Top 5 Best Shovels for Planting Trees – Expert Picks for Quality & Performance

Customer Review: “Why did you pick this product vs others?:Best spade ever. Cuts through hard soil and roots to remove invasive shrubs and vines once and for all. Great for uprooting and dividing clumps of perennials. Comfy to use, lightweight but extremely sturdy. You definitely need this one!”

Customer Review: “This shovel is amazing. I’ve used a typical pointed spade forever but saw a gardener review this one and had to try it. Worth the purchase. As a longtime gardener myself I appreciate that it’s lightweight with just the right handle length. It’s easy to shove into the ground and hoist plants when transplanting and great for digging fresh holes for new plants. Highly recommend.”

Customer Review: “We hosted a tree planting workshop on our property, and the pros brought several of these planting tools for the participants to use. It worked well enough in our rocky soil that we decided to get one of our own. It’s pretty heavy to carry around, but my 5’2″ wife has managed to use it for planting a few dozen Ponderosa pine seedlings. We intend to plant a couple hundred more trees (a big chunk of our property was torched by a wildfire), so this tool will definitely be worth the investment. FWIW, the way the pros told us to use it was to drive it into the ground, pull it toward you to open a hole, drop in the seedling, drive the tool into the ground a few inches away from the seedling, and then lever the original hole closed.”

Customer Review: “The best planting bar I have ever used is one my grandfather had custom made. This isn’t quite as good, but it’s well-made and just the right weight. At 6’2″, I wish they made a version with a handle just a couple of inches longer, but it still worked pretty well for me. The tool could be improved with a mitered connection from the shaft to the handle. The ‘pinch and weld’ style connection seems sturdy enough, it just doesn’t exactly scream ‘quality.’ The bottom end, with the step bar all one piece with the weighted spade part, is fantastic – no worries about bending there. I’ve only planted 40 seedlings so far, but I’m confident this bar will outlast me.”

Customer Review: “Great camping shovel 3 piece easy to use very sturdy handle can be broken down into 2 pieces about 14 inches long each piece over all length about 3 1/2 foot”

Customer Review: “Perfect size for storing and travel. Small and useful. Bought 2 times.Used it for garden and for the snow.”

Customer Review: “In the part of Texas I live in, calling our dirt ‘soil’ is somewhat of an overstatement. In every square meter of dirt here, there are about 1000 large and small rocks interspersed with little caches of soil between them. Gardening is not a hobby, it’s a full body workout. On those rare events when I actually try to plant anything into the drought stricken ground nowadays, I have what’s called an ‘angelo bar’ which is a seven foot long, 15 pound iron bar with points at the end. I have to thrust this bar into the ground to pry up large rocks before I can make any kind of hole in the ground for plugging a plant in it. The problem is, the angelo bar is a bit of an overkill when all I really want to do is fluff up the dirt’s surface to plant little flowers that will no doubt dry up in the heat when May comes around. I ordered this stainless steel gardening tool as a more portable way to plant seedlings and smaller plants. It is very sturdy and features ‘inch’ and ‘centimeter’ rulers on the sides to keep track of the depth of your plantings. The point is fairly sharp and should make holes easily. (If vampires were allergic to stainless steel, this tool would be mighty handy for perforating them through the heart.) The only concern I have is that while this tool is sturdy, it is hollow. Consequently, I’m not sure how well it’s going to hold up when it hits the inevitable rock or two in my rock yard I lovingly refer to as my garden. Nevertheless, for $12.68, it isn’t a huge investment, and for those of you who actually have more soil in your dirt than rocks, it should work just fine.”

Customer Review: “This all-metal hand dibber seed planter has measurements on each side. One side is in inches, and the other is in centimeters. This allows you to gauge how deep the hole you are making for your seeds or bulbs. It is all silver metal and is well constructed. Therefore, it is durable and strong. That said, it is not too heavy as it is tubular. It arrives with a black rubbery cap protecting the pointed end. I’m not sure if this is just part of the packaging or if it is meant to be placed on when not using it. If it is the latter, then once removed, it does not stay on when you place it back on it. The only thing lacking with this tool is perhaps a rope or collapsible loop to allow for hanging it on a wall when not in use. I’ve tested it out with indoor houseplants and potting soil because currently it is the middle of winter with temperatures in the teens. So the ground is frozen and buried under inches of snow. That said, I expect this to work well for me. It replaces a similar tool I had been using that is plastic. It did work well with the indoor houseplants I tested it on. I will be using this to plant my seeds and flower bulbs outdoors come springtime. I look forward to using this when that time comes. Also included are printed instructions in multiple languages. For the price it is a very good value.”

Customer Review: “Over the course of the last five spring weekends, I have been working on revitalizing a neglected area of my backyard. The list of tasks that I had to do seemed to be rather intimidating, including breaking up deep clay, transplanting rose plants, and removing tenacious shrub stumps. After a few difficult sessions with my previous spade with a short handle, I decided to convert to this garden shovel with a long handle in the hopes of finding a solution that would solve all of my problems. Because of the difference in leverage, I was able to feel it from the very first push into the ground. Through the use of the extended shaft, I was able to maintain my upright position, direct my weight over the blade, and cut through compacted dirt without having to engage in the twisting action that would normally slow me down. The act of digging holes for planters became a routine rather than a struggle. As a result of my curiosity, I decided to set a timer, and I was able to produce 10 holes that were uniform for my flowers in a little under thirty minutes. This was something that would have taken me more than an hour in the past. The dirt is brought up in solid plugs rather than loose crumbs as a result of the shovel’s ability to reach deeper with each push. This makes the process of replenishing around root balls more organized and expedient. In addition, the length of the handle prevents my shoes from falling into the hole, which is an unanticipated benefit that results in fewer clumps of mud being dragged over the patio after the event.”

Customer Review: “This shovel is fantastic. Super easy to put together and extremely easy to use. It’s lightweight and a good size. I’m able to easily shovel out weeds and plants I no longer want with the sharpness of the shovel. It actually makes it fun to garden, which is not my favorite task to do. I would recommend this to everyone that plants anything into the ground or has weeds that need to go. It’s a great price for how great it functions.”