They come out every spring with the crocuses and robins, those gaily colored baskets of cheerful garden hand tools and printed gloves. The bright colors and happy packaging are designed to catch your eye and your pocketbook, but some hand tools are more for show and decoration than actual use. A garden hand cultivator is a basic tool that gets down and dirty all season long, so choose a quality cultivator that is as tough as it is attractive the first time out so you won’t have to go back and replace it every two or three weeks.

When shopping for gardening tools you use regularly, always go for the highest quality and best brand names you can afford.  Specifically, hand tools should be made of tempered steel and should be rust-proof or rust resistant, and a name brand is most often better than a cheap knock-off.

Pick up the cultivator and hold it in your hand. Is it comfortable? Is it heavy, or does it feel like it might fly away if caught by a swift breeze? Choosing a bright color is fine, so long as the stuff underneath the paint is tough and durable. Do you recognize the maker?

Look for a hand cultivator with one piece construction if you can find it, and make sure it is heavy enough that it won’t bend or break when it encounters hard packed earth. Be careful of decorative wooden handles attached to cheap painted claws with unknown adhesives, as these may break or bend easily and be rendered useless before you know it.

Be wary also of boxed gift sets produced by unknown makers, as these are often pretty and fun to look at but short-lived and impractical. Lots of perfectly good tools are made in China, but if that is all you know about the origins of the cultivator you are thinking of purchasing, you might want to pass it over for a more trustworthy brand.

Manufacturers of other kinds of fine garden tools, pruners, and machinery are good bet for sturdy hand cultivators, as are makers of major woodworking and construction tools. Your main goal however is simply to buy quality the first time out. Spending $20 once on a hand cultivator that lasts a lifetime is far preferable to spending $5 multiple times each season on something that falls apart at the first real challenge.

Check out some of the more popular manufacturers of garden tools and implements online to get a sense of what you will need to spend to obtain a hand cultivator that meets your need and lasts for years. Then, shop with confidence, and enjoy your garden!

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