What is a Transplant Spade?
A transplant spade looks a lot like a modified shovel. It has a long handle that makes it easy to use from a standing position. Instead of being wide and tapered for moving soil, however, the blade is slender, long, and the same width all the way down. And rather than coming to a point, the bottom of the blade often has a gentler curve to it. This shape is intended to penetrate the soil rather than move it, creating a trench of loosened soil around the plant that’s going to be transplanted.
When to Use a Transplant Spade
Transplant spades are ideal for deep-rooted shrubs and perennials. Using transplanting spades on smaller plants isn’t unheard of, of course, and if you want to move your annuals or shallow-rooted perennials with it, there’s no reason not to. The key, however, is in the extra depth you can get with its long, narrow shape. Transplant spades are designed for digging a ring almost straight down around a root ball and then leveraging it out of the ground. They can be used to loosen the soil in the new transplant location. They also work well for dividing plants in order to separate and transplant them. Simply position the bottom of the blade at the point you want to divide and press straight down – you should get a clean cut through the root ball that you can then lever out of the ground.
