The right tools for the garden

Working the soil "deeply" The expression "deeply" does not mean breaking up the ground as happened in the recent past, with high-powered agricultural machinery. To dig or not to dig, the debate remains open, has its advantages and disadvantages and could be the subject of an entire book in itself. Here are some tools designed for work carried out at a depth of 20 to 25 cm. The spade-shovel To be reserved rather for making planting holes, digging up root vegetables or digging in light soil. The spade-fork Be careful to choose the length of the tines carefully. This essential tool is used as much for digging, as for loosening (using the same movement as with a broadfork) and for pulling up root vegetables or deep-growing weeds: dock, etc. The broadfork While there are other types of toothed tools designed to loosen the soil without turning it over, this specific model is the most effective and best designed (length/arrangement/number of teeth/handle inclination ratio) to work as painlessly as possible. However, if your soil is very compacted or has been mistreated by major earthworks, for example, the more robust T-shaped digging fork may be preferable to the broadfork. The spade This tool is used more for making deep planting holes or even uprooting trees and shrubs. It has a longer, narrower blade than a spade and metal reinforcements around the handle to work as deep as possible. Working the soil on the surface While digging or aerating your land is essential, it is not enough to prepare a seed "bed". The objective for the latter is to obtain a roughly level surface, without too large clods and cleared of any large stones that could hinder the emergence of seedlings. The cultivator Its number of teeth can vary but not their shape: small, curved and whose end resembles a spearhead. It is used to refine the soil and break up the crusts of battance that form after heavy rains. The hook or claw This tool with curved teeth allows you to continue to loosen the soil (to a depth of about ten centimeters) and helps to break up clods. The rake This is the essential tool for leveling, removing stones and reducing surface clods. Be careful when choosing the rake, they come in all sizes and the number, length and spacing of the teeth vary. Maintaining the soil and cropsThe market garden hoeThe market garden hoe is suitable for weeding in nurseries, vegetable gardens, flower and market garden crops. It allows the attachment of several tools: oscillating blades, Delta V blades, claws, ridger... The tool frame can be equipped with one or two removable wheels. The two-wheel assembly allows you to straddle the crop and work very precisely with 2 blades on either side of the crop (for example for a young seedling). Since the tools are fixed on a "buttonhole", their positioning is easy depending on the development of the crop. The handles are adjustable in height to adapt to the size of the hoeer. It is also possible to adjust the angle of attack of the blades, which allows you to work more or less deeply while maintaining an optimal angle of the blades. The tool holder has different attachment methods: (holes, buttonholes), allowing optimal positioning of the different tools depending on the width of the rows and the development of the crops. The hoe Its unique blade, full, flat and sharpened on one side allows you to weed and loosen the soil. The ridger Its particular shape consisting of two "ears" on an axis allows it to easily penetrate loosened soil and to bring up a large quantity of earth on both sides. This tool is used to hill up potatoes, leeks, peas, cabbages, broad beans, beans, but also to make small mounds intended for sowing or planting in raised soil vegetables sensitive to excess water. The hoe It is the tool of the organized gardener who always weeds and weeds at the right time. Its shape does not allow for forceful work, but only gentle work on the surface. The soil must therefore be loose and the weeds must be at the seedling stage. The hoe Two small pointed teeth on one side or a small rectangular hoe blade, on the other a wider, narrower one, generally shaped like a cat's tongue: this versatile tool can be used for spreading, covering seedlings, hoeing or even weeding.