My favourite hand tool: the NZ Clark Cultivator

Update: (Sold Out). But you can still order directly from Chris Clark in Christchurch:
 
https://clarkcultivator.co.nz/

If you are looking for a last-minute Christmas gift for a (right-handed) gardener, you can't go wrong with the New Zealand-designed Clark Cultivator. It's honestly the handiest of hand tools, with a bent blade and a unique ergonomic handle with a thumb grip that stops it twisting in your hand. If you have any sort of hand/wrist/arm issues that make gardening tricky/painful for you, I'd implore you to get one (it's endorsed by the Arthritis Foundation). It's been a godsend for me. 

I don't do paid adverts (aside from flogging my own autographed books, which naturally are also lovely for last-minute stocking stuffers!) but I use my Clark Cultivator every day in the garden, and I wouldn't be without it. I use it for everything: hooking out and decapitating weeds, scraping weeds out of cracks in paths, digging seed trenches for sowing, transplanting seedlings, digging holes to plant potted colour, hacking bits off stuff, harvesting vegetables and so on. 

I've had mine since 2012, when an old chap from Christchurch called Barry Clark got in touch with me to say he'd invented a nifty tool for weeding and cultivating, and would I give it a go in my garden. Sure, I said, and I've loved it ever since. Barry sadly passed away in 2020 but his son Chris is continuing his Dad's legacy, improving the design with a BRIGHT RED polymer handle so you can't lose the jolly thing in the garden!