Linoleum Knife
Now here is a tool that you would probably never use—but I do, so there’s a slight chance you might. First of all, you have to have a lawn. I figure that would eliminate many of you who have done the responsible thing and eliminated your lawn. (Did you ever read my blog article explaining why I love my lawn?) Second, you have to enjoy working on your hands and knees. So, let’s say that there is a 10% chance that you are still interested in continuing. Finally, you have to possess a certain amount of OCD. So for the 2% of you who remain, here is why you need this tool:
Do you have a string lawn edger? I do. I got it as a garage sale. It is supposed to advance the string by bumping it on the ground. But it doesn’t do that. I have to turn it upside down and manually advance the string. Then sometimes the string breaks within the spool. So I have to take it apart to extract the string again. That’s a pain. Then when I do use the edger, the resulting edge is rather ragged—hardly OCD worthy. So, what I do is get on my hands and knees, take my linoleum knife, and draw it towards me along the inside of the mow strip. (Oh, I forget that is another requirement for needed this tool—you have to have a paver or concrete border for your lawn.) Now as I pull the knife towards me, it makes a straight cut through the grass creating the perfect edge to my lawn, which I then stand back and admire.
Now here is my last chance to interest you in this tool. Sooner or later you will likely need to patch an area of your lawn with sod. (I like the sod from Home Depot, but make sure it is fresh.) The sod is held together by a nylon mesh. You will find that this linoleum knife is the perfect tool to cut your sod into pieces that will fit the section you have carved out of your damaged lawn.
Keep the inside of the knife sharp by using a file. . . . . You don’t have a file? Well that was simply the last straw. Now . . Nobody is left to use this tool in the garden. . . . I’m so sad.
Stan, The Tool Man
Garden uses for linoleum knife
(Perhaps you should buy this model from Amazon for about $4. Can you imagine how impressive this would look in your tool collection. But hurry—there are only 4 left of this model as of this writing!)