The Hori Hori Knife: My New Favorite Garden Tool

Evidently, this multi-use tool originated several hundred years ago in Japan. It was originally a mountain farmers tool and bonsai gardeners seem to most prevalently claim it as their own. It is said that the bonsai gardeners/farmers used to climb high into to mountains with their hori hori knives to dig promising specimens off of the rocky cliff faces. Another story that I ran across indicates that an ancient Shogun grew fearful of the farmer-warriors and ordered that all swords be confiscated from anyone who was not samurai. It was then illegal for anyone not of the sword bearing class to have a sword. In order to protect themselves, the farmers designed tools that were legal and could double as weapons.

Some folks tell us that the Japanese verb to dig or excavates is horu. The name of the knife, hori hori, is derived from the verb to dig. I don’t know which, if any of these stories is true. I do know that there are many uses for the hori hori knife. So, first, what is a hori hori knife?

It is traditionally a wooden handled, wide bladed knife made from carbon steel. The blade is between four and seven inches long and is wide. The blade is thick and concave for strength and ease of digging.  One side of the blade is smooth and sharp. The other side is serrated for sawing off those dang big roots. It is the most versatile garden tool that I own. I use it for planting, weeding, digging rows, digging out roots, digging holes for roots, cutting irrigation pipes, dead-heading, pruning, digging rows…I carry it with me all the time. When you buy one you will want to get a sheath for it and keep it sharp.

Over time, some garden genius put measuring markings on the blade of the hori hori so that you can properly space your plantings. Then they started making them out of stainless steel for those of us who are tool maintenance challenged. If you have trouble remembering where you put down your tools, you will want to be careful with your hori hori knife. I have read stories of folks who inadvertently bury their knives under plants and have to borrow metal detectors from their mother-in-law and get mercilessly ribbed at family gatherings for years to come. So, in order to avoid my ‘friends’ fate, you may want to paint the handle of your hori hori knife a bright color, or purchase one that has a brightly colored handle.

When looking for your knife, because you will use it all the time, make sure that the blade extends into the handle. If the blade is welded on to the handle, it will eventually snap off when you are using it. Spend more to get a sturdy hori hori knife and avoid buying three. The carbon steel knives will need regular sharpening. If you don’t have a whet stone, you will want to get one. I am feeling traditionalist recently and bought the carbon steel hori hori knife. Sharpening your knife yourself make you feel more connected to your tool and, as a consequence, more present in your garden when using your tool. As you use your knife more and more, you will enjoy gardening more and more.

How should you sharpen and care for you hori hori knife? You can take it to your local kitchen store or knife shop and pay someone to do it..or you can learn to do it yourself. First you need a whetstone. You want to look for a high quality carborundum stone with a smooth side and coarse side. If you get a cheap stone, you will get mad later and buy a better stone. So skip the cheap stone and get the good one.

If your knife is dull, start with the coarse stone. This is ‘roughing’ the blade. Roughing will leave a coarse edge that will cut fibrous material but not work for fine cutting. When you prune and work with your plants, you want good, clean cuts. So, sharpen your knife all the way – two steps.

Step one is roughing. The rough, you should wet or oil your stone according to the manufacturer’s directions. Hold your hori hori knife at about 20 degrees to the stone (pretend that you are cutting a piece off of the stone and you will get the angle about right). Use consistent strokes in only one direction making sure that you keep the angel to the stone consistent. First in the coarse side, and then on the fine side of the stone. The fine side sharpening is step two.

Okay, now for the safety bit…don’t hold the sharpening stone in your hand, you will cut yourself. Secondly, if you never cut toward yourself, you can never get cut.

If you care for your hori hori knife, it will take care of you and your garden. I love mine and use it all the time.