Every Gardener Should Own This Tool

One of the best things about the internet is the ability for ordinary people to share information about their interests.  Often what we consider to be mundane are incredibly helpful to other people!

I decided to film myself doing a fairly straightforward job so that I could assess the number of tools and techniques I used.  All I had to do was dig out a bamboo.  Once I was aware of it, I realised how many tools I had available.  I asked myself the question, "what was the tool that I found most useful for this job?"

Without a doubt in this case it was the fencer's graft.  Its a narrow spade with a long, heavy tubular steel handle.  It's weight means that when you throw it in like a spear fisherman it will chop through roots and knock stones out of the way.  It's designed for digging holes for fence posts.  It's long handle means you can use it as a lever.  For digging out large plants and trees it's my hand tool of choice.

In conjunction with a mattock, I used it to dig out some hefty tree stumps.  It's also useful for getting out tough ash saplings without much damage to the surroundings.  Something a mattock would certainly not be able to achieve!

The best ones are homemade.  I grew up using a two meter length of scaffold tube welded onto a Newcastle draining spade. So if you have those metal working skills then that's the best option.  The one I'm using in the video is a lot lighter but it's still great. It can occasionally get bent out of shape if you're extremely rough with it though. Something that heavy duty homemade one would not do!

If I spent more time observing I'd probably notice a lot of this sort of thing. I don't notice that it's not just something that everybody instinctively does.  What's a tool you couldn't be without?