×
  • Home
  • Daily
    • Buyers Guides
    • Composting
    • Container Gardening
    • Easy Healthy Recipes
    • Food Preservation
    • Garden Design
    • Garden Tools
    • Gardening LIfe
      • Animals in the Garden
      • Funny Business
      • Gardening History
      • Gardening Humor
      • Gardening Mishaps
      • Gardening Poems
      • Gardening Romance
      • Gardening Science
      • Gardening with Kids
      • Healing Gardens
      • Joy of Gardening
      • Mystical Gardens
      • Ornamental Gardening
    • Growing Fruits & Berries
    • Indoor Gardening
    • Pests & Diseases
    • Seeds & Seedlings
    • Soil & Fertilizer
    • Spice & Herb Gardening
    • Vegetable Gardening
    • Watering & Irrigation
  • Freebies
  • Videos
  • Magazines
    • Food Gardening Magazine
    • GreenPrints Magazine
    • RecipeLion Magazine
  • Books
    • GuideBooks
    • Cookbooks
      • Beverages
      • Bakery
      • Breakfast
      • Appetizers
      • Salads & Dressings
      • Soups
      • Entrées
      • Side Dishes & Sauces
      • Desserts
    • Story Collections
    • StoryBooks
    • Recipe Collections
  • Kits
    • Garden Calendars
    • Garden Plans
    • Recipe Cards
    • Greeting Cards
    • ArtPrints
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Affiliate Program
  • Sponsor Program
  • Give a Gift
  • Privacy Policy & Terms of Use
  • Authors
  • GreenPrints Writer’s Guidelines
  • Keyword Index
  • Join
Celebrating 5 Years of Food Gardening

Food Gardening Network

Growing food, fun & more

Give a GiftJoin
Mequoda Publishing Network
  • Daily
    • Buyers Guides
    • Composting
    • Container Gardening
    • Easy Healthy Recipes
    • Food Preservation
    • Garden Design
    • Garden Tools
    • Gardening Life
      • Animals in the Garden
      • Funny Business
      • Gardening History
      • Gardening Humor
      • Gardening Mishaps
      • Gardening Poems
      • Gardening Romance
      • Gardening Science
      • Gardening with Kids
      • Healing Gardens
      • Joy of Gardening
      • Mystical Gardens
      • Ornamental Gardening
    • Growing Fruits & Berries
    • Indoor Gardening
    • Pests & Diseases
    • Seeds & Seedlings
    • Soil & Fertilizer
    • Spice & Herb Gardening
    • Vegetable Gardening
    • Watering & Irrigation
  • Freebies
  • Videos
  • Magazines
    • Food Gardening Magazine
    • GreenPrints Magazine
    • RecipeLion Magazine
  • Books
    • GuideBooks
    • Cookbooks
      • Beverages
      • Bakery
      • Breakfast
      • Appetizers
      • Salads & Dressings
      • Soups
      • Entrées
      • Side Dishes & Sauces
      • Desserts
    • Story Collections
    • StoryBooks
    • Recipe Collections
  • Kits
    • Garden Calendars
    • Garden Plans
    • Recipe Cards
    • Greeting Cards
    • ArtPrints
  • Sign In
  • Search

Is it a shovel or is it a spade?

Is it a shovel or is it a spade?

By David Hobson | April 21, 2025

Spade

How’s the back? Has it stopped aching yet? Charles Dudley Warner said: “What one needs in gardening is a cast-iron back with a hinge in it.” He was right! Mine’s only just recovered from the snow-shovelling season and now the gardening season has arrived to restore it to its usual dull throb. Regardless, I’m thrilled to be getting back into the yard (this will be the year, this will be the year).

And what will be the first job I must tackle as soon as the ground has thawed? — Digging the veggie bed over. But with what? Old gardeners already know the answer to that question. But all those enthusiastic neophyte gardeners that have yet to experience the refreshing fragrance of horse lineament permeating their underwear may have difficulty making the right choice.

Choosing the correct tool for the job is difficult for a beginner. I realized this when a friend asked, “What’s the difference between a spade and a shovel?” I thought it was obvious until I tried to explain. Been down to your local garden centre lately? Seen the incredible array of digging or shovelling tools? There are long handles, short handles, even carbon fibre handles, T-grips, D-grips, and non-slip grips (take that Dr. Seuss). They also come in a wide variety of materials, including wood, steel, tungsten, aluminum, titanium, and even plastic (the rubber one is a hoot).

I know, it is confusing, and none of them will do much for your back. As far as I’m concerned, spades and shovels are designed for one purpose and one purpose only — to inflict pain, but your back will wear out a little more slowly if you select the correct tool for the job.

Well, what is the difference between a spade and a shovel, you ask? Does it matter? Yes, of course it matters. A spade is a spade and a shovel is a shovel, even if they do look similar. A spade is for digging and a shovel is for shovelling, except one can substitute for the other — like when you’re at one end of the garden path, toiling away with a spade because the shovel you need is in the shed at the other end. The difference then is not always clear to a casual observer, other than my neighbour who likes to live dangerously by peering over the fence and saying, “Wouldn’t a shovel be better for that job?” after I’ve already made umpteen trips up and down the yard that morning.

So, here’s a little information to set the new gardener straight: A spade in its purest form is straight and squarish at the business end, sometimes roundish, with or without a point. It’s used for digging holes and turning soil over, or whatever poor excuse you have for soil in your yard (it’s the soil, you know. If I only had better soil).

Because of its superior performance when digging holes, compared to the shovel, spades are much favoured by gravediggers. I should know because I dug a grave once — okay, it was only for a hamster. However, if you had to hurriedly bury a body on a beach for instance, then a shovel might be the better choice (see how confusing it is).

And there’s such an amazing variety of spades available. For example: the garden spade, border spade, tree spade, trenching spade, Dutch spade (to go with the Dutch hoe) and an odd one — the poacher’s spade. Thanks to democracy and a steady food supply, the poacher’s spade has gone out of production — and a good thing too. In feudal times, the gamekeeper bashed many a poor peasant over the head with his own ACME Poacher’s spade, thus providing work for the gravedigger and his spade — or shovel.

As for shovels, there is a crucial difference — they usually have sides to stop things falling off, and the blade is typically larger than that of a spade — but not always. The shovel’s main purpose is for moving loose bulky stuff like sand, gravel, or even that expensive load of topsoil you had delivered that looks like sand and gravel. In fact, some highly specialized shovels have been created to increase productivity when moving gravel or stuff like beans, popcorn, or whatever’s left behind when the circus leaves town.

And like the spade family, the shovel family is huge. There are round point shovels, dirt shovels, square point, medium point, narrow point, eastern scoops and western scoops, grain scoops, American pattern, and my personal nemesis — the snow.

Spades and shovels have been modified and adapted so much over the years it’s hard to tell one from the other. What one person may call a spade, another may call a shovel — hence the confusion — and the expression, call a spade a . . .

I hope this has cleared up any misunderstandings about shovels and spades, but if you’re still unsure, don’t worry. As any old gardener will tell you, if your back aches when you’re using it, then you’re probably using the right one. It’s easy to spot an old gardener. They’re the ones that are all bent and twisted and smelling of horse lineament. I wonder if the neighbour will let me borrow his Roto-tiller.

Follow David on his blog.

Discover 7 top tips for growing, harvesting, and enjoying tomatoes from your home garden—when you access the FREE guide The Best Way to Grow Tomatoes, right now!

« 5 Veggie Garden Hose Watering Mistakes
Do You Keep A Garden Diary? »

Related Posts

  • The Best Weeding Tool for Your Vegetable Garden
  • What’s the Best Type of Wood for Raised Beds?
  • How to Use a Garden Tiller to Create Perfect Garden Beds

Tags

gardener, veggie bed

Comments
  • Gina September 1, 2024

    You aren’t doing your soil any favors digging it over. Why not try no-dig gardening and save your back? Lots of info out there but best explained and documented by Charles Dowding.

    Reply
    • Gail J. April 26, 2025

      I agree with you 500% – look at forest floors and the abundant growth – no soil digging.

      Reply
  • Jill November 2, 2023

    Good fun, I have both and use them differently, not always appropriately. Thank you David.

    Reply

Click here to cancel reply.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Give a Gift

FREEBIE!

With your FREEBIE, you’ll also receive regular email messages from the Food Gardening Network. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Your email address is private. We promise never to sell, rent or disclose your email address to third parties.

Freebies

  • Worst Best Gardening Jokes Calendar
  • 5 Easy Healthy Carrot Recipes
  • 5 Easy Healthy Lemon Recipes
  • 5 Easy Healthy Salsa Recipes
  • 5 Easy Healthy Apple Recipes
  • 5 Easy Healthy Chicken Breast Recipes
  • Top 11 Food Gardening Tools You Need to Succeed
  • A Printable Companion Planting Chart
  • Plants for Bug Control Chart
  • Printable Seed Germination Temperature Chart
  • Printable Tomato Garden-to-Table Chart
  • Planning Your Perfect Food Garden
  • Printable Butterfly Garden Planting Chart
  • The Best Way to Grow Tomatoes
  • Printable Composting 101 Charts
  • How to Master Spice and Herb Gardening at Home
  • Printable Monthly Gardening Calendar
  • 10 Best Garden Poems of All Time
  • Vegetable Garden Planting Chart Freebie
  • Printable Flower Garden Companion Planting Chart
  • 10 Things You Can Grow That Your Pet Will LOVE To Eat!
  • Rose Garden Planting Chart Freebie
  • Printable Kitchen Garden Planting Charts
  • Sunflower Garden Planting Chart Freebie
  • Seasonal ArtPrints Collection Kit Sampler
  • Sampler: Gardening Humor
  • Sampler: Wit, Wisdom, & Learning
  • Gardening in Every Season
  • How to Start a Freedom Garden
  • Recipes from Your Garden
  • Sampler: Animals in the Garden
  • Sampler: Healing Gardens
  • Sampler: Joy of Gardening
  • Growing Vegetables Indoors for Beginners
  • 15 Easiest Fruits to Grow at Home
  • How to Grow a Vegetable Garden

Browse Topics

  • Buyers Guides
  • Composting
  • Container Gardening
  • Easy Healthy Recipes
  • Food Preservation
  • Garden Design
  • Garden Tools
  • Gardening Life
  • Growing Fruits & Berries
  • Indoor Gardening
  • Ornamental Gardening
  • Pests & Diseases
  • Seeds & Seedlings
  • Soil & Fertilizer
  • Spice & Herb Gardening
  • Uncategorized
  • Vegetable Gardening
  • Watering & Irrigation

Buyers Guides:

  • 9 Automated Garden Tools for Effortless Growing
  • 12 Cool Gardening Tools and Gifts for the Plant Lover in Your Life
  • Choosing the Best Shovel for Your Gardening Needs
  • 10 Gardening Tools for Seniors That Actually Make a Difference
  • This Countertop Compost Machine Turns Scraps into Compost in a Few Hours
  • 10+ Food Gardening Gadgets We Love
  • 15 Adaptive and Accessible Gardening Tools and Raised Beds
  • 13 Canning Tools, Supplies & Equipment You Need
  • The 3 Best Gardening Shoes
  • 5+ Best Bird Deterrents for Gardens
  • Shop Our Amazon Store

Authors:

  • Bill Dugan
  • Amanda MacArthur
  • Mike McGrath
  • Don Nicholas
  • Norann Oleson
  • Christy Page
  • Becky Rupp
  • Beth Rush
  • Pat Stone
  • Diana Wells

Enter Your Log In Credentials

This setting should only be used on your home or work computer.

  • Lost your password? Create New Password
  • No account? Sign up

Need Assistance?

Call Food Gardening Network Customer Service at
(800) 777-2658

Food Gardening Network is an active member of the following industry associations:

  • American Horticultural Society
  • GardenComm Logo
  • GardenComm Laurel Media Award
  • MCMA logo
  • Join Now
  • Learn More
  • About Food Gardening Network
  • Contact Us
  • Affiliate Program
  • Sponsor Program
  • Give a Gift
  • Privacy Policy & Terms of Use

Food Gardening Network
99 Derby Street, Suite 200
Hingham, MA 02043
support@foodgardening.mequoda.com

To learn more about our Email Marketing and Broadcasting Services, Exchange Program, or to become a marketing partner with any of our publications, click here to contact us at Mequoda Publishing Network.

FREE E-Newsletter for You!

Discover how to grow, harvest, and eat good food from your own garden—with our FREE e-newsletter, delivered directly to your email inbox.

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest

Powered by
Mequoda Publishing Network
copyright © 2025 Mequoda Systems, LLC

Food Gardening Network®, Food Gardening Magazine® and GreenPrints® are registered trademarks of Mequoda Systems, LLC.

Go to mobile version