Burgon & Ball GTB/SPSRHS RHS Stainless Perennial Spade

Product Information

The Wilkinson Sword gardening tool collection is a totally unique, innovative range of products developed by E. P. Barrus Ltd; a British company with over 100 years trading experience. Barrus has a strong sales, distribution and engineering focus and is the power behind leading brands in the garden machinery and tools sector, marine, vehicle and industrial engine markets. This spade features a high-carbon, heat-treated steel blade that tapers to a pointed, beveled cutting edge to slice through dirt and roots with ease. For extra secure footing and comfort during prolonged use, you can attach the included rubber foot pad to the extra-wide turned step on either side of the blade.

This weighty spade may be a little heavy for some users and rivets on the steel strap can catch on hands or garden gloves. Riveted securely in place, the strap strengthens stress points on the shaft to extend the life of the spade, but the rivets can catch on hands or garden gloves. The steel strap may also make this spade too heavy for some users, however, so keep that in mind.The best books I’ve read in the past year include Wild Flowers by Sarah Raven. I have about 20 books about wildflowers, but I’m not a botanist and most of them are either intimidating or incomprehensible. Sarah’s book is fabulous. I’m writing my own book about wildflowers at the moment so I re-read it. Then there’s Four Fields by Tim Dee, where he takes four fields in different countries and writes beautifully about them. The other is The Peregrine by JA Baker, a masterpiece of natural history writing. I would recommend that to anybody who loves the English language, let alone birds of prey. Look for a spade with steel blades. Stainless steel and boron steel are strong, long-lasting, and rust-resistant. Carbon steel blades are super-durable and a little lighter weight but can be susceptible to moisture and rusting if not maintained properly. While this option is 40 inches long, taller users will be glad to know this multi-digger spade comes in a 49-inch length as well.

Applying age-old traditions in hand forging whilst also using state-of-the-art techniques, Sneeboer make quality stainless steel tools which are built to last. Sustainable tools which also prove to be cost effective considering garden tools frequently need to take a bit of a beating.

Overall Take

We found the Root Assassin Garden Shovel Saw to be the best garden spade for slaying stubborn roots and other underground obstructions. The spade’s carbon steel blade is overlayed with a sleek, silver powder coating and features forward turn steps for secure foot placement. The most underrated plants or flowers are the primrose, cow parsley and the hawthorn. The common hawthorn is beautiful in flower, in leaf and in berry. These are all native, very modest plants that I absolutely could not live without. It’s all about emotional engagement: you can’t have a garden without a gardener, and gardens are human beings, therefore you can’t have a garden without humanity. You can have a very dull garden full of extraordinary plants and you can have a wonderful garden full of very ordinary plants – it’s about people and their relationships with them. That’s where gardens become interesting.

The long, steel shaft is designed for optimal balance and digging leverage. The metal D-shape handle is resistant to chipping and rusting and features a red rubber-coated non-slip grip which is easy to spot when set down on a lawn. Most important when choosing a garden spade, it must be well-made,” Hughes says. “I rely on my spade to do a lot of the tough work around my garden, so it must be well-made, preferably with a white oak handle and a forged, heavy metal blade.” With proper maintenance, the best garden spades can last a lifetime, so a quality tool such as the Leonard Full-Strap Diamond-Point Spade may be well worth the investment.

Customer Reviews

If you have a green thumb, one of the most useful tools you will need in your shed is a garden spade. Spades are useful for digging because they have a wide, flat blade. This makes it easy to move and turn soil. While digging spades are the most common kind of garden spade, there are also other types of spades available. Most spades have a traditional D-grip or T-grip handle to help hold and manage the spade. Both styles perform well, so the choice is mainly personal preference. If the handle is fiberglass, metal, or plastic, look for cushioned, rubberized coatings that offer a no-slip grip for optimal control and reduced impact on the hand and wrist.

Rigorously tested, our spades and forks outperform British Standard load tests by more than 50%. This is the weight a tool can hold without permanent deformation: our digging spade can take a load of over 100kg. I’m hopeful that the filming for a new series on European gardens which was shelved by the pandemic will still happen. I’ve got a couple of books being published this autumn – one about the wildlife in my garden and at the farm, the other about American gardens – and another one next year, as well as a memoir to write. I’m signed up to do two more years of Gardeners’ World after this one, plus I’ve got projects on the farm. So there’s a lot to do. A footplate or step is an appealing feature at the top of the blade. Here users can step with their foot to use body weight to push the blade down into the ground. “Spades with a foot pad on the top of the blade make it easier to dig in hard, compacted soil,” Hughes says. Avid gardeners moving shrubs and digging trenches daily may want to invest in a more expensive tool that will withstand years of daily use. Those who use a spade for occasional or light work can be confident selecting a lower-priced tool fashioned from durable materials.Burgon and Balls stainless steel perennial spade is endorsed by the Royal Horticultural Society, perhaps the highest accolade in the gardening world. Like all Burgon and Balls RHS-endorsed stainless steel tools, this perennial spade is covered by their lifetime guarantee. This mid-handled perennial spade is simply perfect for the task of splitting perennial plants. The pointed tip slices easily through roots to divide into new plants, with minimal disturbance to the rest of the roots and plant. It’s also really handy for digging while kneeling, offering great grip and enhanced digging power if you like to get up close to your plants. And it’s perfect to use with raised beds, extending your reach to avoid working at an awkward height. E. P. Barrus has a trade mark licence agreement with Wilkinson Sword Ltd (a wholly owned subsidiary of Energizer Holdings Inc) to sell and market the Wilkinson Sword range of garden tools in the UK and Eire.