Garden Guides

Practical digging, planting, and tool advice from the Spear Head Spade family. Real techniques, honest comparisons, no fluff.

How to Improve Clay Soil (and the Two Fixes That Do Not Work)

Clay soil is not a defect to be corrected. It is a texture, and texture is permanent. What you can...

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Garlic is one of the few crops you plant while everything else is winding down and then largely ignore for...

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Tulip bulbs are close to foolproof if you get two things right: plant them at the right time, and plant...

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A raised bed is mostly a decision about dimensions. Get the width, height and path spacing right and the bed...

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Most trees that fail in the first few years were not killed by pests or weather. They were planted wrong,...

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A clean edge is the fastest way to make a garden look cared for. Beds can be half weeded and...

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The best garden sprayer for most yards is a 2 gallon pump sprayer: light enough to carry full, big enough...

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The best gardening shoes for most people are waterproof slip-on clogs: on at the door, off at the door, hosed...

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The best garden trowel is a one-piece stainless steel model, because the way trowels die is always the same: the...

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The best hedge shears for most gardeners are a 21 to 23 inch manual pair with sharp carbon steel blades...

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The best leaf rake for most yards is a wide fan rake with springy tines and a handle long enough...

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The best watering can for most gardeners is a 2 gallon plastic can with a spout that pours clean: big...

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Every guide comes back to the same starting point: a sharp spearhead blade and a comfortable handle.

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