12 16 Digging Tools

Horticulture Equipment

Plant: Blue Spruce

Term: Shovel

Blue SprucePicea pungens

• Plant type: Evergreen Tree • USDA Hardiness Zones: 3a to 7b • Height: 35 – 60 ft, Spread: 15 – 25 ft • Exposure: partial shade to full sun

As a Christmas Tree needs full sun • Leaf Color: Blue, Silvery • Growth Rate: average • Form: Columnar, Pyramidal• Uses: Specimen, windbreak• Very prickly when used as a Christmas tree

• Shovel – used for cleaning loose soil from planting holes and other scooping uses. A shovel has sides

• A spade does not

• Spading shovel – a combination tool that can be used for both digging as well as scooping

Shovels

Digging tools

• Spades – are flatter than shovels. They penetrate the soil better but have less scooping capability

• May have a flat edge for borders or a curved edge for digging holes for plantings

• May be narrow for trenches

Digging tools

• Garden or spading fork – used for turning over soil that is not compacted, digging bulbs and potatoes, and weeding

• Scoop – used for moving loose materials such as crushed stone or peat moss

Digging tools

• Hand trowel – used for transplanting bedding flowers.

• Post hole digger – digs deep narrow holes for posts

• Bulb planter

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Name that tree

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Name that tree

Sharpening Tools

Sharpening Cutting Tools

• Saws• Chain Saw – Round Files• Most saws need professional sharpening• Off-set teeth• Sharpen Cutting Edge

Sharpen Pruners & Loppers

• Anvil– Sharpen both sides of cutting blade– Not the anvil side

• Bypass– Sharpen one side only

Sharpening Pruners

• 1. Take apart• Remember which side the washer was on

Sharpening Pruners

• Determine cutting edge• Sharpen with a stone & oil or a sharpening

tool

Clean with solvent

• Turpentine, kerosene, or adhesive remover will clean off sap from blades and handles

• Remove all rust with steel wool– Not soap pads

• Oil all parts

Reassemble

• Make sure blades align• Pay attention to the shapes of the washers

and bolts

Check

• Make sure there is not gap when the pruners are closed