Spring is in the air, and as usual, I’ve been seduced by the lineup of brand new gardening tools at the local hardware store, each promising me that they’d somehow make my thumb green and my yard fertile if only I took them off the rack.
Well, I was in need of a shovel, and shovels come in many flavors, but the standard average digging shovel that I needed has two handle styles, one with a "D" grip at the end, and one that's just a long tapering shaft. Those who know me know that choice is not my friend, and I was at a standstill pondering whether the two types of shovels had slightly different applications until I noticed that the long-shafted model was on a serious discount. Ka-ching!
So, the poll, possibly the most mundane ever.
Do you like the shovels with the D-grip, or the shovel with just the tapered shaft? Why the preference?
I guess I never thoguht about it before, but a D handle would allow you to put pressure on a little finer than with a tapered handle. Look for the strongest handle you can buy - my SO has broken a few guaranteed unbreakable handled shovels digging up stuff like daylilies and hosta. One shovel we had for less than two hours before the handle snapped.
Shovels are like potato chips–you can’t have just one!
My spade (square-bladed) has the D-shaped handle because I use it for cutting-in type digging and edging. I often push the blade in with my foot. I also keep it sharp with a file. I love my spade!
I have a regular long-handled shovel which I use if I’m moving a lot of loose dirt. The spade works fine for small jobs like that, but if it’s a bigger job, the regular shovel holds more and is easier on the back, so I use that.
But forks are the unsung heroes of the garden. I have a turning fork with the D-shaped handle, a claw-shaped fork, and a small pitchfork which I use constantly. The pitchfork looks like an ordinary 4-times pitchfork, but the head is smaller and the tines are closer together. It is invaluable for moving mulch and aerating compost.
Shovels lift and move materials, The D shaped handle is useless in this. It is used most often when moving a pile of something to somewhere else. A spade is what is used to dig and a D shaped handle is essential.
Yep, you hit it on the head for the difference between a spade and a shovel. And your 4 tined pitchfork is often called a spading fork (assuming the tines are flattened and not round like a pitch fork.) Typically used in turning over soil in a garden that has been planted before and just needs the soil crumbled and the top turned under (in addition to the other jobs you mentioned.)
But finagle, you also need a giant scoop shovel, and a trenching spade and … no need to decide, get them all!
Ah, but I have both a turning fork (flattened blades) and a small pitchfork (round blades)! I just called my spading fork a turning fork. I think “spading fork” is the more usual term.
See, now this just isn’t true, particularly if we expand our view beyond the garden.
For example, an aluminum grain shovel is designed exclusively for lifting and moving materials, and it will virtually always have a D handle. A straight handle would make them very hard to use, as they would twist too much in one’s hands. This is also true of snow shovels.
Conversely, there are applications of spades where staff handles are acceptable or even desirable.
The spading fork is also valuable when digging a bed for the first time. You dig the bed as deep as you’re going, then you use the fork to make holes through the subsoil before putting back the broken-up soil. That will let roots go deeper.
The D-handles are for turning over the work. They’re pretty short, though. If you’re tall, try getting a spade from Smith&Hawken, which have longer shafts.
An aluminum grain scoop makes a good emergency snow shovel to throw in the trunk of your car.