Avid nurseryman , I count you love your tools as much as I do , specially the ones for digging . baseball glove I corrupt by the dozen but digging tools I expect to last forever , which of trend they do n’t .
I of late destroyed my long - handled spadeful by treating it like it was a crowbar , expect it to excerpt something big and leaden by bestial force . The wooden hold punished me for my misuse by separate in two . I ’ve since prompt myself that excavator are for cutting and then lifting , not doing both tasks at the same time . I replace it with a curtly - handle spade , which cuts , raising , and edge , too .
For digging up smaller plant I love sparse long - treat excavator like the one here in icteric that ’s lasted me a few days .
Down on my knee joint , where most of my horticulture action seems to take place , I rely on Nipponese weeding knives , pointy trowels that cutting while they ’re digging , and cheap steak knife for part perennial .
In this recent picture they ’re all muddy , except for the fresh - from - UPS weeding tongue . It ’ll be dirty presently enough .
Oh , and my pickaxe is great when extra muscle top executive is called for . I drop the matter from a kneeling position .
So how do we see to dig ?
I ’ve been pondering this question since observing some nongardeners attempt to comprehend , and realise that it ’s not exactly an natural skill . I noticed their defeat in trying to dig up and replant perennial because they were n’t holding the tools the right way , or were try the chore with the wrong tool altogether .
Do books and magazines instruct the art of digging ? I think not . Neither do blogs . It ’s something you have to be evidence , as my female parent must have shown me when I was a tyke weeding the family garden . But without a gardening parent , how DO you instruct ? perchance by hiring a tutor , or becoming a Master Gardener and volunteer alongside experienced gardener .
Or these days , with the supporter of YouTube , where I foundthis video , in which a landscaper declares that “ Having the right tool is a big , adult deal , ” than surprise me by advocate tools I do n’t use . Hmm .
Thenthis guydemonstrates how to dig with a pick and excavator using a method that would KILL MY BACK in no fourth dimension . Also , he bring up his picture “ How Too Use Pick and Shovel propper tool use . ” ( Double sic ! )
This womanlikes garden forks for turn over stain and demonstrates two panache different styles of grower ( who knew ? ) . But she only use trowel for the flimsy of jobs – jab in flossy pot soil – and says any basic trowel will do . I disaccord ! ( Her video does get right to the point though , something that Type A ’s like myself revalue . ) In fact , not a unmarried Youtuber surveyed demonstrated my favorite trowel method acting for rugged jobs – with the trowel face the me and being maneuvered toward me .
A few videos later , I ’ve reluctantly concluded that maybe I DON’T know the best garden cock for every business . But I deal to do what needs doing , without hurting myself , and that ’ll have to suffice .
