This may be an unusual tool to consider a garden tool but I have found my Swiss Army Knife
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In the picture below you can see what I consider to be one of the most useful parts of the knife, the scissors. I use the scissors for a number of things related to pruning. Mostly I take softwood cuttings with the scissors. If it’s too thick for the scissors to cut I’ll use my pruners that are much more substantial but for perennials these are more than sufficient. They do well as a small pair of pruners for trimming the small stuff. Of course using the scissors for what they are intended is great too! Cutting twine and string, plant tags, and all sorts of miscellaneous things.
I don’t use the knife as often as the scissors but it does come in handy for cutting open bags of mulch and would come in very handy for grafting. Grafting is something I would like to attempt eventually. Grafting is basically where you take a branch of one plant and attach it to another plant’s branches or root stock. Think of it like an organ transplant except it is not nearly complicated.
This little attachment has two functions. A flathead screwdriver and a bottle opener. I’ve used the flathead screwdriver for all sorts of things but most recently I did some hose repair that required a flathead screwdriver. It also has a Phillip’s head attachment that I use that isn’t pictured. Now what could that bottle opener possibly open?
It even has a handy little saw blade. I haven’t used it for anything but it is nice to know I have it when I need it.
There are other attachments like nail files, tweezers (great for removing splinters), a leather punch (I use it for poking holes in containers that don’t have drainage holes), and a can opener. There are all kinds of knives out there with various functions. Many knives have more functions than mine does and several have less but this knife is a very handle tool for me in the garden. Do you have an unusual tool that wasn’t meant specifically for the garden that you like to use in the garden?
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My hubby has a Leatherman, and when he bought it, he more or less did away with his techie tool kit. (He’s a computer hardware specialist.) I can see where one of these knives would be very handy in the garden.
The Saint started out with a Swiss. He went to the Leatherman also when he went off to Bosnia for a year to support the Army. Hey Nancy, my hubby is a Computer Hardware Tech also! He works for a govt contractor supporting the Military forces…
I use a box cutter a lot. Cutting open bags of dirt, mulch, gravel, ropes from pine straw bales, etc…
This is a good question. Made me think. What type of tool do I like in the garden which has a different purpose? The only thing I can think of is ordinary household scissors. I use them all the time in the garden though they are not designed for it. This is why I always lose them in my house-they are in the garden!
Interesting, I never really thought about tools until I started blogging…..now I am thinking about a knife for garden use…and a hoe and who knows what is next!
Gail
I never once thought of a Swiss Amry knife for a garden tool. My husband loves buying knives. Maybe I can put one on my list for the next “special” day. Thanks for the great idea.
Great post Dave and that knife sure does have a lotta uses.
Grafting…The way you like to propagate, I wondered why you never talked about grafting. Figured it was bound to come. Go for as I know you will do well!