Gardening tools

Not sure where to post this question, but here goes. Has anyone used any of the so-called ergonomic gardening shovels, spades, forks, etc? I've seen some made by a company called (I think) Radius. There might be other companies as well but this one keeps popping up when I do a search. The handles are bright colored and circular. The word is that the circle lets you hold the tool with 2 hands. Don't remember the rest of the details. Probably just marketing sales pitch. But as I do need a good shovel and (digging) fork, I'd love to hear if any of y'all have any suggestions. Also, I'm 5'2. I read one thing that says to use something taller than me for leverage. Then I see shorter tools specifically designed for women. Ack! What's a girl to do?

I do a lot of shoveling, I can't really see how using two hands placed right together could be of much value. Maybe just my saying that will cause someone who thinks its the best thing since ...whatever will post. Would that help when you are pushing down with your foot to dig? You would have no leverage to toss the dirt that way, the only thing I can see that would help with might be just prying something like a heavy rock out, and then the thing is too short to get much leverage. If you have some physical disability it might possibly have some value, not sure about that.
Just think how many normal shovels you see, how many circular handled shovels do you see? If millions of people choose to use a normal shovel, there is a reason that design has worked for years!
Now I do also have a short D-handled shovel which I like very much for doing simple jobs like transplanting, but if I am working a new bed and double digging, give me a regular shovel.

There are as many Shovels / spades as there are Forks and Rakes, it all depends on the type of work we are doing, take the job of lifting Potao's, I use a wide pronged fork believe it is called potato fork over the centuries, it is designed NOT to split the tubers under the soil as you fork into the soil.
for Double digging I use a good stout heavier shovel, it needs to have good leverage and not too long a handle, for digging the already made borders, I use a ladies spade as it is lighter, narrower and I can dig hole in bed to plant my new purchases, also looking for a ladies fork as it is lightr and narrower too but they dont appear to make these any more.

My point here is, the tools I use are my fathers, D handled, round shaft and nice grip to handle, I've tried the new type of tools that have NO D handle, longer shafts, spade part is a funny shape that causes you to twist your back to keep the soil on the spade plate, and the length of the shaft, round/ Square / tiangle will never help the very painful back I had for several weeks after one days use,
However, I have seen old film of people in third worl countries use LONG handled tools and they did'ne appear to be bothered with sore backs at all so maybe it depends on retraining our garden working methods to adapt our mindset and stature to use these new tools BUT for a gardener of almost 50 years I will stick to my 70-80 year old tools handed down be an expert gardener who loved the very feel of a spade in his hands and often I recall seeing my DAD stroke his wood handles like he really loved them and the feel of them in his hand, Bless him, he left much more than a few old gardening tools, he left so many memories too, we dont think about that often enough as I think NEW gardeners are brainwashed into instant gardening, instant treatments and instant plants, they really do miss out a lot and therefore CANT take the time to learn. I love helping people who want to learn about gardening and how it all works, they will really make lovely gardens no matter what they grow.
OOOOOOp's way of cource AGAAAAAAIN LOL sorry.
Happy digging and Best regards, WeeNel.

I have a bunch of different shovels, for different things, and for the lucky occasions when there's more than 1 person digging at a time. After you do different stuff with different ones, you'll find what you like, and likely soon end up with a variety also. I even have a kid-size one for jobs too big for a hand trowel, but where I don't want to big a "real shovel"-sized hole and need a leg for leverage.

I haven't seen what you're referring to, but off the top of my head, if you try to use arms for leverage/digging, you'll likely hurt your back, possible wrist or elbow. Keep your back straight, do not twist to the side while doing/lifting/moving heavy things, and let your legs do the work, they are much better equipped for brute force tasks. I'm a vertically challenged person also, and speak from experience.

When shoveling stuff around, spread your hands so one is closer to the business (heavy) end which will give your arms more leverage for that. If you can roll it, kick it, drag/scoot it, even sit down and move it with your legs, whatever works, you can avoid most injuries, though gardening is just inherently dangerous in so many weird ways.

I use a baby pool to move some heavy stuff around. It slides so easily across grass. I have a cart but can't lift something heavy to it to start with, like a big rock, but I can roll it into the baby pool, or onto a piece of plastic to drag. The cart is good for bringing home bags of stuff. Just roll them out of the trunk so they fall into the cart. Then dump next to where needed.

If it's really out of your league, admit it & get help. A nice home-made meal can often do the trick of coaxing a strong person to help, or offer to plant some flowers at their house, whatever you can do in trade.

Thanks, all, for your advice. I do wish I had garden tools or even wisdom passed down to me but that was never in the cards. Consider yourself very lucky if you've been a recipient of either.

I love the idea of using a baby pool to move heavy stuff around. I also like that someone has used the kid-sized tools. I always eyeball them whenever I'm in a garden center and think, 'hmmmm'.

And yes, I am all too aware that there are a gazillion or so types of shovels, spades, forks, and even rakes. I do own 3 diff. types of rakes and am fairly adept with each. But I have to admit that my eyes start glazing over when I start reading about the diff. types of shovels, spades and forks and their so-called uses. Again, I do wish I'd had a father or grandfather or uncle or neighbor that could have taught me but so it goes.

Also glad to hear that someone uses a 'ladies spade' as I didn't know if that was just another marketing trip

I prob. didn't describe the circular handle very well. The circumference is wide enough that your hands are not right next to each other. Anyway, I've got to make a trip to one of my local nurseries for something totally unrelated. But this nursery does sell the round handled tools so at least I'll be able to get a close up look at them and see how they feel.

I know that much of what I need done is way out of my league, especially considering the hard-packed clay soil we have around here. But there are some tasks that I could be learning/doing and would like to (slowly) buy some good quality tools.

One point, however. Just because the circular handled tools haven't been used, I don't necessarily see that as an inditement. Maybe they are just really new and haven't 'come of age' yet. After all, I certainly enjoy carrying my cell phone with me. And being a horrible typist, I'm really glad that I no longer have to keep a supply of 'white out' on my desk. Or maybe these circular handled tools really are just another gimmick.

Thanks again for sharing your thoughts with me. If anyone else would like to chime in, please do.

Hi tx_flower_child, you are so right when you say things should never be rejected because they are new, or a modern take on the old, I don't think most gardeners would disagree with that BUT, believe me, there are new things that come onto the market and you wonder why anyone would buy them, but buy them they do.

Things like a clear plastic greenhouse that could hold about 4 small trays of seeds, however, soon as the wind blows, the whole thing either takes off or the trays / dirt and little plants are blown all over the place, you have to clip a whole pile of little tubes together and then place a clear plastic tent over the plastic frame, your in need of a massage by the time your finished and the neighbours have a good old laugh at you wrestling with this great new invention, so really, who needs a modern take on a useless greenhouse ha, ha, ha.

OR what about those self watering things that you can go away for 2 weeks and the plants will be watered while your gone, jeeeeees, wish I had a penny for every kitchen that's been flooded by that little gadget, honestly, we fall for this rubbish all the time, and they are still sold today LOL, you fill large bladder looking plastic bags up filled with water, hang them up above and then what seems like miles of soft plastic tubes are placed into each plant pot, all the pots are placed onto trays, saucers and any other flat container you can get your hands on as there is no trys supplied, water is supposed to drip, drip and drip into the pots for the 2 weeks your gone,BUT, as we know, water is heavy, and it has it's own way of finding the lowest part and normally thats the kitchen floor or the bathroom,

So yes, we should never, ever reject new things but we do need to learn from others who in the past have true experiences about a lot of gardening skills and tools. all tried and tested and in my case, 3rd generation of gardeners, believe me I've tried a lot of the new stuff that does come along, I no longer wish to make any difficult jobs more difficult but, as I'm now no spring chicken I'd try things before now as it may help make light work of a task but, in the end I pull out the old tried and tested tools that fit my hand, fit my small stature and dont give me blisters, heart-ache or back-ache.
My best tip to you when looking for new tools IS, go to a large garden store and wander around holding onto your choice, feel how it works while you hold it, after 10-15 min's, is it too heavy for you, IF it's a spade, fork or hoe / rake, how does it work holding it that long, ignore the funny looks you are getting while you pretend to dig or rake ha, ha, ha. I've a tool store full of these items that are as much use as a chocolate tea pot, but still we buy them, well NO, I dont any more, I stick to my old tried and tested equipment as it is difficult to find replacements for them.

IF you get the chance, go to car boot sales, garage sales, second hand shops ect, you never know what you will find, I look in on some of these stores now and again and leave my phone number for them to ring me IF there is any old garden tools turn up, they are so cheep too.
Lot's of people here throw these items out or take to charity shops because they are moving to apartments or giving up gardening so keep a search out, open air markets are good too.

Hope this helps you out while trying to search for garden equipment, remember your mobile phone will not give you back-ache for years to come but you will be able to call the doctor when your slipped disc is giving you such pain you cant breath without adding to the pain.
Take your time choosing the tools you want it will pay off in the end.
Best of luck and kind regards. WeeNel.

I'm vary wary of anything labeled ergonomic. It maybe for the "average" person or for if you happen to conform to what ever "standard" human they used to design the thing.

I'm going to make a prediction here. For a spading FORK where you are do a lot of prying and you want to use both hand to pull on it, and keeping your hands turned vertical is important, I think it might work well. I think for a shove where the top hand helps to keep the shovel from rotating when you lift a shovel full, I think it's not going to do as well.

This message was edited Aug 27, 2013 9:56 PM

Well, I finally made it to the local nursery that sells the tools I had asked about. No way would I buy one. I'm short, but these were way too short even for me. I really didn't pay that much attention to the handles after just picking up a few because the first thing I noticed was their length, or rather, their lack of it. So much for that idea.

WeeNel, so far I've not had any luck with garage sales (boot sales to you) or 2nd hand stores (fleas to me). My 86 year old neighbor recently died, but he never took care of the tools that I've seen in his garage. Altho I'm skeptical, maybe I should take a closer look and see if any could be restored. His cousin is in charge of everything and I'm sure we could come to some type of arrangement.

I was at another one of my favorite local nurseries where I priced a ladies shovel. $75. Yikes! I know good tools aren't cheap. I guess that's why I started this conversation in the first place. Again, thanks all.

tx_flower_child, do go quick and have another look at the tools, YES you can have them sharpened, cleaned and new handles IF required added BUT, my Late Fathers tools were rusty, dirty and the wooden handles were cracked on a few,

My huisband got a small can of oil (stuff to stop squeaky doors ) we call it 3in 1 oil, anyway, he took and old bucket, filled it with water and scrubbed the tools clear of dried mud ect, dried them off and then gor old rag and rubbed the metal spade with the oily cloth, then rubbed the oil into the wooden handles and sharpened the edges as he went along, for the sharpening he used a knife sharpening stone, he did the same again a few days later and believe me, these these tools are still in use today, I'.m the proud owner of these tools. in use for several years and like you, I never thought they could be reclaimed but believe me, they can, they feel good when used, they are well balanced, fit for all different types of jobs going by size and the type of job, there was a tool.
I am still on the look out for a Ladies spade, mine got broken because someone used it for heavy digging and it was NOT made for that, ladies dont hold as much soil (normally) as men do and there reach is different too. anyway, I will find one, no doubt it will be laid across my box when I go to meet my maker ha, ha, ha, I've been searching for a few years and like you was offered one at very high prices, I'd rather wait and find a second hand one.
Goodluck. Happy Hunting. WeeNel.

Yes, tools are supposed to look beat-up, if they're worth having, they get used, and stand up to it. These cheap new ones sometimes don't even get to that stage before they rust or break. I wouldn't necessarily use cost an an indicator of quality, unfortunately - by cheap I meant lacking quality. Where it was made (regardless of where the home office of the company might be) might be a better gauge.

These days Purple, cost has a big deciding factor for a lot of people, but I know what you mean about appearances, and the problem for lot's of new gardeners that talk to me personally is, they dont have either the confidence to lift the spade /fork or whatever up and walk about holding it OR even different spades/ forks, rakes ect are made for different jobs, and then when they start off using them, especially females, they just about break their backs because the spade was for ditching or something and they want to dig a bed with it.

The tools I was describing were My late Fathers tools, they are over 70 years old and still going strong, OK they are NOT going to win any beauty comp's BUT, like I said, they feel good to hold with their smooth wooden handles, they dont make my hands cold during winter use, and every winter when they are out of use, I stick the spade, fork, hoe's ect into a bucket of sand with oil poured into the soil, the sand removes the dried soil, the oil coats and gives protection from rust ect, while in storage, Most folks forget to clean and care for their tools while winter is keeping them in storage.
A good garden store or department will always help you choose the right product for the right job, as we all agree, gardening and all the different tools required as skills improve, is an expensive hobby, buying should be taken seriously where cost for equipment is concerned.
High price as you rightly said does not mean good quality, but sometimes we have to accept, you get what you pay for as regards quality of materials and workmanship. but taking time to choose makes it cheaper in the long run as you get the right tool first off.

Happy hunting and gardening.
Best Regards WeeNel.

Oh yes, I meant that you could pay a lot for something that's not great, but something great will probably not be inexpensive. Not all steel is the same, and different construction techniques of the item can determine its' longevity. I spent $10 on a pruning thing this spring and it's already rusted and thrown away although I put it in the shed like all of the other tools. The others I've never spent more than $2 on are all still in use, just dull, some with 'brand names,' some not. These brand names will only coast by on false reputations so long. Brands that used to make long-lasting high quality items, but are now just putting their name on lesser crap. Sad to say, if it's at a BBS, it's probably garbage, but impossible to tell until you give up your $ for this years' version... and see if it lasts. Replacing stuff every year is saving $ and living better? Right up until the point where everything folds in on itself, 'cuz it's made of cheap plastic parts and rusted screws, sure!

This isn't just about tools, it's also about Levi jeans with thinner material and less rivets, Singer sewing products like thinner gauge safety pins and sewing needles that bend and rust, Wearever cookware that's not really non-stick or scratchproof against a plastic fork, Pringle's cans with a serving missing already when you open them, all of the real food items that are missing from almost any package and replaced with GMO corn in some form... anything the BBS's have gotten their hands on. If there's nowhere else to shop... ugh! I don't want to make crackers or every condiment we like...

Oh wait, it IS supposed to just be about tools. Oops, sorry... that was uncalled for! I'm really cranky when the sun doesn't come out more than an hour or two a week... felt good tho. That's how it is in the good ol' USA. Hope this crud is not so prevalent on the other side of the pond, WN.

It's the same old- same old, no matter where in the world you are, I wont name the company that used to make first class tools, well known for good quality and lasting many year, well now they can join the crap your talking about because they have sent their manufacturing plant to India or China, or somewhere that labour is so cheap as is the materials they use that no one bothers to buy there products unless your registered blind, and deep pockets.

We have the same with clothes now, you can buy a cotton T shirt for less than a £1, that's $1: 50c to you, when you wash them, you have to have a degree on how to unravel the darn side seems just so you can iron them as they come out the washer like bags of sheep's belly's.
Anyway, it's fairly obvious Purple that quality is a thing of the past and we now live in a throw a-way society hence the reason I like looking at sales where old stuff is for sale, we call them jumble sales and you pick stuff up very cheap, it is normally a fund raiser for a charity so win, win both ways.
Stay cool and hope the remaining season is good for you.
Best regards. WeeNel.

Too funny, WeeNel...I love my plastic covered stand that holds 4 extra large self-watering trays! As a weekend gardener and intrepid seed-starter, I find both invaluable. The self-watering trays take the guess-work out of watering, both inside and out, and the covered stand, up against a south-facing wall and tied to strong stakes, doubles as a cold frame. When I'm away I leave the zippers open and cover the opening with frost fabric. I take out some of the shelves to make room for taller plants, like tomatoes. the plastic is getting quite worn after 4 years of use and there are a number of splits and holes in it, , but I think of it as ventilation so the plants don't cook. Works like a charm...

One man's meat is another''s poison...

O.M.G. Pft, my friend bought one of those plastic greenhouses about 2 years ago, she thought she would end up with a garden filled with home grown plants and a garden to knock the socks off any Botanical garden world wide LOL, she ended up chasing it all over the street and plantpots spilled like lava flowing from a vulcano all over the place, the problem was, we had a storm come in right off the sea and she had thought her new found gardening equipment would not only help propagate everything from Tomato's to cuttings from Fuchsias to Geraniums, OH my lord how we all admired her wonderful efforts and neatness the day before, she was like a 3 year old on Christmas morning,
anyway the next time we passes the foreshore along our coast, there was bit's of the plastic frame and further up, stuck onto rocks was the shredded clear plastic cover with bits of seaweed wropped around some ties she should have used for stability BEFORE she filled it with plants, I tell you Pfg, the whole experience gave us months of fun and laughter, the ending was, a group of our friends helped her do more plants and she put them in my own large greenhouse on the condition, she looked in every few days to water and care for her own stuff.

Plastic is great, but here, on the coast, if it aint weighted down by a single story house, it aint any good to the owner but great for the suppliers who have full pockets from all us idiot's who think we know best Ha, ha, ha.

Take good care and have lots of fun in your own little piece of heaven.
Best regards.
WeeNel.

I must admit, the first time I used I had it in a more open space and the whole thing full of babies fell over in the night. As you say, mine is now weighted down, but by a two story house! :-)

Got your measure Pfg, LOL just have fun and a great gardening season on what's left of it.
Best regards. WeeNel.

WeiNei, I've now been to 2 nurseries that sell 'ladies' shovels'. One was priced at $75 and the other at $48. (I'll let you convert $$ to pounds.) The only diff. that I could tell was that one had a larger (wider?) D-handle. Also saw a 'ladies' fork' at the nursery with the $48 shovel. Don't remember if there was a spade b/c I wasn't looking for one. I have to return to that one nursery in the next day or 2 and can see what the brand names are. I like Google, but I also just like to ask someone a question and get an answer / opinion. Will post if anyone is interested. Or can let any interested parties spend hours on the internet. (I tend to get obsessive compulsive when I google something.)

I have a great new tool, and not too much $$$$.., Fiskars 3569221003 Cuts and More Titanium Shear. I found it on Amazon. It slices through everything so easily, I'm amazed. I used it to cut back my Siberian Iris, always a nasty job, and it was terrific. Also, it comes apart so you can use one blade as a knife.

I still love my Black and Decker cordless trimmer, for shaping and dead-heading, but this is always in my bucket and close to hand.

tx_ I already have a ladies fork, love it, feels nice in your hand even when your walking around the garden holding it, some others feel heavy after ten min's but, like everyone appears to agree, it is all a mater of personal choice, were all made different so our brains and body work different LOL,
I just like the shape, depth of handle and ofcourse the actual balance / weight when your engrossed in the job at hand.

Hope you find the type of tools you do need and you have so much use from them as that matters as much as cost, If taken care off, these tools should last you for ever.

I think what some people do is use the wrong tool for the job, like heavy trenching requires a proper trenching shovel/ spade, rather than a border spade, the spade will eventually snap at the wooden shaft parts IF used for that type of heavy manual work, then you've wasted money in the end as you've just ruined a good spade.
The prices you quote are NOT excessive to me but , yes it is a large outlay, when you think the amount of years you should get out of these items, they are not expensive really so long as they are right for your needs and come with a warranty, have a good play with them and walk around the store holding them by shaft AND bt handle as these are the comfort zones, the metal plate/ spoon or whatever you call it is fit for the purpose it's made for.

Good luck and take your time, Best Regards. WeeNel.