How to choose the right spade: Use

How to choose the right spade

Spades come in many different types, shapes, designs and price ranges. Which makes it all the more difficult to choose the right spade when shopping online or in a physical shop.
Here are some tips to help you on your way so you can enjoy your spade for many years to come.

Tip 2 Use

An important question you need to ask yourself when choosing a spade is what you will use it for.
This will influence the shape, length and finish of the spade.
You can use a spade to dig a hole, trench or ditch, or to loosen the soil or break up clumps or even to till part of your garden.

Tilling and digging

When digging, you should always use a garden spade. This spade is mainly used for digging because of its relatively straight blade. In heavy soil, you should use a slightly longer, narrow spade, while a shorter and wider spade is preferable in light soil.
You can choose between garden spades with a blade thickness of 3 mm for working in heavier soils and 2.5 mm for light or soft soils.

For your lawn or border, you should use a border spade with a rounded shape (crescent). While you can also use a digging spade, the curved cutting edge of the blade will make it more difficult to dig a nice, clean and straight edge.
For lighter work, you can also use a ladies garden spade, which has a slightly smaller blade, and therefore weighs less and is easy to handle.

Thanks to its many applications, a garden spade is a real multi-purpose tool and an important part of your basic garden kit.

Digging a plant hole or trenches around shrubs and trees

Use the tree spade to dig up shrubs and trees and transplant them with a large clump of soil. A planting or tree spade is perfectly suited for this type of hardy work with its long, narrow 3.5-mm thick blade. The sharp cutting edge makes it much easier to cut through roots. The best tree spades have a fiberglass handle. This handle is up to 10 times sturdier than a regular wooden handle and can withstand the heavy pressures and forces that are associated with this type of job.

Digging deep trenches or cable trenches

Earthwork spades have just the right shape for digging deep trenches. They have a long, relatively narrow blade, with a blade thickness of 2.5-3 mm and a sharp cutting edge to easily cut through the soil.