Kitchen knives, I have a small steak knife for pricking out weeds and a sharp serrated bread knife for shearing back spent perennials.

Sharon

My knealing pad and an old pointy brick layer's trowel. I painted the wooden handle Hot pink with lime green polka dots, it keeps me from losing it in the flower beds, one of the best things I've ever done.

Stirup/Dutch hoe, for fast easy weeding while the buggers are still yet on the small side, does not work good on hard ground.

The Garden Claw was a bust for me when used on the heavy soil back on the farm, though should give it another try here on my much lighter soil :)

Terry

I love my Ho-Mi from Lee Valley. It is my go to tool more often than not. It works great for making planting holes, breaking up lumps of soil, the pointy tip is great for making furrows as well as digging out stubborn weeds. I also use it for mixing soil, the shape & angle of the handle works really well for pushing & pulling. The only thing it won't do is wash dishes...

Here is a link that might be useful: My little ho-mi

I'm going to look up that Ho-Mi garden chicken.

twrosz--No the garden claw is not for heavy clay soil. It's too hard to get in the soil, but if you have loam it goes in easy and digs quite deep. I can dig up my flower beds in no time with it.

I have much better soil here, nice and fluffy ... so, this would be a good tool to use between the perennials ...