7 Best Garden Rakes for Cleaning Up Around Plants
Updated: Mar. 18, 2024
Treat your plants and flowers with loving care by using the right garden tools. This collection of rakes includes something for every garden.
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Buying a Garden Rake
Unlike leaf rakes, which are best for lightweight leaves and twigs, standard garden rakes handle more rigorous tasks like leveling and tilling soil or moving around heavier plant material.
How can you tell the difference? Garden rake tines are usually metal and spaced further apart than their leaf-gathering cousins. Leaf rakes are triangular, while garden rakes feature a straight or bowed head. A good quality garden rake has a ridged and balanced handle with a forged steel head. Smaller, hand-held garden rakes help you work around delicate stems and roots with more precision.
Look for a rake with an ergonomic design to provide extra comfort and lessen stress on the back and shoulders. Read on for our selection of top garden rakes.
Bully Tools Bow Rake
Selected as “The Best Bow Rake In 2020” by Business Insider, the Bully Tools 16-Inch bow rake, with a sturdy fiberglass handle, is a top-quality rake at a reasonable price (less than $40).
Keep this one in your shed for all kinds of backyard jobs, from breaking up compact garden soil to collecting lawn debris to spreading mulch. The 16 tines are made of 10-gauge steel. If you’re looking for a durable and reliable bow-head rake, the U.S.-made Bully has your back.
Razor-Back Aluminum Rake
The massively wide head of the Razor-Back 36-inch aluminum rake can cover a lot more ground with less effort. Prepare your garden with this top-rated rake made of strong yet lightweight aluminum.
In addition to garden soil, use it to level gravel and spread wood chips or compost. What’s more, it has a comfortable cushioned end grip that’s slip-resistant to help reduce hand fatigue.
Edward Tools Hand Cultivator Mini Rake
The Edward Tools hand cultivator mini rake is perfect for loosening dirt, ripping out weeds and cleaning up debris around narrow rows of plants and other hard-to-reach garden spots.
Constructed of heavy-duty carbon steel, this nimble hand-held cultivator features anti-rust, super-strong steel tines for digging in the heaviest clay or rocky soil without bending, kinking or breaking. With this little rake, you can work effectively in your raised flower beds.
Root Assassin Rake Multi-Tool
A rake, shovel and skim tool-in-one, the Root Assassin Rake Multi-Tool clears up almost every type of garden waste with surprising ease. It can also be used to skim garden ponds! No more switching between different garden implements. Just roll the Assassin in your hand to the position you need for digging up vegetables, bulb and tubers or evenly spreading compost.
Japanese Hand Rake
A two-in-one garden tool, the Japanese hand rake by GarrettWade is perfect for mulching raised beds and raking up debris around flowers. This hand rake is easily adjustable — the wing nut extends the nine tines and spreads them wider for the most versatility and flexibility. The rake measures 3-1/2-inches across at its shortest, 16 inches at its longest and 12 inches at its widest. It adjusts to any length in between.
Adjustable Garden Leaf Rake
The adjustable garden leaf rake lets you make the fan narrow (seven inches wide) for clearing debris in the garden or wide (22 inches) to clear large areas of the yard. When it’s in garden mode, it’s slim and easy to store. Although this rake is not made for heavy-duty work, it’s more than strong enough to keep your garden rows tidy.
Corona RK Fixed-Tine Shrub Rake
Sporting a smaller fan head than standard garden rakes, the Corona RK fixed-tine shrub rake works well around and under shrubs and bushes without damaging plants or roots. The rake is also ideal for managing protective ground covers and fertilizer in flower beds.
The bi-curved bow delivers even pressure to the tines for maximum efficiency. The extra-long pole (54 inches) extends your reach to get to where many rakes can’t.
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Mini Zen Garden Rake
For those without a real outdoor garden to care for, tend to your meditative, tabletop Zen garden with this set of six tiny rakes made of natural bamboo. Each is 5-1/2 inches long. You’ll get three four-tooth rakes to create waves, paths and squiggles, plus three spinning rakes for making circular and semi-circular patterns. The set comes in a wooden storage box. Here are different types of rakes.
Originally Published: June 10, 2021
