Last week fellow blogger Ali at Henbogle was bemoaning her loss of another trowel. I jumped in and told her about my favorite trowels, the Wilcox All-Pro line. Then Daphne at Daphne’s Dandelions chimed in with another recommendation for the same trowels. After yet another testimonial from a friend, Ali decided to add a Wilcox All-Pro 202 14 inch trowel to her arsenal of garden tools. I can only hope that she likes her trowel as much as I do mine.
collection of Wilcox trowels (click on any image to enlarge)
I’ve been using these heavy duty trowels for quite a few years now, but it occurs to me that not everyone may have heard about them. To put it simply, they are the only trowels I use in the garden – and I use them a lot. They are made of stainless steel, which makes them unbreakable, unbending, and virtually indestructible. And they have a bright red plastic handle, which makes them easy to find if you leave them out in the garden.
The business end of the trowel is different from any I ever used before. Instead of being rounded, it comes to a sharpened point. That makes it great for digging in heavy soils, or cutting through roots when planting. Of course, it works great in lighter soils as well.
closeup of trowel blade
Many of the models have a built in depth gauge incised on the blade, in both inches and centimeters. That can be used to not only judge the depth of the hole for planting, but also to measure the distance between planting holes. Can you tell I use this feature a lot?
And if all these great features weren’t enough, they are made right here in the U.S. in Montezuma, Iowa (according to their Facebook page). That is becoming a real rarity in these times of mostly imported goods. The 14″ model #202 is 3″ wide, and available from several sources online (including Amazon). I also have the model #101 which has a 12″, narrower blade. And model #50 is even smaller, with a 9″ blade that is handy for use with containers, planters and indoors with houseplants. It is the trowel in the top of the first photo.
another closeup of Wilcox trowel
I’ll add my usual disclaimer that I am not being compensated in any way to review these tools favorably, or otherwise. I paid full retail price for them, and I think they are worthy of sharing with other gardeners who are searching for quality garden tools.
So if you’re in the market for a tough as nails trowel, you might try the Wilcox All Pro line. Who knows, it could be the last trowel you will ever buy!