Japanese Gardening Tools

Basic tools and how to care for them

Building Your Toolbox

by Don Pylant | Apr 20, 2015 | Japanese tools

If you are looking to add a few special Japanese gardening tools to your toolbox, here are a few suggestions to get you started. For information on Japanese Tool Maintenance, see Care and Feeding of Japanese Tools. HAND PRUNERS would surely be the first thing you...

Care & Feeding of Japanese Tools

by Don Pylant | Apr 5, 2015 | Japanese tools, Reference

Quality gardening tools are an investment and a treasure. Here are a few pointers on how to keep them in good shape. For information on tool selection, see Building your Toolbox. CLEANING Clean tools function better and last longer. Plant diseases may also be spread...

Pulling the Rake – A Practical Guide to Raking Karesansui Garden

by Andrew R. Deane and Martin McKellar | Nov 11, 2014 | Design & Construction, Japanese tools, Maintaining the Garden

If you have Japanese enabled on your browser, mouse over Japanese terms to see their kanji and definitions. The entire list is available here. Andrew R. Deane became interested in Japanese gardens while teaching English in Japan in the 1990's. He maintains a hybrid...

Moving Mountains

by Christian Martini | Apr 15, 2010 | Design & Construction, Japanese tools

This article describes the stone setting process demonstrated in an Atlanta workshop by Mike Yamakami in 2003. Due to the inherently dangerous nature of moving large boulders, I do not recommend using the following information as a practical guide for the ambitious...

Japanese Gardening Glossary

by Don Pylant | Nov 2, 2004 | Design & Construction, Japanese Garden Theory & Design, Japanese tools, Reference

Sooner or later you will want to start gathering useful terms used in the Japanese gardening community and in publications. Every term you learn will be a tool in your learning. Here is a dynamic list of more than 150 Japanese gardening terms as used in Japanese...

Making a Tripod Ladder

by Steve Burkhalter | Mar 3, 2004 | Japanese tools, Reference

Masanori Yamakami (AKA - Yama or Mike) shared his expertise in building tripod ladders on a cold day in February of 2008. What follows is a description of a 10' ladder that I built from red oak lumber using Yama's design concept (as best as I could remember). I have...

The Bamboo Broom

by Christian Martini | Mar 3, 0204 | Japanese tools, Reference

Christian Martini shares the joy and beauty of Japanese bamboo brooms in this how-to article inspired by Masanori Yamakami's workshop. A BAMBOO BROOM is the perfect tool for gently sweeping away debris from your moss garden. The Japanese have been using these simple...