OK, I'll start this out by saying that I realize that not everyone can afford the higher quality garden tools, nor do I think that people who "garden" one Saturday every spring necessarily need a better quality garden tool, but if you're an avid gardener and you rely on your tools to make your gardening more enjoyable and less tiresome, isn't it worth it to have tools that work as hard as you do....time after time?

So let's take a look at what you get in a higher quality, handmade garden tool that you don't get in bargain, off-the-shelf garden tool.

  • Quality - excellent, superior, strong, fine, high grade - all words that you probably would not use to describe the garden tools you normally find at the big box stores, but all these words describe the value of a quality garden tool.

  • Design - Most of the tools that we offer are made by companies that have been perfecting the design of the tools for over a hundred years. A little bend here, a little more strength there, all to make the tool more efficient and enjoyable to use...no one-size-fits-all tools.

  • Materials - At the heart of any garden tool is the metal that it is made of.  While most garden tool makers are always looking for cheaper, thinner metals to make their tools, meaning more money in their pockets, better quality tool makers will only use the highest quality metals available and will not skimp for the sake of an extra few pennies per tool. These tool makers also choose only the straightest grained Ash hardwood for the tool handles

  • Company - The quality of the garden tool is only as good as the character of the company that makes them. Two of companies whose tools we carry are still family owned after a hundred years or more and realize the time and effort needed to make a quality garden tool.

  • Warranty - A lot of the tools we carry have a lifetime warranty because the companies that make these tools believe in the products they make and stand behind their quality.  With a bargain tool, you'll probably be standing at the returns counter for quite a while arguing with a cashier whether the warranty is valid...if it has one at all.

  • Cheaper? -  One might argue that these tools are less expensive in the long run if you break a couple of cheap tools, time and gas to go to the store again, waiting in the returns line,  etc.... not to mention the frustration involved.

"Price is what you pay. Value is what you get."  -Warren Buffett

What about where it is made?  The Sneeboer tools we offer are handmade in Holland and you'd be hard pressed to find better quality...but at a price. We've all had our experiences with "Made in China",  but I'm here to tell you that the Chinese can make quality products...it's the companies that specify the design and materials that make for cheap products. For example, we offer Burgon & Ball and Barebones tools. Both made in China and both are of good quality because the companies specify good quality materials that the tools are made of.

So, the best quality garden tools are available, but what's "best" for me may not be what's "best" for you.