How to use a garden hoe
Healthy soil is crucial for healthy plants. Preparing the soil before planting will improve aeration and drainage, both essential for nourishing plants and establishing robust root systems.
You can do the job yourself with everyday hand tools. A garden hoe can help you clear out weeds, turn over the soil and create furrows for planting in the ground or raised beds.
How to use a garden hoe to prepare soil depends on what you need to prepare the soil for and what type of soil you have.
Do you have rock-hard clay soil and need to break it up? Or do you have nicely amended soil that is ready for seeds or plants?
Preparing a new garden bed
When preparing an area for planting, it’s essential to break up the top crust of soil (often hardened and compacted) so that water and nutrients can penetrate. This is known as turning the soil.
Rototiller vs. hand tools
While you can use a rototiller to turn over soil in an area quickly, they can be expensive and dangerous to operate. There are also benefits of leaving the layers of native soil intact, popularized by the “no-till gardening” method. This method stresses minimal disturbance to the deeper layers of soil and using natural compost and amendments mostly at the planting site.
A rototiller may be a wise choice if an area in your garden has not been worked for many years, or you just want a machine’s help.
In most cases, you can use hand tools to turn over the first layer of soil before mixing in compost, worm castings or other material to enrich your soil and feed your plants.
Turning soil with a garden hoe
When using a hoe to break into soil, use a motion similar to chopping firewood. Extend a sharp paddle hoe overhead and straight out, then pull down with your arms outstretched.
Position the hoe so the sharpened edge of the blade can sink straight down into the soil. Then, draw the hoe back toward you to pull out the hunk of hardened soil.
Double digging
At this point you can either plop the soil back in the same spot or use a technique called “double digging,” which is to turn over the top layer of soil systematically in rows. After digging the first row, place the dirt you removed from the first row onto a tarp. Add compost or soil amendment to the trench, then dig up the topsoil for each subsequent row, piling the turned earth into the row you just dug (on top of any organic matter you added).
Planting seeds or bulbs in rows
You can also use a garden hoe to create mounds, hills or furrows for planting seeds. A Warren hoe (or “furrowing hoe”) with a triangular blade creates a narrow trench in the soil for planting seeds in straight rows. You can use a Warren hoe to create the furrow itself as well as narrow ditches to irrigate your newly planted row.
Amend the soil
Start with soil that has been turned over and enriched with compost or soil amendment for the best results. Make sure that weeds have been removed so that it’s easy to spot the seedlings of the plants you intend to grow.
Level the soil
Smooth the soil with a garden fork, rake or draw hoe. Because seeds require a specific soil depth to germinate properly (check your seed packet) you want an even and level soil surface to start.
Measure rows
Measure out how much space you will need between rows of plantings. This is specified on the seed packet or the plant tag if you have live plants from a nursery. For example, carrots might only need six inches of room on either side because they’re compact and their root system points straight down. Tomatoes will need to be planted at least three feet apart (even more for indeterminate varieties). More space is usually best with tomatoes to provide air circulation and prevent disease like blossom end rot.
Mark each end of your planting row with a stake. Use string or twine to connect the two stakes to create a guide for creating an even row.
Create planting furrow
Draw the tip of a triangular Warren hoe along the twine guide to create a planting furrow.
Use the tip of the triangular hoe blade to create a shallow furrow for smaller seeds (planted closer to the soil surface), like lettuces.
Turn the hoe and use the corner of the blade to create a deeper furrow for seeds that require deeper soil to germinate, like squash or larger beans. A general rule of thumb is that the larger the seed, the deeper it needs to be planted to sprout. Check your seed packet or plant tag for planting depth and spacing.
Create an irrigation trench
Use the blade of your hoe to create a trench (around four inches deep) on both sides of your planting furrow. This technique allows water to collect in the soil surrounding the root system of the plants in each row. You can also use a hoe to create circular irrigation trenches around your plants that aren’t planted in rows.
Plant seeds and cover
Drop seeds into the planting furrow according to the suggested spacing for your particular crop. Drawing the hoe lightly back over the furrow usually provides enough soil to cover the seeds, but you can also use your hands or a hand spade.
Don’t forget the water
Seeds require moisture and light to germinate, so it’s crucial to keep your soil evenly moist, but be gentle — it’s very easy to dislodge seeds. Use the least forceful setting (often “rain” or “shower”) on a soft-touch watering wand or a watering can with adiffuser spout if you’re watering by hand. You’re looking for a fine, even shower of water.
Rachel Boller is a writer for BestReviews. BestReviews is a product review company with a singular mission: to help simplify your purchasing decisions and save you time and money.
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