How to use a U-bar digger to prepare the soil
Among all the gardening tools valuable for an assiduous gardener, a broadfork takes pride of first place. It is a highly effective digging tool that can be used for most operations, including digging, cultivating, turning up the rocky ground and enriching a nutrient-poor soil.
In truth, many people, especially those who just begin developing their gardening skills, still consider that the only goal of digging the soil is to make it fluffy. And that when it is crumbly enough then you can put seeds into it… An opinion like this may have seemed correct to a cave dweller. As for modern gardeners, they usually know that each and every aspect of gardening has a hidden sense.
Plants require not only a solid basis to grow on, but also fresh air, continuous flow of water and dozens of micro elements. Obviously, not every soil is suitable for planting, which means that you have to moisten, aerate and nourish it, until it becomes ready for use. And to do this you need something much better than an awkward shovel – a broadfork, which is designed especially for multistage gardening activities!
The U-bar digger consists of two upright handles, a horizontally located bar, which connects them, and six to twelve steel spikes protruding downward from the bar. A gardener sticks the spikes into the soil to the required depth (obviously, rocky grounds must be treated with extra caution to avoid unnecessary tension of the muscles) and bear heavily on the bar.
A significant difference between a broadfork and ordinary shovels is that the former requires no brute labor force. What you do instead you simply use your body weight when working with this tool. Hence, it can be used even by those gardeners who feel themselves tired after a few strokes of the shovel!
Next, a gardener turns the soil up, using long handles – if you remember the law of lever then you understand that this operation requires no extra tension. Voila! The soil is loosened and ready for plants!
The benefits of purchasing a spick-and-span u-bar digger
Well, all the mentioned facts surely prove that working with a U-bar digger is much easier than tinkering with a shovel. It allows you to work faster, cover larger areas and deal with all types of the soil, including even those that have not been cultivated for many years.
Of course, these are significant advantages for gardeners who wish to avoid long hours of routine work. However, a broadfork does not look like a tool designed for a deftly handled work. In other words, here is the direct question: does it damage the inherit soil structure, intermixing nutrient layers with poor ones?
Luckily, you can be sure that a broadfork does less damage to the soil and its flora and micro fauna than any other tool. It supplies the soil with necessary air and creates holes for nutritive agents. Simultaneously, it provides a gently aeration, preventing blending of the substrates. Hence, you can use it without worries – a broadfork will make your garden great-looking and fruitful!
