Port Shovel - Ideal Small Tool For The Perennial Garden © 2006

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Gardening involves a lot of digging, and a small assortment of trowels, shovels, and spades is common for most gardens. The right tool can make a big difference in the time spent doing a certain task and ease of finishing it.

A recent addition to my equipment cabinet was a small port shovel. This neat little tool will see a lot of use in the perennial garden. The overall length of the tool is twenty six inches. The blade is six inches wide and eight inches long, and has a pointed edge.

The first task for this small shovel was planting some small perennials and shrubs from my nursery. Most of the plants I grow are set out when they are in three inch and six inch pots, so they tend to be a bit small. Most are cuttings rooted during the summer months to be set out in the fall, or perennials started from seed in the spring, again for fall planting. The port shovel proved to be ideal for this job. A long handled shovel is a bit big, the hole much larger than needed for these small plants. A trowel is hard on the wrists and hands for planting more than a couple of plants. The small size of the port shovel makes it ideal for carrying around the garden, and the hole is just right for the smaller nursery stock.

Another job the port shovel should be ideal for is dividing perennials. The small blade size should fit nicely into the crowded conditions of the perennial garden, allowing me to lift perennials out of tight spaces without damaging nearby plants. This tool will indeed be a good addition to my equipment shed.

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