I use my wheelbarrow and garden cart a lot to haul plant matter to the compost pile. I'm currently using a pair of sharp kitchen shears and small hand pruners to cut back perennials and shubs. I'd love to find a tool like my dad's old-fashioned hand hedge trimmers that had 8 or 10" blades to use to cut back perennials like grasses or mums where I don't want to have to cut individual stems or even small clusters of stems. They would need to have sharp blades and good leverage since I have a tendancy towards tendonitis. Any one have a good suggestions for me to look at?

My other favorite tool at this time of year is a pair of DH's big adjustible pliers for use in uprooting small to medium buckthorn. It's the easiest way to remove them permanently now when the soil is still moist and loose. It is easier on my hands than anything else I've found.

I'd also like to find a steel spring rake with close-set teeth (or one that is adjustible.) We have a gravel drive and invariably need to rake gravel out of the lawn from the plow.

Oh - I forgot my absolute favorite tool - my bifocal sunglasses so I can actually see what my hands are doing!

Babs - Those are the same heavy-duty hedge*trimmers that my Dad had - but then, I can't quite justify the expense of the trimmers (link below) since I would only be using them once year to cut grasses. . .still, using hand pruners, as I did yesterday on 13 grasses, some three foot across, can be pretty painful !

KT - Since I'm five-foot-sixteen, people would just crack up seeing me folding up to use that short-short rake. . .who am I kidding? They're probably laughing anyway, More to the point, most of my shrubs are in woodland settings, so I just let the leaves com*post in place.

Favorite clean-up tool: all-purpose lifetime weeder (also from Lee Valley)
which doubles as a dibble. . .just a straight-forward, no nonsense, simple tool that gets rid of this burgeoning weeds that somehow overwintered. . .

Carl

Here is a link that might be useful: Lee Valley Garden Tools

My favorite down-on-the-knees weeding tool where one has to work tight to plants is a linoleum knife. Also makes weeding between stone/brick pathway crevasses much easier. Suggest you try one.

I've spent most of the past 3 days with my trusty Felco #6 pruners. My mixed beds don't take kindly to rakes, so I've been mostly lifting matted, wet leaves with bare hands. I've also been using an adjustable steel rake where I can; it's really good for getting between plants. This one's a cheap thing I picked up at the local hardware store, I think. Enormous pop-up bags have been a real help, too.

I've got tendon problems too, and I think 2-handed clippers would be really bad for me, because the motion is so repetitive. The good thing about cutting grasses with hand pruners is that you can tackle the plant one little section at a time, which really cuts down on the strain. On the other hand, I wonder if bypass pruners would be better than the #6s, which are anvil pruners.

Babs,
I have been looking for a long handled pair of sharp shears myself. Last fall I came across what I thought was perfect and of course now I can't recall where I saw them, I know it was in relation to shearing heather....hmmm I hate when this happens.
Carl,
Since I'm five-foot-sixteen
Lol..My best friend is first cousin to the Jolly Green Giant, although you would never know it as she is more of a chartreuse green and she would have no problem with this rake. It has a standard length handle length of 48" or 54". I don't have any gravel to test it on but this rake might even be a good choice for Babs driveway gravel in her lawn.
Nandina,
As always pure genius, a linoleum knife for between bricks is just what I need. I spend so much time weeding my brick path that I suspect I will be carrying one around as much as I do my Felcos.
Nan,
I think ideally you might try using anvil pruners in the morning and bypass in the afternoon, but if you are tired and sore as I am perhaps the advil will mask it all. I have one pop up bag and one is definitely not enough, I wish I had a little garden elf that would do nothing but run back and forth and empty the dog gone thing in the compost area. Yesterday I reverted back to using tarps that of course became so piled high and heavy that I could barley drag it.
Here is a photo of the rake that I am coveting and secretly hope you all envy lol.

I have some smaller hedge clippers that work great for cutting down smaller perennials. They are really designed for shearing topiary or small shrubbery (which I don't do). so I need a larger pair of hedge clippers for the big stuff, like the ginormous Miscanthus!

Carl I like those clippers with the adjustable length handles - are they lightweight? Because I have a tendency towards tendonitis too. Easy to sharpen?

Anyway, I tried a new cleanup tool the other day - the lawn mower! It worked great in a couple beds in the back that have large vigorous perennials, smaller grasses, and a heavy leaf layer. I set the mower on the highest setting and just mowed down the plants down. It also shredded some of the leaves and reduced their volume at the same time. After mowing, I picked up the large stalks, and raked to tidy up the edges and smooth out the leaves. I avoided the large grasses, small shrubs, and a couple perennials I didn't want to mow down.

Hmm, I'm not big on rakes, but that one does look good, Kt. Since mine usually spend most of their lives outdoors, left under shrubs or behind outbuildings, they don't last long even though not heavily used, so I like to have plenty of them around.

I wanted to mention another tool that's been fantastic this past week. It's a compost screen that just fits over my garden cart, and has 1/2 inch wire mesh supported by a wooden frame. In the past, it's been nothing short of a nightmare to use, but this year I have a bin of really well-aged, kitchen scrap based compost that pretty much goes right through the mesh. It takes just a couple of minutes to sift a cartload of gorgeous compost, which can then be wheeled out to where its needed and spread with a small spade. Then the dog works it into the mulch for me, eating only about half of it in the process.

It's the first time I've had compost this good, this free of debris, and this black. The screen, which my son built for me a couple of years ago, is my new BFF.

terrene,
Lawnmower...simply brilliant. I don't know why I only think to use it in the fall to mow up leaves.Raising the mower up high should do a good job particularly in an area of mostly late blooming native plants.

Nan,
I suppose only a serious gardener (or possibly a nut) could ever be bff with a compost screen!!!

Today while clearing some leaves that I knew I should not be adding to my compost pile I thought when I buy another pop up yard waste bag I will be sure to get one of a different color to use only for non-composting yard waste.

These posts are so interesting! Everybody's favorite is seriously good info!

I have two favorite tools - one is a little rake, wood handle and small plastic tine section. It is light, short, and the tines are still effective though few compared to other larger rakes. I use it to reach under things, mostly - but its size makes it easier to control than a large rake. It's also handy for raking between perennials that you don't want to ruin.

My other favorite tool is my trimmer on a long handle. You can use it standing up. It's made by Fiskar and the blades are sharp and efficient. Great when you have a patio where the weeds grow up.

Happy cleanup and gardening everyone!

Donna

Donna,
Your long handled trimmer sounds sooo much nicer than a noisy weed wacker. I think Fiskar makes a good blade I use their all purpose sizzors for everything from deadheading to cutting pizza. Come to think of it the last few times I have looked to purcha*se a new pair I wasn't able to find them...they must still be for sale I am probably just looking in the wrong stores.

Jo-Ann's Fabrics always has Fiskar scissors, if you still would like a new pair.

I found the Fiskar long-handled trimmer at an Ace Hardware store.

Cheers!

Donna