Hoes

Hoeing is a technique used on allotments and in gardens to break up and loosen the soil allowing better water absorption, to remove weeds, and to make seed drills for planting.

British made Bulldog hoes are available in a number of different shapes and styles to suit soil conditions and hoeing techniques, but many gardeners don’t realise that different hoes are designed for use in completely different ways, so here’s a useful guide to how Bulldog Tool’s different hoes can be used:

1. The Dutch hoe has a shallow angled blade with a front cutting edge for keeping weeds down and hoeing between seedlings and established shrubs and plants.
2. The Draw hoe has a wider downward facing blade set at a right angle to the shaft. Designed to be used in a chopping or slicing action the draw hoe is best used in harder ground.
3. The Paxton hoe’s angled blade is used with a push-pull action and gives speedy results when used for weeding and light cultivation.
4. The Warren hoe has a ‘V’ shaped blade without a cutting edge. The blade is set at a right angle to the shaft and is perfect for furrowing or making seed drills as well as grading soil and backfilling.
5. The Onion hoe was especially designed for Bulldog Tools by Fred Walden and is ideal for working between onions. The ‘winged’ style of the head allows the hoe to ‘float’ just under the surface of the soil.
6. The Scotch hoe has large downward facing blade set at a right angle to the shaft. It is perfect for building up soil around vegetables like leeks and onions.
7. The Clarice Flower hoe has a miniature head for delicate work between plants and flowers in tight spaces. This hoe can also be used in rockeries.
8. The Cultivator is not strictly a hoe, but is used in a very similar way. The 3 prongs are designed to break up compacted ground and loosen the soil around trees and shrubs to allow more air and water to get to the roots.

All of these hoes are equipped with either long, FSC certified ash wooden shafts or strong, but lightweight long fibreglass handles to give gardeners a bit of extra ‘reach’.

So next time you choose a new hoe, it is well worth considering what you’re going to use it for and you may decide that acquiring two hoes rather than one will make your gardening much easier.