4 Best Garden Spades of 2023

Choosing a Spade Based on the Job

There are two main types of spade, a digging spade and a border spade. There are also other types, such as ‘transporting spades’, but here we’ll just focus on the basics.

Digging Spades

These spades are intended for all of the jobs you might expect to encounter whilst digging in the garden: moving earth, cutting through roots, and turning soil.

They’re relatively wide and can therefore work a lot of ground relatively quickly.

The primary reasons for using a digging spade are:

• To turn a lot of earth in a short amount of time.
• To break up the ground including cutting through roots and clumped mud.
• To prepare large plots for planting.

Digging spades are often heavier than border spades which can make them more difficult to use. This is especially true when they have a load-full of soil, and sometimes leads people to use a border spade instead.

READ NEXT: The Best Garden Rotavators

Border Spades

These spades tend to be narrower and lighter than digging spades, with a flat blade that can dig vertically down into the soil. They’re called ‘border spades’ because they are good to use whilst working in garden borders.

Whilst their smaller size makes them less useful for bigger jobs, there are several reasons why you might want to use a border spade:

• They’re useful in smaller, compact spaces such as overcrowded flowerbeds or raised planters.
• They’re often lighter than digging spades, and may be easier for petite gardeners to use for prolonged periods.
• Some people find the smaller size of a border spade easier to work with.

Blade, Handle and Shaft Material

Blade Material

The blade of the spade, also referred to as the head, tend to be made of either stainless steel or carbon steel. So, what’s the difference?

Stainless steel is rust resistant. It contains chromium which doesn’t oxidise. This layer of chromium in stainless steel is therefore what keeps it from rusting or corroding. Spades with a stainless steel blade are unlikely to need any maintenance at all.

Carbon steel, on the other hand, has the ability to rust. Whilst it won’t rust immediately, or especially easily, it still has the potential to do so. Therefore, slightly more maintenance and care is required with a carbon-steel blade. The main benefit of carbon steel is that it’s stronger than stainless steel due to its high carbon content.

Coatings, such as an epoxy coating, can be applied to carbon steel to make it less likely to rust. This not only makes carbon steel more rust resistant, but on a spade blade it will also help the soil slide off more easily.

Shaft Material

The shafts of gardening spades can be made from various materials. The most common materials are wood, polypropylene, fibreglass and aluminium.

There are pros and cons to each material, which we will take a look at in more detail below. However, if you want a quick summary:

• Fibreglass and aluminium are the lightest 
• Fibreglass is slightly heavier but much stronger than aluminium 
• Wood is more traditional than polypropylene and absorbs shock effectively
• Polypropylene offers a good combination of strength and lightness

Wooden shafts are strong, shock absorbing, and don’t bend; however, they may warp if the wood is not treated, they can rot if exposed to moisture, and are one of the heaviest construction types. Ash wood is one of the stronger materials used for spade shafts, so it’s a good one to look out for. If the wood is FSC certified you can be reassured that it has come from a sustainable source.

Polypropylene shafts are durable, can withstand heavy loads, and don’t require any maintenance; however, they may snap under too much force, can be too hard (sending shockwaves to the hands), and may become brittle over time.

Fibreglass is lightweight, extremely durable and won’t shrink or expand. The downside of fibreglass is that it’s expensive, hard to replace if it does break, and can become brittle in freezing temperatures.

Aluminium shafts are light, and strong enough for lighter gardening tasks; however, it’s not as strong a material others and may bend under pressure.

Handle Material

Certain handles have been designed to be more ergonomic than others. This can help with comfort; however, be careful if the handle is overly moulded – whilst this might look comfortable, if the moulding doesn’t line up well with your hands it could be anything but.

Wooden handles are warmer than metal ones and absorb shock well. They can also be kinder on the hands than hard plastic handles. Keep an eye out for splinters as this can be a downside to wood.

One further note on handles, which is less about the material and more about the shape; make sure that the handle’s D-grip is wide enough for your hands. Some spades have wider handles than others, and if you have to squish your hands into too small a grip, it’s going to be uncomfortable.

Regardless of the handle material you go for, you should wear gardening gloves to avoid blisters.

Features That Indicate Quality

There are a few construction features to look out for which are a mark of higher quality spades. These spades are likely to be longer lasting or easier to use:

• An all-in-one blade and socket. This means that the spade’s blade and socket (where the shaft slots in to connect to the blade) has been made from one piece of metal. When this is the case, there are no welds or joins. Welds tend to be the weakest points within metal work. So, if a spade doesn’t have any, it will be more durable.
• Epoxy-coated blade. If the spade’s blade is made from carbon steel, it will be beneficial for it to have an epoxy-coated blade. This coating will protect the spade from rusting and also makes the blade easier to clean.
• Split-Wood handle. This only applied to spades with wooden handles. It refers to the way the handle has been formed using the same piece of wood as the shaft. In a similar way to the all-in-one blade and socket, this means that there are no joins to connect the handle to the shaft. As a result, these spades are stronger than ones which have separately connected handles.
• Two bolts connecting the socket to the shaft. A lot of spades have a single bolt that holds the socket to the shaft. These are still durable, and it’s not like the shaft is in danger of falling out, but two bolts will better limit how much movement there will be over time.

Spade Weight

Weight it worth buying special attention to because it can be especially hard to bear in mind when shopping online.

Make sure to check the weight specifications of the spade you are looking to buy. Some can be a surprising amount heavier than others. A lot of spades weigh around 1 kg, but some can be at least double that.

Some gardeners like to use a heavier spade because it can make it easier to cut through dense and lumpy soil. However, a heavy spade can be difficult to manage. Gardeners with back problems, as well as anyone who tires quickly, should be especially mindful of using a heavier spade.

In these instances, using a lighter spade, with a polypropylene or aluminium shaft, might be a better way to go.