Wood Spade: Applications and Precautions

A wood spade, also known as a nursery spade or a digging spade, is a specialized tool designed for gardening and landscaping tasks involving trees, shrubs, and roots. Its sharp, flat blade and sturdy construction make it ideal for specific jobs where a regular round-point shovel is less effective.

A wood spade is primarily used for tasks that require clean, straight cuts in soil and roots.

• 1. Transplanting Trees and Shrubs
  Its sharp, straight blade is perfect for cutting neat, vertical root balls around existing plants, minimizing root damage and shock during the move.

• 2. Digging Trench Edges and Straight-Sided Holes
  The flat blade allows you to dig clean, defined trenches for irrigation, edging, or foundations, and to create straight-sided holes for new plants or posts.

• 3. Dividing Perennials and Ornamental Grasses
  You can use the spade’s sharp edge to slice through dense, established root clumps to propagate and manage your plants.

• 4. Cutting through Sod and Turf
  The sharp blade easily cuts through matted grass roots, making it excellent for defining new garden beds or removing sections of lawn.

• 5. Severing Small Roots
  When working near trees or large shrubs, the wood spade can cleanly cut through intrusive roots that are in the way of other projects.

• 6. Scooping and Moving Materials
  While not its primary function, the flat blade can be used to scoop and move loose materials like mulch, soil, or gravel.