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hoes

• Message 1. 

  Posted by Swedboy (U14400604) on Saturday, 18th February 2012

  I need to ask a rather silly question but what do you use them for? I thought you used them to dig in weed but from what I could gather from a column by Alan titshmarch you use them to hack down weeds which seems to make more sense.
  

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• Message 2

  , in reply to message 1.

  Posted by thedogcody (U14659366) on Saturday, 18th February 2012

  There are push hoes I use for roughing up crusty soil and weeding in the borders-only really any good for annual weeds
  
  There are draw hoes that are used for earthing up- as in potato growing
  
  Then there are onion hoes
  
  Strange word -hoe....................derivative?

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• Message 3

  , in reply to message 1.

  Posted by Kleftiwallah (U13700999) on Saturday, 18th February 2012

  There must be about a dozen or more different types of hoe and they all do different things. You can use them to cut weeds off at soil level, used to earth up crops, used to break up a compacted soil surface to allow air to the plant roots and hoes to carefully weed between onion rows.
  
  Start the research and you will be amazed. Cheers, Tony.

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• Message 4

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  Posted by Swedboy (U14400604) on Saturday, 18th February 2012

  Not sure this helped with my confusion... Better check if my Geoff Hamilton book can clear the fog. Was thinking it might be of use for weeding my beds.

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• Message 5

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  Posted by thedogcody (U14659366) on Saturday, 18th February 2012

  I'm confused-both answers said weeding....................

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• Message 6

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  Posted by zoomer44 (U14019069) on Saturday, 18th February 2012

  For what it's worth, I think the hoe is a really undervalued tool in the garden. Very much a lazy gardeners tool, when used properly you need never get down on your hands and knee's to hand weed ever again providing your plants are sufficiently spaced to hoe the ground in between.
  
  Mine's not very sharp and a push hoe, when used regularly and on a sunny day pulls out weeds by their roots which left exposed die and are decomposed back into the soil. Turn the hoe over, it can be used to turn over the top layer of soil, if baked and allows rain to pentertrate the ground to get to the roots of plants.

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• Message 7

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  Posted by Goldilocks (U2169760) on Sunday, 19th February 2012

  ""Hoe" comes from the Middle English word "howe", which comes from Anglo-French "houe", of Germanic origin, which isassociated with an Old High German word "houwa" meaning "mattock", and "houwan" =, meaning "to hew".
  
  When sowing veggies, leave a gap between rows that is enough to allow you to run your hoe along it to cut your weeds off at the knees.
  
  A hoe is good for exposing weed seeds that are just under the surface. They then germinate and can then be got rid of when you next hoe. You will never get rid of all the weed seeds but it is a way of dealing with a newly cultivated area that has been infested with weeds.
  
  

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• Message 8

  , in reply to message 1.

  Posted by blueberry77 (U14703896) on Sunday, 19th February 2012

  I use the hoe a lot. Weeding (without bending), riddling the soil, working in compost or fertilisers, stirring the compost heap, making seed trenches ... I'd be lost without it.

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• Message 9

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  Posted by Kleftiwallah (U13700999) on Sunday, 19th February 2012

  [IMG]/IMG]
  
  
  
  Ya pays ya money, ya takes your pick (or your hoe) ! Cheers, Tony.

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• Message 10

  , in reply to message 4.

  Posted by rthorner (U1360306) on Monday, 20th February 2012

  Hi Swedboy
  I started gardening a few years ago and it took me a few tries to get the hang of the hoe, but now I can't do without it. The most common type have a blade that looks a bit like a horse's stirrup on the end of the handle. The idea is that you can push it forward and back just under the surface of the soil (with very little effort), and the blade (a) slices through the roots of weeds and (b) lifts them and draws them back towards you where you can pick them up and remove them. Or on dry hot days you can just leave them where they lie and they will shrivel in the sun. If it is hard work then you're not quite doing it right. The result is a soil surface that is smooth, crumbly and weed-free. Just be careful when you are working around plants that you want to keep - the hoe is very efficient and surprisingly sharp, and I've sliced through young plants by mistake more than once!
  The other type of hoe I have is a claw hoe which I use for breaking up heavy ground. It looks like a claw (duh!). But I suspect that you have the other sort?

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• Message 11

  , in reply to message 10.

  Posted by Swedboy (U14400604) on Monday, 20th February 2012

  Actually I have neither. Tend to attack my weeds by either pulling or digging them out. It sounds like I could do with both types.

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• Message 12

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  Posted by rthorner (U1360306) on Tuesday, 21st February 2012

  Suggest you get one of the ones with exchangable heads - I've got the Wolf garden range adn they are really good. One handle, two hoes, easy to carry around, use the claw head to bash up the ground then the draw hoe to smooth it out.... Have fun!

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• Message 13

  , in reply to message 12.

  Posted by Swedboy (U14400604) on Tuesday, 21st February 2012

  Thanks for the tip.

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