Selecting the right shovel isn’t always an easy chore. Sometimes, bigger seems better. Then, you try to dig into the soil and find yourself straining and stressing to get through the top layer. If this is you, chances are you have the wrong shovel for your project. The below infographic is something we created to give a very brief overview of the different types of shovels and their general use.

A good example happened in our retail store just the other day. A customer (whom we will call “Bill”) came in very frustrated. He had gone to a big retailer of home and garden supplies to purchase a shovel for digging a composting trench. Bill, who is fast becoming a do-it-yourselfer in his retirement, is new to gardening. He saw something on television about home-composting and decided to give it a try.

Adamant that he knew what he was doing, Bill selected the biggest shovel he could find for the project. Unfortunately, it turns out that he selected a square point shovel. He thought it would make his job easier, because of its size, but quickly discovered that it was much more difficult than he had anticipated. Essentially, this is because he selected the wrong tool for the job.

Square point shovels are designed for shaping the bottom of ditches, flattening walkways or patios, and transporting materials. In terms of digging, the lack of a point distributes the force evenly throughout the blade. As Bill learned, this makes digging something like a trench much more difficult. Shovels come in many shapes and sizes. It’s important that you select the right one for the right job. You may even need multiple shovels for one job. In Bill’s case, this infographic would have helped him. So, this one’s for Bill.