Don’t forget your shovel

Choosing the correct tools can ease the pain of gardening, writes Kya deLongchamps.

FOR the donkey work in your garden a good fork, spade, hoe and a couple of rakes are absolute essentials. You really will be putting your back into often heavy thrusting, lifting and acrobatic reaches, so the wrong tool could cut a summer painfully short.

THE BIG DIG

A spade must to sharp enough to cut down through the ground and lift cleanly and comfortably. If you’re tall, you’ll need an above the average 70cm-72cm length of handle. Even an 82cm version won’t cramp your style. If you have large hands a T-shaped handle with a yielding soft-grip is more comfortable and won’t pinch the hand as you work.

There are a number or ergonomic handle designs which are slightly tilted forward to allow for the descent of the shaft of the fork or spade and if vintage looks appeal, look out for split ash shafts that divide beautifully to form the ‘Y-D’ handle. Wipe any wood handle or shaft over with boiled linseed oil once a year to nourish and protect it. Brightly coloured handles are ideal if you have the habit of dropping your tools into deep borders before snatching a tea break. Daub a little bright paint on a dark handle.

Spades and forks take a great deal of pressure on that vital join between the handle and the head, especially with rough levering. A solid forged carbon steel head and extended socket reaching further up the shaft will take the strain. Plastic coated steel is an alterative to a wood shaft and highly weather resistant. Look for hot forged steel with superb tensile strength for the head itself and a polished steel or PTF non-stick coating that will slough off wet clay like molten butter. Pressed or welded designs are inherently weaker than hot forged products. Plastic coated heads offer rust resistance and are well priced in entry-level spades. Spear & Jackson offer a ‘stirrup’ design where you put your foot in a gap under the handle, giving a much wider receiving surface, but they are heavier overall as a result.

The business end of a spade or fork includes a standard width and a border version for tighter areas where you may be working between plants. With a fork you will be bending down, lifting it to a shallow angle and fluffing the earth, a demanding position even with the right equipment, so too-wide a head will not only be heavier but will catch in small vulnerable roots and stems. Smaller individuals or anyone with less muscle will find a smaller head more manageable.

Prices for forks and spades start at around €12 rising to €35 or more for a high quality hand finished products such as Joseph Bentley (B&Q) Fiskars stainless steel beauties (Atkins from €36.99) or Bulldog Evergreen (online suppliers include www.HandyHardware.ie). Woodie’s DIY do a good line in True Temper forged forks and spades from €28.

HOES AND RAKES

Hoes come is a number of styles as they are a versatile tool used both in a scooping position and flipped over for dabbling through the earth. As the reaching action is so vital but the work is lighter than that of a fork or spade, the handles are longer. The Dutch hoe is ideal for slicing through weeds at the base on earth and hard standing. Draw hoes are simple blades that draw towards your body as you work and are not intended for weeding, but can be struck at the ground with considerable force.

Grubber designs are basically a three fingered claw on a handle, improving your reach for teasing out ground level rubbish and cuttings. If you have lawn edges to manage, a long handled edging knife can give a nice time-saving slice that won’t go too deep. Gardena has a choice of heads with their 3-in-1 Combi system, delivering a Dutch hoe, rake and grubber in one tool on a lofty 130cm ash handle for €49 at Argos.

With rakes, the greater number of teeth you have on the rake the more ground it will cover as you pull it along. A lighter, longer (1.4m plus) handle increases your working orbit. Shallow plastic teeth on a fan shaped lawn rake spring over turf, allowing you to pull up grass cuttings without snagging the uncut grass, where sharper metal prongs with a greater ability to hook debris will grab and gather leaves more determinedly, harrowing out loose dead growth and aiding aeration of the ground.

A rake not only collects but pounds the clumps of earth, breaking them up, so again, get a good join between handle and head to ensure you can give it adequate abuse. Aluminium provides strength without being overly heavy.