# What's the gardening implement with a single pointy thing. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 20, 2015, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-gardening-implement-with-a-single-pointy-thing/713171 "2015-02-20T04:45:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2015, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-gardening-implement-with-a-single-pointy-thing/713171/1 "2015-02-20T04:45:59Z")
My dad used to have a long handled gardening tool that looked like a hoe but just had a single bent finger or tine. Kinda like a really skinny hoe :). I’ve been trying to track one down because I have a bunch of weeds growing in the crack between a walkway and a wall. It’s the perfect tool for de-weeding the crack. What the hell is this tool called? I seem to recall something like a harrow, or a farrow. Maybe you used it to drag a furrow to toss seeds into. Maybe it’s a furrower. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2015, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-gardening-implement-with-a-single-pointy-thing/713171/2 "2015-02-20T05:20:23Z")
I don’t have an answer for you, but you could just get one of [these](http://www.featurepics.com/FI/Thumb300/20100407/ac0bGarden-Rake-1505142.jpg) and run it through the crack sideways or cut the two outside tines off with an angle grinder. ETA, [found it](http://www.amazon.com/Flexrake-CLA111-Classic-Weeding-Cultivator/dp/B004OBZFW4/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1424409694&sr=8-2&keywords=weeding+cultivator). ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2015, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-gardening-implement-with-a-single-pointy-thing/713171/3 "2015-02-20T12:34:30Z")
> [@Darryl\_Lict](#): > > Kinda like a really skinny hoe :). I’ve been trying to track one down because I have a bunch of weeds growing in the crack between a walkway and a wall. It’s the perfect tool for de-weeding the crack. A crack hoe? ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2015, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-gardening-implement-with-a-single-pointy-thing/713171/4 "2015-02-20T12:44:56Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > A crack hoe? One tine, not one tooth. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2015, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-gardening-implement-with-a-single-pointy-thing/713171/5 "2015-02-20T14:09:36Z")
“weeding cultivator” a facile euphemism. “It’s time to cultivate you, motherfucker!” ---
**Author:** ![Savannah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Savannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savannah)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2015, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-gardening-implement-with-a-single-pointy-thing/713171/6 "2015-02-20T14:10:13Z")
Ooh, I’ve got one with a twisty prong. It’s grand for digging out a tap root. No idea what it’s called, I just call it the “weed thing”. Boiling water poured into cracks where weeds live helps kill them. ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2015, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-gardening-implement-with-a-single-pointy-thing/713171/7 "2015-02-20T14:19:39Z")
Roundup! ---
**Author:** ![kellner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c2a13f/32.png) [@kellner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kellner)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2015, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-gardening-implement-with-a-single-pointy-thing/713171/8 "2015-02-20T14:24:32Z")
This is not going to be much help, but in German that’s a _Sauzahn_, literally “sow [as in pig] tooth”. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2015, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-gardening-implement-with-a-single-pointy-thing/713171/9 "2015-02-20T14:34:21Z")
[Cultivator/Weeder?](http://www.amazon.com/True-Temper-Cultivator-48-Inch-1843500/dp/B00004S1RL/ref=sr_1_8?s=lawn-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1424442817&sr=1-8&keywords=cultivator) ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2015, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-gardening-implement-with-a-single-pointy-thing/713171/10 "2015-02-20T14:47:45Z")
Is it maybe just a broken hoe? I know when I was a kid we had a set of gardening tools that came from various sources - a number were in the house+acre we bought - that were either hand-made, modified or just fixed from broken. One was obviously just the “spine” of a heavy-duty hoe from which the blade had separated, leaving just an indestructible hook thing that was good for many hard digging/hoeing type jobs. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2015, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-gardening-implement-with-a-single-pointy-thing/713171/11 "2015-02-20T15:44:08Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > [Cultivator/Weeder?](http://www.amazon.com/True-Temper-Cultivator-48-Inch-1843500/dp/B00004S1RL/ref=sr_1_8?s=lawn-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1424442817&sr=1-8&keywords=cultivator) Cultivator is my answer too. Although what I think of as a cultivator doesn’t look like a trowel on a stick…[Google Image Search](https://www.google.com/search?safe=off&biw=1366&bih=563&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=single+prong+cultivator&oq=single+prong+cultivator&gs_l=img.3..0i24.41719.43419.0.43881.6.6.0.0.0.0.260.766.2-3.3.0.msedr...0...1c.1.62.img..5.1.259.jaZbAwZWEY8). ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2015, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-gardening-implement-with-a-single-pointy-thing/713171/12 "2015-02-20T16:58:43Z")
Try Google image search for “mattock,” I’d link but I’m on my phone. Mattocks are usually two sided with a pick axe and narrow hoe, but some are just the hoe part. Even if that’s not it, it might work. ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2015, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-gardening-implement-with-a-single-pointy-thing/713171/13 "2015-02-20T20:19:48Z")
Google “CobraHead”. That is the most popular brand of the tool you’re searching for ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2015, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-gardening-implement-with-a-single-pointy-thing/713171/14 "2015-02-20T21:14:37Z")
Hey **Joey P** how’s it feel to be completely ignored? After all, you did answer the question in the first post. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2015, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-gardening-implement-with-a-single-pointy-thing/713171/15 "2015-02-20T21:36:47Z")
> [@Kimballkid](#): > > Hey **Joey P** how’s it feel to be completely ignored? After all, you did answer the question in the first post. > > 😃 Apologies to **Joey** , I only clicked on his first link. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2015, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-gardening-implement-with-a-single-pointy-thing/713171/16 "2015-02-21T01:15:06Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > ETA, [found it](http://www.amazon.com/Flexrake-CLA111-Classic-Weeding-Cultivator/dp/B004OBZFW4/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1424409694&sr=8-2&keywords=weeding+cultivator). The pictures there look like dentists’ tools. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2015, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-gardening-implement-with-a-single-pointy-thing/713171/17 "2015-02-21T01:18:13Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > The pictures there look like dentists’ tools. Yeah, but it’s 2 pounds and 4.5 feet long. Not so good for precision work, but if you open really wide I’ll take a crack at that parsley between your teeth. > [@Kimballkid](#): > > Hey **Joey P** how’s it feel to be completely ignored? After all, you did answer the question in the first post. > > 😃 Story of my life. ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2015, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-gardening-implement-with-a-single-pointy-thing/713171/18 "2015-02-22T03:26:18Z")
Thanks peeps. That Flexrake one looks pretty good.