What is a Trowel?

A garden trowel is a common hand tool used by a range of people, including gardeners, archaeologists and people who go treasure hunting with metal detectors. The standard garden trowel usually consists of two main parts: a blade and a handle. Fun fact: the word trowel comes from the Latin word \"truella\", meaning \"small ladle\".

Trowel Uses

Garden trowels can be used for lots of different things, including;

• Planting seedlings,
• Transplanting,
• Weeding and
• Digging small holes

A transplanting trowel can be used for moving a plant, for example from a greenhouse and into the garden. Tulip and weeding types of trowel have sharpened teeth which allow them to cut through long roots, this makes it easier to clear out a hole for a new plant to be planted into. Weeding garden trowels are also used to remove weeds from a garden without causing too much damage to any of the surrounding plants.

Types of Garden Trowels

There are many different types of garden trowel and they are dictated by the shape of their blade. There are ten forms of garden trowel blade, these are; traditional, transplanting, dixter, ladle, potting, digging, tulip, weeding, tissot, and planting. The shape of the trowel can make it suited to different functions. For example, narrow trowels are used for transplanting and weeding and trowels with a pointed blade will perform better in harder soils.

Some trowels have a depth gauge built in into the blade to help the gardener accurately measure how deep they are planting. The handle also has different features, a long handle will improve the reach of the trowel, and so long handled trowels are useful for gardeners who want to avoid kneeling.

Our Range of Trowels

At Building Supplies Online we have a range of different trowels by a number of different brands. The options are endless with different colours, sizes, weights and shapes available. This means you are sure to find a trowel that suits your gardening needs.

The prices range from budget to higher cost, this makes this an accessible product for everyone, if you are just starting out in gardening then there is no need to break the bank on this one.

Complete your purchase at BSO with some other accessories to make your gardening experience more enjoyable, including spades, buckets, rakes and more. We also have a selection of kneeling pads available for your comfort.

Choosing your Trowel

The garden trowel blade you should choose comes down to the job you choose to do and the material it is made from. The most efficient material to choose for your garden trowel blade is stainless steel; this is because it is lightweight enough to use comfortably but still strong and durable enough to dig in hard soil.

Another important consideration is whether or not the blade has been coated; some garden trowel blades can be zinc chrome plated which makes them more corrosion resistant and therefore more durable for garden use.

Personally, it’s important to make decisions that suit your needs. Such as, looking for a handing hole in the handle for easy storage in a full shed, a comfortable handle that doesn’t rub and one that is the right shape for your hand so you can garden all day long, and the weight and balance needs to be right for what you want to use it for.

Maintenance and care of your Trowel

Towels can last a very long time if given the right maintenance and care; this can include the following tips:

• Cleaning - Dunk the blade of the towel into a bucket of water to loosen the dirt and then wipe off any excess with an old rag. For stubborn dirt, use a wire brush to remove it, as well as any rust patches.
• Oil – To reserve both the handle and the blade, it is best to oil them. Often the best oil to use is a vegetable or linseed oil which has no petroleum added.
• Sharpening - Your trowel blade will need to be sharpened every couple of years, do this with a hand file to ensure it cuts as easily as possible through tough soil and roots. Hold the garden trowel tightly onto a level surface with your non-dominant hand, using your dominant hand, place the hand file on the edge of the blade at an angle of between five and thirty degrees, then push the file downwards along the edge of the blade, away from your body.
• Storage – This is the easy one, keep your trowel in a dry place, such as a garden shed, to keep it away from any unnecessary moisture which could lead to the blade rusting and the handle rotting.