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Hori Hori S Type Knife

£59.00

Everyone’s favourite weeding and planting tool, with a razor sharp, stainless steel knife-grade blade, serrated down one side for roots and what-nots, and a chunky beech wood handle for grip.

As with all Hori Horis, these things are not absolutely invincible. DO NOT stick into hard ground and yank back hard - it will bend.

Most of the Niwaki sharp tools are made from carbon steel - this means they will, through regular use, stain (and eventually rust) and gradually lose their edge. Caring for them involves three things…

1. Correct Use:

  • Japanese steel is hard and sharp, and can be more brittle than some people are used to - it will chip if abused
  • Do not cut wire, metal, stone, plastic or any other hard material (even bamboo fibres and some very hard woods, especially knots and burrs, can damage steel edges)
  • Do not twist or apply uneven pressure
  • Cut diagonally across branches (not straight across) so you cut along the fibres
  • Pay attention to our maximum cut dimensions, and don’t overdo it (shears are not loppers)
  • Use the base of the blades, not the tips, for heavier cuts

2. Keeping Them Clean:

  • Remove leaf resin, rust and gunk with a Crean Mate and water
  • Dry, wipe over with Camellia oil and store in a dry place

            1997. Jake goes to Japan as a wannabe sculptor, to investigate the cultural phenomenon of the cherry blossom season, hanami. There he discovers the gardens, and the trees, and vows to learn more.

            Back home in England, he trains as a TEFL teacher, meets Keiko, and drags her back to Japan. Year one is spent teaching, year two working at a traditional plant nursey in a rural part of Osaka, learning all about tree training, pruning and rootballing.

            Back home again, Jake gets work at Architectural Plants in Sussex, where he is shocked to find people using FOUR LEGGED LADDERS (Can you imagine?) Brother-in-law Haruyasu is enrolled to ship over a couple of tripod ladders (still going strong today) which together with the robust secateurs and topiary clippers Jake insists on using, cause quite a stir.

            And so begins the business.

            What everyone starts to appreciate is that although these things are all Japanese, they work just as well in western gardens, and on a whole range of plants. Tripod ladders, it turns out, are just as useful for hedge trimming as they are for pine pruning; and of course topiary clippers work just as well on box topiary as they do on azalea karikomi.

            You don’t need to grow bonsai to enjoy these tools.