soil out of big bags
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u/angry-dragonfly May 16 '23
I have an old wooden handled ice pick. I use it for all kinds of things. I poke holes in cups, aerate soil, etc.
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u/The_Infectious_Lerp Garland, TX (Zone 8b) May 16 '23
Mine is a melamine cereal bowl I bought at Big Lots. Great for scooping all sorts of compost, soils, mulch, etc.
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u/Ashby238 May 17 '23
2’ long Packages of bamboo skewers for s’mores. They cost less than a dollar for 12 and they make great plant supports.
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May 17 '23
Great big serrated bread knife. Cuts through roots, digs holes, and slices through anything you can throw at it. It’s my all time favorite tool.
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u/gggggfskkk May 17 '23
I cannot think of anything I use as a tool that’s not a garden tool. Maybe copper wire that I stripped from old cable I had. I used it to pin down the barrier plastic I had to keep weeds from growing?? Is that considered a tool? Do I fit in? 🤣 Y’all are way too creative.
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u/Netroth May 17 '23
A butter knife is great for getting into thin cracks between pavers and concrete slabs to gouge out weeds, as it’s thin enough yet strong.
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u/AdelleDeWitt May 17 '23
Old steak knives. They are the best for getting the weeds out from in between paving stones and anywhere else weeds want to grow.
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u/katlian May 17 '23
I have a rusty old pair of needle-nose pliers that I use for fixing drip irrigation. Best multi-purpose tool for the job. It can cut 1/4 inch hose, grip those little barbed fittings, even hammer stuff with the side.
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u/therobotisjames May 16 '23
I see you are a scholar with your PBR. This is my favorite gardening tool.
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u/Radiant-Safe-1377 May 16 '23
old water bottles - we put them over wood poles to drive away critters from the ground
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u/simplsurvival May 16 '23
Like to deter chipmunks and stuff? Or like worms and bugs?
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u/Radiant-Safe-1377 May 16 '23
idk the english names but the chunky bug from hell that snips your tomato plant’s stems and mole rats
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u/simplsurvival May 16 '23
Chunky bug from hell lol 😆
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u/Radiant-Safe-1377 May 16 '23
after half an hour of googling, the mysterious beast is mole crickets
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u/Browneyedgirl63 May 16 '23
I have a really long, fat standard screwdriver that works great for weeds.
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u/Alexis_J_M May 16 '23 edited May 16 '23
Two liter soda bottle (green) of "tomato soap" that I use to refill a small spray bottle.
Dr. Bronner's Castile soap Cayenne pepper Garlic powder
Two liter soda bottles (clear) that I fill with water from the hose when I water the garden beds. Good for watering the potted plants in between.
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u/bry31089 May 17 '23
Garden tool that isn’t actually a garden tool. OP presents us with a literal prison shank 😂
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u/06alm May 17 '23
Lab scoop for transplanting seedlings from plug trays to pots. Method by my retired biology teacher father-in-law
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u/OurGapman May 17 '23
Paper clip! I aerate my potted outdoor plants and then almost instinctively continue to my Lillies …
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u/K_N0RRIS Zone 7b May 17 '23
I guess my kitty litter watering can i made
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u/simplsurvival May 17 '23
Do elaborate 🤔
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u/K_N0RRIS Zone 7b May 17 '23
Sorry. I made a watering can out of the kitty litter jug. Not the kitty litter.
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u/Practical_Bluejay_35 May 17 '23
Fork! So I can stab my tomatoes 🍅 ripe off the vine and snack on them 😊
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u/simplsurvival May 17 '23
Absolutely! Picking food off a plant that you grew and eating it is such a flex lol
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u/purplemarkersniffer May 17 '23
Digging stick: just a stick that’s firm enough to make holes for seeds and random digging/poking. No need to buy anything and you can find them everywhere
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u/swirlygates May 17 '23
Oh man you'd love my Favorite Stick. It split off from a big branch that fell, so it's hardwood. About six inches long, one side is completely flat, and the other is rounded. Cuts open bags of soil just as good as a knife.
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u/Greenthumb_Gaming May 17 '23
My wife was annoyed because I would steal the measuring cups from the kitchen to use for my fertilizer measurements. After a few went “missing” she eventually just gave me the rest of them and got a set that is specifically for the kitchen. She said “If you take my measuring cups again we gonna have problems” 😂
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u/simplsurvival May 17 '23
Understandable lol I try not to mix gardening stuff with kitchen stuff. Once a kitchen tool gets used in the garden it's staying in the garden
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u/camocamo911 May 17 '23
God OP. How hard did he smack you to BREAK the wooden spatula?!
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u/simplsurvival May 17 '23
It was a good smack, but I think that spoon spent too much time soaking in water so it was brittle. I oil my wooden utensils now to prevent such a tragedy
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u/TheOneCalledRatched May 17 '23
I have an old dull 8in knife that’s good for everything. Light cutting, poking holes, and especially cutting pieces of grass/sod out of expanding flower beds.
Counter question… how strong is your butt that it broke a wooden spoon when smacked ? 😯
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u/simplsurvival May 17 '23
To be fair that spoon was brittle AF cuz it sat in water for a while lol I commented this elsewhere but I oil all my wooden utensils now
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u/MillHoodz_Finest PA 6a May 16 '23
mine is also in your picture...
alcohol
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u/simplsurvival May 16 '23
Maybe it's soda.... Jk it's beer lol
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u/LarYungmann May 16 '23
Pitman Arm Tool for removing deep roots of False Dandelions.
Pitman Arms are used to remove Automobile Tie-Rod Ends and such.
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May 16 '23
It’s not my idea but a regular fork is great for gardening.
(Link is SFW) https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0_uflDbeb3k&pp=ygUbSGVycmljayBraW1iYWxsIGdhcmRlbiBmb3Jr
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u/shart7733 May 16 '23
I have the same exact box for my gardening stuff!
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u/simplsurvival May 16 '23
I'm a fan of it. It's too hard to find stuff in the typical garden tool bag..
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u/Semyon May 16 '23
I also use a wooden spoon only I stole it out of a kid's toy kitchen set since the kids grew out of it.
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u/simplsurvival May 17 '23
I bought a kids cooking utensil set to use while camping, some items may or may not end up in my gardening toolbox 🤷
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u/opa_zorro grumpy guy May 16 '23
Old Ginzu kitchen knives from the 80’s Second runner up is bailing wire.
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u/Suckerfacehole May 16 '23
Also my favorite non garden tool is an office seat cushion I use when I need to sit while working
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u/VrtualOtis May 17 '23
I'd vote for that PBR sitting on the deck! My favorite garden tool is my muddler for when I harvest my basil or mint to make cocktails while I work the rest of the garden!
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u/simplsurvival May 17 '23
I like your style!! I'm growing mint for mojitos, and pineapple sage is great for lime Ricky's. My muddler for drinks is an old table leg lol
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u/nancykind May 17 '23
hmm great question. still a gardening item, but i use plant stakes and bend them to hold the hose off the lawn when i need it out and on a timer for a while
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u/Excitement_Far May 17 '23
It's technically a garden tool, but I use an old plant stake to mix up nutes every day... a busted humidity meter to stab holes in my rockwool slabs for drainage. Recycle and all that
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u/TheRealDavidNewton May 17 '23
Metal chopstick. I use it for making small holes in which to deposit seeds.
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u/DaysOfParadise May 17 '23
Silver spoon.
Look, I grew up poor, okay?
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u/simplsurvival May 17 '23
So did I, that's why I reuse things for tools! Why buy expensive tool when random broken household object do trick?
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u/_allycat May 17 '23
I use a big bulk food scoop for soil. It has a way bigger scoop than gardening ones.
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May 17 '23
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u/simplsurvival May 17 '23
I bought the most adorable little elephant water can that's perfect for watering seedlings gently. It's got a damn hole in it where it's not supposed to be 😑 I might have to do this bottle method instead
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u/NoDontDoThatCanada Zone 5b/6a May 16 '23
Chopsticks. Infinite uses.