Garden Rake

The garden rake is a semi-reusable item sold to the player by Crazy Dave at Crazy Dave's Twiddydinkies. It costs $200, lasts for three levels, and can be bought again any time after it runs out. It is automatically placed in the lane where the first zombie will appear and the zombie that steps on it gets hit and dies.

Usage
At the beginning of a level, the garden rake will appear on the second column (from the right) on any ground lane, and this lane will also be where the first zombie appears (except in the Puzzle Mode and Vasebreaker levels). When the zombie reaches the rake, it will die instantly. This applies to every type of zombie except Gargantuars, Giga-gargantuars and Tall-nut Zombies, although it is extremely unlikely they will be first.

Strategies
Simply buy the rake as soon as it wears out, and it will take out the first zombie that appears. It gives you more time to set up your Sunflowers, without having to plant an offensive plant when the zombies arrive. This can actually be a hindrance in the hard Survival Mode levels when using the basic strategy with Peashooters, as if you do not plant the offensive plant the harder zombies may come before you have enough offensive plants ready. However, this is not a problem if you have Cattails, Potato Mines, or Squashes available, though some can find it hard to save up sun while using these plants, even though their purpose is to help save up sun.

If you're trying out any strategy that does not have a basic plant (Potato Mine, Puff-shroom, Peashooter) rakes are a must, as zombies would get too close to be killed even by a Repeater or Melon-pult.

It should be noticed, however, that the sooner the first zombie is killed, the sooner the next zombie will come. The rake increases the time you have before you must deal with the first zombie, but it reduces the time before, for example, you face the first huge wave. Thus in Survival: Endless or when attempting levels without Sunflowers, it might be in some ways better not to use it, as you will have some more time to save up sun.

Trivia

 * The rake does not appear in Bobsled Bonanza, perhaps because of the ice trail.
 * It can't be collected as money after the player defeats a level.
 * When certain zombies step on it, their head will fall off, but their arm will remain attached.
 * If a zombie is killed and then immediately steps on the rake, the rake will still activate.
 * During any Pool level on the Nintendo DS version, a zombie with a rake stuck in the back of his head may appear on the top screen. This zombie will have a facial expression similar to that of a zombie after taking a bite of Garlic.
 * The Garden Rake is the cheapest item available in Crazy Dave's Twiddydinkies (with the exception of the Bacon in the iOS version).
 * The effect of the rake is based on cartoons. When the character steps on the steel part, it will act as a lever and the handle will stand and slam into the character who stepped on it.
 * It is unknown how some zombies die from the garden rake, as Vehicle Zombies are obviously too large to be destroyed by a rake.
 * It might be that the tires of the vehicles are popped by the garden rake.
 * Pole Vaulting Zombie and Pogo Zombie cannot vault or jump over a rake.
 * In Last Stand Endless, it is possible that a rake will be not used. There will just be two rakes in the next round even that the player only purchased one rake.
 * Even if the rake isn't used in a level it will still only appear for the 3 levels rather then 4 even though nothing has happened to it.