There is a wealth of information out there about composting methods, tips and techniques as well as laundry lists of compostable items. However, when it comes to the tools you can use to help you in your composting endeavors, the information, unfortunately, is a little on the lean side. I like to compost green and brown yard debris, which is essentially a mix of green grass clippings, leaves, and flowers intertwined with brown twigs, leaves, and dried grass. Fortunately for me, Fiskars has all the composting tools I need to create and collect all this yard debris and get the job done.

Manual Reel Mowers

A reel mower is a lawn mower that requires no gas, cords or batteries – hence, no carbon footprint, no odor, and no smells! I know”¦I know. It sounds like something that hearkens from an episode of The Waltons (or maybe they had a goat?). Anyhow, I assure you that today’s reel mowers, such as the Fiskars StaySharpâ„¢ Max Reel Mower, are very sophisticated and powerful. I call the Fiskars model a “feel good” piece of equipment, because it feels good to use from an environmentally mindful standpoint and literally feels good to mow with. I found it very easy to push and it was easy on my hands with its comfortable cushioned grip. It is also a “feel good” for the mechanically challenged (like me) who get frustrated easily and call in reinforcements to finish the job. The assembly itself was easy – roughly 15-20 minutes out of the box, completed all on my own, with no tools required. Adjustments, such as cutting height, are also easily made.

Grass Shears

Edging around steps with Fiskars Shear Ease® Grass Shears.

I actually swore off grass shears a long, long time ago. I regard the grass shears of yesteryear more of a hand grip exercising gizmo than a functional practical hand tool. They were heavy in the hand, jammed up a lot and each squeeze on the handle literally made you grimace as you tried to work the squeaky blades. The Fiskars Shear Ease® Grass Shears actually turned my notion about grass shears on its head. They are lightweight, engineered to prevent jamming, and feature sharp precision-ground steel blades with a head that rotates 360° making them very ideal for edging and trimming decorative grasses around flower beds, trees and sidewalks.

Rakes

Have you ever experienced a lawn or garden rake that started to seem heavier and heavier the longer you used it in a raking session, slowing down your momentum and perhaps even your will to continue? I’ve “been there done that,” temporarily abandoning a raking job in order to give my weary arms a much needed respite. Thanks to Fiskars, I can now perform raking activities with a lot more ease and endurance due to the lightweight, yet durable, design of their rake product line, which helps me to provide fodder for my compost pile in no time flat. With their aluminum handles and strong resin heads, you can make fast work of jobs not only in open expanses, such as with the leaf rake, but also those in tight spaces, with the shrub rake. The garden rake, with its aluminum handle and 14 hardened steel tines, is ideal for loosening up and leveling soil, as well as removing weeds and dead grass from lawns and gardens.
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Garden Forks

Turning over the compost pile with a Fiskars Ergo D-handle Steel Garden Fork.

No discussion on composting tools would be complete without the inclusion of a garden fork because, hey, you do need to turn over that compost pile once in a while! The Fiskars Ergo D-handle Steel Garden Fork helps to make light work of the heavy tasks with an ergonomic angled D-handle that minimizes wrist strain and pointed boron steel tines that pierce through dense, hardened soil easily.

So there you have it. An overview of some of my essential composting tools. Be sure to check out Fiskars for these and many more tool options to fit your needs!