Spear & Jackson Traditional Stainless Steel Border Spade with 712mm Wooden Handle

Product Information

For clearing away the autumn leaves and drawing lines in your soil to plant vegetables and vibrant flowers for the summer, our wide selection of garden rakes will help you keep your garden looking neat and tidy. Bulldog have a good reputation for creating heavy-duty tools straight from their forge in Wigan. Their Evergreen Digging Spade is a durable tool with several design features that help make it particularly strong. Garden spades come in a variety of sizes and styles, depending on the specific needs of the gardener. Some spades are designed for general digging and planting, while others are specialised for tasks such as edging, trenching, or transplanting. Some spades also have features such as serrated edges or pointed tips to make them more versatile and effective. This garden spade is slightly smaller than our digging spade, making it ideal for digging in confined spades, or for gardeners who prefer to work with a shorter, lighter-weight tool. This spade has been tested to a breaking strain of 90kg; far above and beyond the British standard of 55kg.

Certain handles have been designed to be more ergonomic than others. This can help with comfort; however, be careful if the handle is overly moulded – whilst this might look comfortable, if the moulding doesn’t line up well with your hands it could be anything but. The shafts of gardening spades can be made from various materials. The most common materials are wood, polypropylene, fibreglass and aluminium. Aluminium shafts are light, and strong enough for lighter gardening tasks; however, it’s not as strong a material others and may bend under pressure. Handle Material It is very important to take proper care of your garden tool so that it continues to perform at its peak. Do not leave your tool outside, always store it away after use in a dry environment. Even in dry weather conditions your tools, if left outside, are exposed to moisture from wet grass and dew. Our range of garden trowels are ideal for smaller digging and planting, such as moving potted plants or digging out weeds. For more heavy duty digging, we have a number of shovels and spades that come in a variety of shapes, sizes and materials, so you can find just what you need, no matter the size of your project, budget or expertise.

Top 5 Garden Spades

Fibreglass is lightweight, extremely durable and won’t shrink or expand. The downside of fibreglass is that it’s expensive, hard to replace if it does break, and can become brittle in freezing temperatures. Stainless steel is rust resistant. It contains chromium which doesn’t oxidise. This layer of chromium in stainless steel is therefore what keeps it from rusting or corroding. Spades with a stainless steel blade are unlikely to need any maintenance at all. There are several small features that help boost the quality of the spade further, including the tread on the top of the head, and the extra bolts on the shaft and under the handle to make it stronger. There’s also a ‘dent’ whittled into the handle that will stop it from coming loose and twisting over time.

Epoxy-coated blade. If the spade’s blade is made from carbon steel, it will be beneficial for it to have an epoxy-coated blade. This coating will protect the spade from rusting and also makes the blade easier to clean. The blade of the spade, also referred to as the head, tend to be made of either stainless steel or carbon steel. So, what’s the difference? These spades are intended for all of the jobs you might expect to encounter whilst digging in the garden: moving earth, cutting through roots, and turning soil. There aren’t many downsides to this spade, seeing as it’s well made to a high standard. However, some gardeners may find the handle a little narrow, especially for larger hands.One further note on handles, which is less about the material and more about the shape; make sure that the handle’s D-grip is wide enough for your hands. Some spades have wider handles than others, and if you have to squish your hands into too small a grip, it’s going to be uncomfortable. After demonstrating correct digging technique we finish by explaining how to prolong the life of your spade with the right maintenance routine. Carbon steel, on the other hand, has the ability to rust. Whilst it won’t rust immediately, or especially easily, it still has the potential to do so. Therefore, slightly more maintenance and care is required with a carbon-steel blade. The main benefit of carbon steel is that it’s stronger than stainless steel due to its high carbon content.

When using a garden spade, it is important to use proper technique to avoid injury and to get the best results. This may include using your body weight to help push the spade into the soil and using your legs to lift and move the soil.. Relative to its size, it has a large blade for efficient digging. The mirror-polished stainless steel head gives rust resistance and clean movement through the soil. Wide comfort treads at the top of the blade prevent any discomfort for feet, allowing you to really dig deep, in even the most challenging soil.Nevertheless, it’s a great tool for any garden job, and has the strength to make tough tasks a lot easier. Plus, there’s the added reassurance of knowing exactly where it’s been made. Regardless of the handle material you go for, you should wear gardening gloves to avoid blisters. Features That Indicate Quality It’s also hardwearing and comfortable, with a stainless-steel head and lightweight 1.8 kg design. There’s no join between the shaft and the handle, as it’s all made from the same piece of weatherproofed ash, meaning there are no weaker areas in the wood.

Weight it worth buying special attention to because it can be especially hard to bear in mind when shopping online. Garden spades are a type of tool that is commonly used in gardening and landscaping. They are designed to help gardeners dig and move soil, as well as to plant and transplant flowers, vegetables, and other plants.

My Top Recommended Garden Spades

First, we look at comfort and ease of use in relation to handle and blade materials, explaining the pros and cons of carbon steel, stainless steel, wood, fibreglass and plastic. This Wilkinson Sword Digging Spade isn’t just aesthetically pleasing, even though the traditional wooden handle does make it a visually-appealing addition to the shed. Garden spades typically have a long, straight handle made of wood or metal, and a flat, rectangular blade made of steel. The blade is usually about 6-8 inches wide and 12-16 inches long, and is designed to be sharp enough to cut through soil and roots. The blade may also be slightly curved to help with digging and scooping. The 70 cm polypropylene shaft is also strong, with a wide-grip handle that’s comfortable to hold. It’s relatively lightweight compared to a lot of garden spades, at 2.18 kg, as a result of the construction materials used. They’re often lighter than digging spades, and may be easier for petite gardeners to use for prolonged periods.