Planting with a Garden Trowel

[Scooter]

I've never seen or heard of a planter using a garden trowel instead of a shovel. However, with the trend by many planters over the past two decades towards shorter and lighter shovels, why not take it to the extreme and just switch to a trowel? As long as the blade is the length of the plug, I see no reason why it can't be a viable tool. Obviously, it would not be suitable for all ground. If shovel screefing is occasionally necessary, a shovel would be better than a trowel. But if you're doing simple LFH planting in soft ground, or planting in nice prep, why carry the weight of a shovel? After all, you're already bent over pretty far to actually put the tree into the ground, so it's not like the fact that your planting tool is shorter is going to force you to bend further.

Thoughts? I know this seems pretty radical, but I'm writing an article about it (and the mindset of not limited yourself to conventional solutions) right now.

[ghostliner]

I can see this working in super steep soft land,I actually thought of this when I was cursing my shovel and thought a garden trowel would do faster work.

[Scooter]

I'm definitely thinking about some coastal blocks that I've worked on.

[ghostliner]

how bout some wolverine spikes on the tree hand to clear shlash and roots! come on bushpro! I ams sending out free ideas! ams!

[ghostliner]

hey special thanks to you scooter!I am a long time lurker since 2008 and long time planter since 2004.I love all the info on tree planting that I cant get any where else, and have secured many great contracts because of this web site .I had to get a new account because my old hotmail EXPLODED.But any hoo,thanks again for this great web site and keep those dirty trowels HOWLING!HAPPY FRUCKEN NEWYEAR!

[Brandini]

MEC sells a cathole trowel for $4. Made of poly-carbonate water bottles, 5-6 inch long blade, and weighs 86 grams. I always thought it would speed up some of the 45+ degree cleaner slopes, like certain blocks around Chetwynd. Never tried it yet...

Attach your shovel with a carabiner on the back cross-piece of your bag straps and the blade resting in the back bag. Trowel as required.

http://www.mec.ca/AST/ShopMEC/HikingCam ... trowel.jsp

[mwainwright]

since we're talking about strange alternatives to the shovel, i remember a guy that used to use a hatchet when planting on the coast. he made it work very well, as he could chop through most wood and roots, and the plug always went in straight. it made the foresters very nervous, even though they could never find a fault on the guy, and eventually made him revert back to the shovel.

[Brandini]

I have wanted to weld a shovel blade at 90 degrees to something like a Stanley Fat Max anti-vibration hammer. If the hatchet actually works, then it must be worth a shot.

[newforest]

I have wanted to weld a shovel blade at 90 degrees to something like a Stanley Fat Max anti-vibration hammer. If the hatchet actually works, then it must be worth a shot.

you've just described a small hoe-dad



I read some material recently on various tools for planting plugs. The conclusion was they couldn't find any difference, survival-wise, among a range of tools (all tools were within 1% of each other). Since a few of those were 'blade-less' tools that make a small round hole, leaving only the planter's boot to make anything tight, it makes me wonder if plugs even need to be tight? I always have to plant plugs with inspectors used to bare-root tightness standards though, where that is critical, so I can't always just leave a little foot-tap.

planting slopes leads to desires to change tools. a low-to-the-ground tool is great when you are going straight uphill....what do you do to go downhill? (it's been so long since I used a hoe-dad I can't remember how I answered that then). I prefer to go across slopes when planting...I also use my planting tool as a cane for walking on steep slopes, I can definitely get steeper sections done with a tall tool than without. I generally can't imagine being on some slopes without it in my hand to help with the walking around. maybe just too many years on planting sites with an inspecting shovel in my hand, you get used to using it for walking.

[salad_shooter]

A guy on my crew this year, big bad Pete, forgot his shovel twice. He used a Pulaski one day, hoedad style. The other day, broke 2k with a bread knife on a road/burn block.

[newforest]

I have wanted to weld a shovel blade at 90 degrees to something like a Stanley Fat Max anti-vibration hammer. If the hatchet actually works, then it must be worth a shot.

here ya go, ten bucks at Coleman, saw this in the store yesterday:




incidentally if you are wandering the USA right now everything Coleman sells is 30% off in their outlet stores for the next two weeks....

[mwainwright]

i think those are supposed to be used for digging shitters.

[RPF]

I've never seen or heard of a planter using a garden trowel instead of a shovel. However, with the trend by many planters over the past two decades towards shorter and lighter shovels, why not take it to the extreme and just switch to a trowel? As long as the blade is the length of the plug, I see no reason why it can't be a viable tool. Obviously, it would not be suitable for all ground. If shovel screefing is occasionally necessary, a shovel would be better than a trowel. But if you're doing simple LFH planting in soft ground, or planting in nice prep, why carry the weight of a shovel? After all, you're already bent over pretty far to actually put the tree into the ground, so it's not like the fact that your planting tool is shorter is going to force you to bend further.

Thoughts? I know this seems pretty radical, but I'm writing an article about it (and the mindset of not limited yourself to conventional solutions) right now.

Makes sense to me. I've used a trowel for quality checking for many years. They fit nicely inside a cruiser's vest and weigh practically nothing. I also carry a shovel, but mostly for balance while walking through the slash.