Garden Tool Used for Digging

Several different types of tools can be used for garden digging.

In order to plant a garden, you first have to be able to dig into the soil. Many different types of garden digging tools exist, each with their own benefits and disadvantages.

Shovels and Spades

Hand-held spades are an invaluable gardening tool.

Both hand-held spades and full-size shovels are ideal for digging in a garden. The major difference between shovels and spades is that shovels have rounded bodies and edges while spades are flat. Shovel and spade heads are generally made of metal, usually solid steel. Full-size shovels are better for larger digging projects, while smaller spades are well suited for smaller projects. Specialized shovels with narrow digging heads like perennial-planting shovels and bulb-planting shovels exist for specific types of digging.

Gardening Forks

Gardening forks work well for digging up bulbs.

Gardening forks work the soil with three or four claw-like metal digging fingers. This tool is designed to work through rocks and clay. Gardening forks come in various sizes.

Hoes

Hoes are most useful for removing weeds and roots. The digging head of a hoe is at a 90 degree angle to the handle. This allows you to use the hoe to chop, push and pull. Several different types of hoes exist, but the common garden hoe has a slightly rectangular digging head somewhat similar to that of a spade---the main difference being that the edge of a hoe tends to be sharper than the edge of a spade.

References

• Sustainable and Urban Gardening: Tools for Digging
• Easydigging.com: Easy Digging Tools
• Hardware Store: All About Shovels