Soil loosening: 9 tools & machines to loosen the soil

Regular loosening of the soil is just as necessary in the home garden as it is in agriculture. Many hobby gardeners prefer the manual device for loosening the soil, others find it faster and easier with machines. But what kind of devices and machines are actually suitable for loosening soil can be read in the following.

Reasons for soil loosening

humidity

All soil compacts over time. Soil compaction causes the soil to become less permeable to water, making it harder for water to penetrate and drain away. The result is a lack of moisture or the formation of waterlogging. In both cases, plants and seeds are damaged and may die.

Air

The roots of all plants need air in order to establish themselves ideally or to penetrate the soil. If this is too tight/firm, this is impossible. Plants cannot gain a foothold and root growth is disrupted because there is not enough space to spread. This leads to general growth disorders and possibly to the death of affected plants.

nutrient

With solid soil, the nutrients encapsulate themselves so that they cannot be absorbed by the roots. Deficiency symptoms follow due to an undersupply of nutrients and without loosening the soil, the plants will die. By loosening the soil consistency decomposes and nutrients are again freely accessible for the plant roots.

soil preparation

In many cases, before sowing or planting, the soil is prepared in the form of loosening of the earth required to create ideal conditions to "tackle", for reasons already described became. But also for a follow-up treatment, such as levelling, it may be necessary to loosen the soil beforehand in order to create an ideal soil condition overall. For example, without loosening the soil beforehand, leveling would entail too high a risk of compaction.

weed

Weeds are usually an unwelcome guest, especially in vegetable beds. By loosening the soil, most weeds lose ideal conditions and die or don't settle at all. The firmer and denser the soil, the more and faster weeds will grow.

Manual soil loosening devices

In principle, for every device that can be used manually, there is also a mechanical answer for the most diverse methods of tillage. While handheld devices often require strength and endurance and also take a lot of time, the same garden work is easier and much faster with electric machines Hand. However, with manual devices it is easier to react to irregularities and, if necessary, to work more precisely than with mechanical devices. In addition, manual devices are usually much cheaper to buy than garden machines. However, these are worthwhile at the latest when it comes to larger areas that are to be loosened up.

digging fork

The digging fork is constructed similar to a classic pitchfork. It is an ideal alternative to the spade when the ground is extremely hard and it is difficult or impossible to get into it with a spade. A digging fork is more suitable for loamy and stony subsoil in particular. The fork-like arrangement of the tines makes it easy to guide them past stones and the like, while the pointed tines are easier to dig into heavily compacted soil. Digging forks with flat and wide sides are suitable. Wide specimens speed up the work. In addition to loosening the soil, the digging fork is also an advantage for other garden work:

• digging up
• implementation of compost
• floor ventilation

rake

The most classic of all garden tools is the simple rake. It is available in different versions. But they all have one thing in common: tines that are attached like a comb, which are usually only used to loosen the surface of the soil.

hand rake

A hand rake does not have a long handle, so it lies directly in the hand. It has a maximum of five tines, is therefore narrow and is therefore less suitable for larger areas. Small beds and, above all, narrow areas of soil can be ideally loosened up with it. With pressure, the tines can also penetrate deeper into the soil and loosen the soil correspondingly deeper.

stick rake

With a handle rake, a rake attachment and a handle are usually sold separately. The rake attachment is attached to it in order to be able to loosen the soil while standing thanks to a handle length of up to 1.60 meters. Here, too, the loosening of the soil is mainly superficial and for a deeper earthwork, significant pressure must be exerted with the manual rake. The rake width is selectable between 30 and 40 centimeters. This means that larger areas of earth can be worked on.

spade

The spade consists of a relatively flat metal plate which has a sharp outer edge. The spade is used to dig into the ground and can loosen the soil by digging. The depth reaches about 30 centimeters. Too much should not be dug up in one area, as this can have a negative effect on the microorganisms and consequently also negatively affect the nutrient accumulation.

Other areas of application are:

• root divisions
• Cutting off lawn and bed edges
• digging roots
• digging planting holes

sow tooth

A sow tooth is a typical soil loosening device. It consists of a handle with a sickle-shaped metal blade attached to the end. The sow tooth acts as a plow, digging through dense soil without turning it over. This has a positive effect on the microorganisms, which remain in the soil as a result. The operation requires a certain physical effort, because in order to get into the ground ideally, the device has to be moved vigorously. The advantage is that no bending is required and back-friendly work is possible.

cultivator

A cultivator is a gardening tool that loosens and crumbles the soil without turning the soil like a spade does. A cultivator usually comes with knife-like wheels that have sharp tines on them. The manual version is pushed by hand. There are also versions with a handle and three tines. The cultivator is often used to scarify lawns. It ensures better ventilation and water permeability on the earth's surface. It is also used to prepare the soil for fertilizing.

Electric soil loosening

In addition to individual machines that serve a purpose, multi-purpose machines can also be purchased. Mobile single-axle machines, known as lawn mowers, are also available for use in soil loosening. It depends on what work needs to be done. The range offers a large selection of device accessories for a wide variety of uses, such as for

• scarify
• tillers
• rake
• Plow
• leaf vacuuming
• Push snow
• Harrow
• Cut the grass

If you only need a specific device, you can get away financially with a simple device, but at the same time you do without flexibility for gardening. Basically, the following electrical machines or electrical devices are used to loosen the soil:

electric hoe

Electric hoes have only been commercially available for some time. They have the same properties as a conventional rake and can also loosen up the surface of the soil. However, they can be bought in larger widths of up to 55 centimetres, so that larger areas of earth can be worked even faster. Like a lawn mower, the electric hoe is pushed in front of you. It often stalls on very uneven floors, which is due to the mostly limited performance. It is offered with a power cable connection and with battery operation. The former has the disadvantage that a socket has to be nearby and the cable can get in the way when working on the ground. Depending on the battery performance, cordless tillers can severely disrupt working hours if the battery is empty but the work has not yet been completed.

motor plow

Motor plows are usually equipped with so-called hoe stars, which turn roughly and much deeper into the ground than electric hoes. They churn up the earth and provide "air channels". Motor hoes are often offered whose attachment can be changed and equipped with other useful garden attachments. In this way, one device can easily be turned into an all-round machine for private use, which can also be used to push snow or scarify the lawn.

Electric tiller

An electric tiller, which is also sold under the name "garden tiller", is ideal for large areas of land. It gets quite deep into the ground and digs up the layers of earth. A tiller is particularly suitable for areas of land with heavy weed growth because it loosens even the deepest weed roots. It is available with an electric motor and power cable connection as well as with a petrol engine for more freedom of movement and flexibility with regard to the area of ​​application.

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