Gardener digs through dreams of the ultimate tool selection

We dream, don’t we, of a toolshed stocked to the rafters with an assortment of shovels, spades and trowels. No gardener could have too many of these useful implements. So many garden tasks demand just the right tool to accomplish the job.

The perfect toolshed would be stocked so well that we would stand over any given garden plot, at any given moment in the gardening season, ponder the soil type and quality, dash to the toolshed, and obtain the precisely perfect implement for the job. Broad-bladed trowels for the smallest jobs, curved-blade trowels for transplanting tender seedlings, an ordinary spade for planting that new astilbe or a serrated digging spade for installing an orchard.

Yes, we could spend our whole summer excavating merrily away, testing to the extreme the usefulness of every digging implement. Digging holes large and small, narrow and wide. Digging trenches to divert water here. Digging the foundation of a perfectly flat patio there.

One year I fell in love with a whole line of garden implements made for and marketed specifically to “ladies.” The tools were fine, lightweight and sleek, beautifully crafted with rich, dark-stained handles and smooth, lustrous, working edges. Each tool in the line of implements seemed to embody every characteristic a lady gardener could possibly want in a garden utensil.

Although the tools were beautiful and I yearned for them, and though they appeared very well-made, I questioned whether they and I could coexist in the same garden. The spade in particular was so fine looking I wondered if it could weather my rigorous horticultural workouts. It probably would have, but I tend toward the robust, “manly” looking tools that look as though they could be run over by a bulldozer and still show up for work in the morning.

Fine and feminine is wonderful. But fractured and forgotten are also in my vocabulary: I’ve been known to overindulge in the prying abilities of certain spades, resulting in a sad and splintered handle.

If you tend toward the hard-riding end of the use spectrum when it comes to garden implements – digging gear in particular – an all-steel spade might be what you need. Spades made with this rugged design offer a sound combination of lightweight and solid build, resulting in the best chances for tool longevity.

Of course, many spades are crafted with durable wooden handles – usually ash – that have remarkably long life spans if properly maintained and stored away from the elements. Other spades are crafted with fiberglass handles that offer an exceptionally sound structural design, coupled with nearly indestructible qualities.

Some of these selections have straight, long handles. Others have shorter, easy-to-maneuver “D-grip” handles that allow the gardener to manipulate the tool with greater ability.

Long-handled spades have their distinct benefits. They offer lots of leverage for prying soil free in difficult areas. They are perfect for jobs that require heaving soil a distance during the excavation process. Likewise, short-handled spades have their benefits. Mainly, they offer quite a measure of control when digging large holes when planting perennials, shrubs and trees.

High-quality spades have “foot pads,” portions of seamless steel at the top of the blade and on either side of the handle that are bent backward and offer extra comfort when the gardener exerts downward pressure on the blade during the digging process.

I recently spied a “Super Saw-tooth Shovel” in an equipment catalog. Apparently, the tool is perfect for compacted or rocky soils and even offers excellent cutting ability on ice. Hmm. A four-seasons spade – how intriguing! The blade of the spade has an absolutely menacing appearance, but it looks like the perfect tool for digging in hard marine clay or compacted soils. The rugged tool is available from A.M. Leonard with a 48-inch straight wooden or fiberglass handle or with a 29-inch D-grip handle.

Local garden centers and mail order catalogs alike offer an array of spades perfectly suited to any garden task. While we wait for the rock-hard soil to yield to the sun and warmth of spring, we must continue to dream of stocking the toolshed with one of each!

Diana George Chapin is the NEWS garden columnist. Send horticulture questions to Gardening Questions, 512 North Ridge Road, Montville 04941, or e-mail dianagc@midcoast.com. Selected questions will be answered in future columns. Include name, address and telephone number.