What shovel should i use

To help cut through tough roots and penetrate into the soil, this trenching shovel has a V-shaped blade with serrated edges. This blade is made with powder-coated carbon steel, and the shovel shaft is made with durable, resin-encased fiberglass. The shovel weighs just over 8 pounds and extends to just under 4 feet in length.

Topping this shovel is a comfortable nonslip handle that helps users better grip and control the shovel. One side of the blade is serrated so that it can saw through thick roots that would otherwise get in the way of the new tree or bush. For added control and support, the reinforced fiberglass shaft is equipped with two padded grips and simple air holes cut into the handle to reduce the overall weight of the shovel, making it easier to wield.

Short-handled shovels are useful when working in tight spots where wielding a longer shovel is impractical or impossible. With this mini shovel, gardeners can easily dig holes, move dirt, apply compost, or remove stubborn weeds with ease. The shovel has a strong metal shaft and a rust-resistant steel head. A sharpened edge saves some effort when breaking up compacted soil.

The mini shovel is a bit under 30 inches from top to bottom and weighs just under 2 pounds. We arrived at these top picks by looking at shovel type, durability and construction, tool weight, and the handle and grip design. Steel is the most durable choice for the blade and shaft. A combination of fiberglass in a handle and steel for the shaft and blade help add to durability while keeping the shovel as light as possible.

That matters, since scooping up a load of soil adds a few extra pounds. Comfort and grip matter and can help reduce fatigue when working on big outdoor projects. The grip and handle length also affect control, which matters most when digging in tough terrain or creating deep postholes. Most of these shovels have padded grips or are designed for two-handed use. We looked at common uses for shovels and spread our choices out to cover some specialty types of spades, trowels, and shovels.

We also selected a few multipurpose shovels for general outdoor use, especially when budget constraints or storage space require a one-tool-fits-all approach. Shovels are simple tools, but they have a wide range of types and sizes that make them appropriate for a variety of different tasks, including gardening, planting bushes or shrubs, and digging fence post holes.

For more information about these common gardening tools , read on to find the answers to some of the most commonly asked questions about shovels.

You can use it for potted plants or light landscaping work. Hikers and campers also like to have a garden trowel on hand for digging scat holes in the woods. Whenever planting a new plant, you need to create a hole that cuts through existing roots from other trees and shrubs. The root shovel is designed to do just that. It creates a space for the new plant until it can flourish on its own. A Dixter trowel has a long, narrow blade for reaching hard to reach spots and transplanting bulbs.

As the name suggests, the Dixter trowel was used by the gardener Christopher Lloyd in the Great Dixter. There, he used this trowel for planting seedlings with long root systems. A planting trowel has a leaf-shaped, sharp blade that cuts through dirt easily. This trowel is ideal for planting bulbs, turning soil close to the surface, and separating perennials.

If you intend to transplant trees, shrubs, or bushes in your garden, the transplant spade may be the tool for you. It allows you to prepare the soil so you can introduce new plants to the landscape. A transplant spade is different from the traditional shovel in that it has a flatter blade. After you dig deep holes, you often need to remove excess dirt and rocks. Scooping shovels are designed to move around dirt, sawdust, or other small clumps. You can quickly tell the difference between a digging and scooping shovel by looking at the head.

Scooping shovels have a flattened or squared look. The shovel is small enough to use it as a sorting tool, but you can also lift away lighter and less intense debris. Scoop shovels help you move away large amounts of debris, dirt, wood, or anything else.

The shovels have a unique design that is easy to pinpoint. The handles are short, and the blade is large with rigid edges. This is the shovel you want if you need to move large amounts of debris.

All landscapers need a mulch scoop. As you probably guessed, the shovels move and spread mulch, making them different from other shovels. The easiest way to identify a mulch scoop is that their handles are longer than other scoop shovels. If you live in an area prone to snowy winters, then you probably know of snow shovels. There are different types of snow shovels , and each type helps to target a specific snow need.

For example, some snow shovels help to move snow from driveways, while others help break up ice. Snow shovels are a must for snowy environments. These traditional shovels are typically made from plastic or aluminum, allowing you to lift away snow without adding excessive weight.

These shovels are ideal for areas with fluffier or lighter snow. The stainless steel shovel works in the same way as a snow shovel, but it is much more durable. Its steel frame will last longer and be strong enough to help chip away patches of ice.

You should opt for a stainless steel snow shovel if you live in areas prone to icing over. Although an ergonomic shovel is not explicitly made for snow, it is incredibly useful if you need to shovel snow frequently. The ergonomic design of these shovels helps transfer the weight onto the shovel instead of your body.

This makes it easier to scoop large amounts of snow at one time. Sometimes, snow can come when you least expect it. Prepare for the worst by keeping a folding snow shovel in your car. Picking out the right shovel depends mostly on your needs. As we have seen, there are a variety of shovels that satisfy specific uses.

Here is how to determine what shovel is right for you:. Choose a Shovel Category. Begin by determining if you need a basic, digging, gardening, scooping, or snow shovel. This will narrow down your choices dramatically. The flat blade means they are not great at digging, but they have a large footplate that will help you add pressure to force the blade into the ground. This is useful for shallow digging tasks such as edging or cleaning our trenches.

If you want to use it for this purpose, it will work best with soft soils. These shovels are specifically designed for planting trees, making quick work of a job that would take much longer with other types of shovels. A tree-planting shovel has a narrow blade that comes to either a curved or pointed tip. The narrow blade means it can dig various sized holes, by working the shovel into the ground in a circular shape. The shaft can vary in size depending on what you need for your task, with longer shafts being better for flat and even ground and shorter shafts working better on hills or sloped ground.

These shovels can be used to dig up a tree for transplanting, or creating a new hole to plant a tree. The shovels are a similar shape to a trenching shovel, and so can double up to create shallow trenches where a long trench for a flower bed makes more sense than creating lots of small plant holes.

It can also be used to clean out pebbles or debris from bigger trenches. There are two different tools that go by the name of power shovel. The first is essentially a snow shovel that is powered by gas or electricity. These have blades that rotate to pick up and disperse snow, allowing you to clear a snowed-under path or driveway with ease. These are much more efficient than a regular snow shovel, but as you would expect, come with a significantly higher price tag.

They are a smaller and lighter alternative to the traditional snow blower. The second type of power shovel is a sort of jackhammer with a shovel attachment.

These are used to excavate ground or dig holes and trenches in highly compacted soil. A post hole shovel is a type of double shovel, which is also known as a post hole digger. It is composed of two shovels attached together, usually with long and narrow inwardly curving blades that have curved tips.

The shape of the blades helps the shovel to slice through any roots or anything which might get in their way. When closed together, the blades create a cylindrical shape. A post hole shovel is used primarily to dig deep holes for fence posts to be inserted into.

They do this by using a dig, pinch, and lift motion, removing a cylinder of soil from the ground in one swift movement. If you have a series of post holes to dig, a post hole shovel is a worthwhile investment. It creates the holes in a fraction of the time compared with trying to dig the holes with a digging shovel, and it also results in much neater holes for a clean and professional-looking finish. These shovels go by a variety of names, including garden shovel, garden trowel, hand shovel, hand trowel, and garden spade though calling this a spade would be inaccurate.

These are essentially miniature shovels with short shafts of usually around six inches in length, which can be used for a variety of garden tasks, including digging up weeds, removing plants, and digging holes for new plants. The design of these tools can vary, but for the most part, they all have a fairly narrow rounded or pointed blade, which typically measures around four inches across.

The blade of a handheld shovel is usually convex, making for better scooping. Root shovels can vary in design, though they typically all have elongated triangular blades. These blades can come to a point at the tip or are sometimes cut off to give a flattened tip. The side edges of the blade are often serrated, which helps with sawing through the roots of established plants. These shovels are designed specifically to help with plant or tree removal, either for transplanting or disposal.

Their blades are useful for cutting through tough, established roots of old trees, which can then be removed to allow more space for new roots to generate and spread. These shovels are also useful in creating holes for new trees or plants to be settled into. A scoop shovel has a much larger blade than most shovels, with a slightly shorter shaft and handle so that the overall height works out at the regular size.

The blade usually has a flat tip, though they can sometimes be rounded. Scoop shovels have a scooped shape with rigid side edges, which help to hold in any material that you are moving. They are useful for moving large amounts of material, including soil, gravel, wood chippings, and debris. They can be constructed of various materials, with aluminum scoop shovels having a shorter lifespan than more robust metal scoop shovels.

Consider the type of material you are scooping and how much of it you need to move before buying your scoop shovel. If you live in a region that regularly experiences snowfall, a snow shovel is an essential tool to have in your garage.

These shovels have long shafts that can range in construction material, from wood to metal, or plastic. The blade is large and rectangular and is vertically curved.