After hearing about this $20 tool from professional landscapers and avid home gardeners, we knew we needed to write about it. Meet the hori hori — a multipurpose, slightly concave Japanese weed knife with a serrated blade on one side. It helps you dig, weed, remove roots, transfer plants, cut sod and divide perennials — and barely takes up space in your kit.
Why Gardeners Swear by the Hori Hori Knife
When interviewing landscapers for a recent story about lawns, both Kat Aul Cervoni, founder of Staghorn NYC Landscape Design and The Cultivation by Kat, and Patrick Farrell, partner at EAS Landscaping LLC in Philadelphia, praised this type of knife. Farrell even deemed it “indispensable when it comes to planting and clearing.” Because the story focused on grass, the knife wasn’t featured, but when a HuffPost reader recommended it in a Facebook callout, we knew it deserved more attention.
Answering an ask for accessible gardening tools for people over 50, long-term gardener Sue Mazer, 54, suggested this comfortable-to-hold, multi-use tool, saying, “Lightly spray mist the mixed soil and use a Japanese [hori-hori] garden knife to make individual holes for the seeds, seedlings or transplants.”
Features of the Nisaku Hori Hori Knife
While there are many brands and styles of hori hori-style knives, we (and most of Amazon) like this classic option made by brand Nisaku. Weighing about 10 ounces, it’s light in your hand with a 7-inch blade and a full length of 12 inches that gives you leverage and control. Featuring one serrated side and one straight edge, it’s a knife-of-all-trades kind of tool that will easily earn its spot in your garden tool rotation.
The handy inch markers on the blade help you drop seeds at the correct depth and the unique shape lets you do everything from chop branches to plant bulbs. You can even bring it hunting or camping. The blade is rust- and scratch-resistant, keeping its sharpness and shape for years to come. And yeah, it even has a bottle opener.
What Reviewers Say
With a 4.8-star rating, it seems everyone who has a hori hori recommends it. Reviewer Chris S. wrote, “I love this product! First of all it looks expensive and is an attractive piece. It’s heavy duty and works as described. It saws through plants, digs through dirt. It’s an all around good product that I would buy again but will probably not need to because the quality is great. I would even provide this as a gift to a gardening friend.”
A reviewer named Lady says, “[I] love my new hori knife — it has everything I need, [it’s] sturdy, [features] measurements down the blade, [it’s] great for piercing the ground [and it has a] serrated edge for cutting and a quality holster. It’s made gardening a little easier for me.”
More Rave Reviews
- “I will find endless uses for this tool. Super sharp for even the toughest weeds. I don’t have a gas powered weed eater so I use this to cut out the Johnson Grass around my cabin and the hard to reach areas growing up around rocks.” — travel girl
- “I live on an acreage with many flower, herb & garden beds. This is my ABSOLUTE favorite tool! My last one disappeared (probably somewhere - anyone got a metal detector?), and I immediately bought a new one. It helps me weed, plant, and everything else effortlessly. And I am HARD on my tools, but this holds up! You won’t be disappointed!” — Millie
Other Gardening Must-Haves
Standing Weeder
A popular standing weeder with a longer handle can keep you from bending. It features a metal claw that grabs weeds from the root with a tilt and leverage of your foot. Promising review: “I cleared a whole garden full of fleabane, amongst perennials I didn't want disturbed. It worked perfectly. The dream. You don't even need to bend down to pick it up.”
Foam Kneeling Pad
An extra-supportive foam kneeling pad made from high-density, shock-absorbing foam offers superior cushioning for knees, even over gravel or concrete. It is slip- and water-resistant. Promising review: “This is a great product!! I had a knee replacement and still have issues. This pad has made it so much easier and more comfortable doing gardening.”
Ergonomic Garden Clippers
If you have limited dexterity, these ergonomic clippers with a lever-ratchet design make cutting easy. They have precision steel blades and a slider safety lock. Promising review: “I like the ratchet type mechanism for thick branches. Made it easy to cut and they’re sharp. Handle is comfortable in my small hands that often get cramps.”
If you’ve been thinking of getting into gardening or want to fill out your equipment, the hori hori is a beloved favorite you’ll be happy you grabbed.
