Look up professional gardening tools. Or go to a real hardware store (Ace) or a store that sells mowers and all types of gardening equipment. See what they're offering, pick them up and see how they feel, then check out if ordering online gets you better prices.

There's a level of individual personal need involved, too. For a variety of reasons and/or physical limitations, certain things work better for different people. Some brands, expensive or not just don't fit well with my hands etc.

I inherited a garage full of Union Tools and Ames True Temper implements; cheap to good pruning saws - all of which work well, unknown brand mid-length lopper, assorted bypass pruners. My brother salvaged some new kicked to the curb Union Tools Lady Gardener implements that I use all the time since I tend to gravitate to short D-handled shovels, spades, forks now that I'm no longer 20 something.

Not too much in my gardening arsenal goes unused and when taken care of properly, not too much has needed replacing over the years.

It so happens we have an ACE hardware in town. I'll give them a look. The problem I have is that I don't know how to evaluate how well-made the tool is. Of course, I can evaluate if it is a good 'fit' for me. For instance, I mentioned Felco because I know the blades on them are quality, hardened, steel that will take years of abuse. There is such a thing as a steel 'hardness' number, but this isn't going to be advertised on a box. Many tools look good, feel good, but have inferior grade metal that just won't hold up.
Felco is good, but very expensive, and I don't know if there is something for less, but comparable.

I don't do Felco's because I seem to set things down and then forget to pick them up again. Leaving the pricy stuff out makes me angry at myself when I find them again. Not too nice for the tools either.

You can find Felco's on sale at times. Had a recommend for buying them at discounted prices here:

http://kilianhardware.com/felcpalcut.html

I have had real good luck with Corona hand pruner tools, for a cheaper price. They have replacable blades, seem to hold a good edge. I like their shorter lopper, about 18 inches long. Has strong handles, with a bigger bite than hand pruners for slightly larger branches. Not heavy to carry like the big loppers in a bucket or among several bushes.

I have found I PREFER a hand pruner with a thumb lock on the side. The wire clip under the spring is ALWAYS breaking or latching shut. A number of the cheaper ones have this latch. But I can buy several pairs of cheap ones for the price of one good pair that I can never find! So sometimes I just go for the trade-off instead, since I can find at least one pair of the cheapy ones when I need them.

I also like Fiscar tools, but you have to pick and choose. Some of the plastic lock handles do not work well. The short handle loppers with plastic rachets work, I just wonder when I will break it. I try to buy these on sale in the fall, reduced price. I got a gift of a pair of extended reach hand pruners, haven't given them a workout yet. Buying the long handled loppers, look for the double rachet, gives you more power for the same pull strength.

Lee Tools and Rittenbach both have all the good stuff, along with various items that you won't see elsewhere. Both have websites.

For shovels, I have been happy with my True Value garden shovel with the D-handle, square blade. Has gotten a lot of digging done for a low cost. I have fiberglass handle spades for truly hard digging, they hold up well. Lots of rakes. A couple of bow head rakes, one each with wooden and fiberglass handles. Wood is better in the garden, lighter but fiberglass is stronger, weightier for projects. The Ames wide plastic broom rake is best for my leaf raking. Skinny rakes, Fiscar or Razorback, again with plastic head, plus a narrow metal finger rake get a lot of use. Good for close in around plants, both work for cleaning beds, smoothing between rows after seeding.

I have several hand tools for digging, a circle hoe, an angled hoe and the wide edge weeder, which all work very well. My Korean plow is a great tool, gets used a lot. I like long handled, sturdy trowels, Lady Gardener is a nice brand. OXO has a great cultivator with padded handle.

I absolutely have WAY too many tools.

Having a way to sharpen them easily, helps you work easier, faster. I have a grinder with abrasive wheel for shovel sharpening, trowels. I use a chainsaw file on the hand pruners and loppers, along with a REALLY nice sharpener tool from Lee Tools. The sharpener is great on certain models of hand pruners that open wide, uses ceramic pieces to remove nicks in the blade, put a good edge on it. Not big enough for the loppers. I keep a couple pairs of sharp pruners and loppers at hand when working, trade them around as they get dull in work. Too hard to work using dull tools, makes cuts messy and damages the plant.

I prefer steel blades over stainless, they usually stay sharper, longer, though they do rust. Stainless does not always hold a sharp edge for very long.

That was Rittenhouse, not Rittenbach tools, that has a website for good tools.

Thanks a lot. I'll check some of those brands and prices and see if I can find any more comparisons and reveiws such as yours. I believe our local ACE hardware has Fiscar. I can get discounts through True Value hardware stores so I'll see what they carry.

Yes, I have an old True Temper shovel I purchased from Ace over 20 years ago. Have dug over an acre over the years with that shovel and it's the best tool I've ever owned.