This post is by no means intended to present you with an inventory of your garden's tool shed. Rather, today it should be about the most faithful companion between the vegetable beds, fruit trees and bushes for centuries - the spade. The indispensable tools were already used by people in the Stone Age and have been adapted to regional conditions time and again since then.
The blade shape differs depending on the area of application
Generations later the Romans were already gardening with forged spade blades. The first wooden spades were finally available from the 19th century. In between there was a smooth transition to the shovel, which made earthwork much easier, not only in the garden. The fact that such fundamentally different spade shapes were used then as now is due to the adaptation of the tools to the different regional soil conditions, although a little local patriotism was involved and still is today.
Gardeners but also employees of the agricultural engineering guild always favored their regional variant as the best and highest quality work equipment. You still hear about it occasionally even today, so that there are quite different spade variants to choose from in the DIY store. Some of the most striking examples in brief:
- Gardener's spade: The traditional English form, which with its rounded edge is mainly used in the private sector as well as in commercial nurseries; characteristic is the T-shape of the handle, the so-called krump wood;
- Kieler Spaten: suitable for stone, clay and marsh soils and can be recognized by the handle, which is shaped like a “D” on the inside; special feature is its higher weight, which makes work much easier on difficult soils;
- Root spade: the very sharp ground blade is deeply incised at the bottom and is intended to enable effortless work, especially in heavily rooted soil; digging up planting holes is also comparatively easy with this Baack spade;
- Holsteiner Rüffel: a form of spade that is particularly popular in the north, which, with its slightly conical metal blade, is said to penetrate the soil particularly easily; Another feature: the blade becomes noticeably thinner from the top towards the cutting edge;
- Marschrüffel: significantly narrower blade shape, which is said to enable easy digging, especially on extremely heavy soil; is commercially available in various handle lengths and handles;
What to look out for when choosing
Try out as many variants as possible in specialist shops. Even if the conventional types with an exactly straight handle are cheaper, it is worth trying one of the ergonomically designed spades. The seller will probably not let you dig around in the store, but the weight and dimensions alone already allow conclusions to be drawn about the amount of sweat drops to be expected and the degree of curvature of your spine. The curved design of the handles of top-class spades, like their different handle shapes (D, T and knob handles), can make a significant contribution to protecting your back and working without tiring.
To do this, however, you have to be willing to hand over an almost three-digit euro amount to the garden center checkout. A widespread but not always comprehensible opinion of sales-worried hardware store salespeople is: cheap spades make for tedious work. But there are also exceptions, as NDR discovered in a practical test in 2015. Since the innovation rate for gardening tools of this type is not all that high, this comparison, which is almost three years old, can still be used today to make a purchase decision. The winner was not, as might be expected, the 43.95 euro Ideal Spade, but the much cheaper Lidl model at 12.99 euro. If you want to read: "How well do cheap spades dig?" NDR of 05/11/2015.
Even spade care takes time
Even if you have decided on a hand-forged spade blade made of hardened quality steel, you should definitely not make any concessions in terms of maintenance. Therefore, please heed the following three tips, which are crucial for a really long service life of the most important garden utensil:
- Spade handles tend to become rough on their surface after a certain time, which gradually leads to a noticeably decreasing elasticity of the wood. Some sandpaper for smoothing and then a few drops of oil will help if the grip decreases and prevent the spade blade from loosening later.
- Adhering soil residues from the garden are better removed immediately and before they dry. A little lukewarm water and a brush that is not too hard are enough to keep your spade clean and free from rust.
- Damage to the blade and handle should be repaired before the garden-free time in winter. Any small spots of rust can be sanded off relatively thoroughly and are finally rubbed off with a cloth lightly soaked in oil.