With proper maintenance, the best garden spades can last a lifetime, so a quality tool such as the Leonard Full-Strap Diamond-Point Spade may be well worth the investment.

While this option is 40 inches long, taller users will be glad to know this multi-digger spade comes in a 49-inch length as well. With liberal step flanges on both sides of the serrated blade, this spade is efficient for dividing and transplanting perennials, cutting roots, or trenching. For extensive digging projects, however, this probably isn’t the best option.I have twice as many wellies and gardening boots as I do other shoes. Between October and April it’s always wellies, and then boots when it’s dry. About 15 years ago, Sarah gave me a pair of handmade gardening boots made by a John Lobb bootmaker, which I love. This mid-handled perennial spade is simply perfect for the task of splitting perennial plants. The pointed tip slices easily through roots to divide into new plants, with minimal disturbance to the rest of the roots and plant. It’s also really handy for digging while kneeling, offering great grip and enhanced digging power if you like to get up close to your plants. And it’s perfect to use with raised beds, extending your reach to avoid working at an awkward height. Look for a spade with steel blades. Stainless steel and boron steel are strong, long-lasting, and rust-resistant. Carbon steel blades are super-durable and a little lighter weight but can be susceptible to moisture and rusting if not maintained properly. The long, steel shaft is designed for optimal balance and digging leverage. The metal D-shape handle is resistant to chipping and rusting and features a red rubber-coated non-slip grip which is easy to spot when set down on a lawn. We found the Root Assassin Garden Shovel Saw to be the best garden spade for slaying stubborn roots and other underground obstructions. The spade’s carbon steel blade is overlayed with a sleek, silver powder coating and features forward turn steps for secure foot placement.

Sneeboer tools are of the highest quality garden tools which have been made by skilled master craftsmen for over a hundred years. Hand tools are part of our history having been in use by humans for some 3.3 million years. Starting with the stone age when their function was basically for hammering and cutting. Over time there was the Bronze Age when tools were made by casting alloys like tin and copper making them much sharper and harder than stone tools. Following this the Iron Age which meant that tools became even stronger and more durable, the Romans then developed tools which are quite simular to the ones we use today. Since the Industrial Revolution the manufacture of tools has largely changed from being made by craftsmen to being produced (mainly as cheaply as possible) often in huge volumes in factories right across the world. The most underrated plants or flowers are the primrose, cow parsley and the hawthorn. The common hawthorn is beautiful in flower, in leaf and in berry. These are all native, very modest plants that I absolutely could not live without. It’s all about emotional engagement: you can’t have a garden without a gardener, and gardens are human beings, therefore you can’t have a garden without humanity. You can have a very dull garden full of extraordinary plants and you can have a wonderful garden full of very ordinary plants – it’s about people and their relationships with them. That’s where gardens become interesting.It is very important to take proper care of your garden tool so that it continues to perform at its peak. Do not leave your tool outside, always store it away after use in a dry environment. Even in dry weather conditions your tools, if left outside, are exposed to moisture from wet grass and dew. An indulgence I would never forgo is a proper cooked breakfast. I always get up in time to have one, even – to my wife Sarah’s horror – if I have to leave at 6am and rise at 4.45am. The blade of the Great Dixter planting spade is forged and sharpened on both sides and is formed into a point making it very easy to drive into the ground. The Great Dixter planting spade has a V-shape in the length of the blade, making it more suited to digging holes and scooping up material compared to the regular perennial spade. The short size of the planting spade, measuring 57cm overall, makes it the perfect tool to work with precision in a kneeled position. The planting spade, a smaller version of the Sneeboer pointed spade, is equally suited to dividing shrubs, lifting bulbs, digging planting holes and working in areas where a full size spade would be too cumbersome. The Great Dixter planting spade is fitted with a 42cm ash T-handle. It may be hard to clean between the various joints and grips, and the handle grip may be too large for smaller hands. When shopping for the best garden spade for your collection, the blade and shaft material are important considerations.