Best Shovel for Mulch (to Improve Gardening Standard)

As a gardener, mulch is arguably one of the most important things for your garden. So, we understand how important it is to choose the right mulch and the necessary tools for using it. 

As we know a shovel is an important tool for mulching. Therefore, it’s an inseparable thing if you’re into gardening. Hence picking the right shovel is really important and crucial. 

Exactly, this is where your tension starts, right? Obviously choosing the right product for such a crucial thing can make you tense. You must have lots of questions and confusion about the best shovel for mulch.

But worry not, buddy. We’re here to help you out on this. Our researchers have analyzed more shovels of different styles and types. After week-long research, we’ve handpicked the top 5 products for you.

Must be excited to know more about them right? Well, we won’t take more time. So, let’s just dive into the next part without delay.

1. Fiskars 46 Inch Steel Garden Spade

At A Glance

• Material: Wood, Fiberglass, Alloy Steel 
• Dimension: 4.75 x 8.5 x 47 Inches
• Weight: 0.30 Pounds 

Let us introduce you to the first product on our list from Fiskars. Our favorite product is also the most lightweight shovel of our picks. This product has a number of common yet necessary features to offer alongside the unique ones. 

So the functionality of any shovel depends much on its handle. But why? Because shovels are mainly used to dig or spread or to transfer from one place to another. Therefore, a good handle design and grip will enhance your overall shoveling experience. 

Well, the spade has an extra-large D-handle that enables two-handed control. Hence, you can easily assume, this shovel is much easier to hold and use. And, it is very comfortable to use even with gloves on. Therefore, we can conclude that the handle has a tight grip. 

Moreover, the handle has wood and fiberglass. The shaft weight is so light that you can use it without feeling any stress on your hand. Hence, the tension of added pressure on your lower back and hips won’t even come to your mind. 

Another thing that we must mention and give this product some extra points is its durability. This shovel is made of wood fiberglass and alloy steel. All of these materials have good longevity. Therefore, this shovel lasts longer and provides you with good service for quite a time. 

So, needless to say, the durability is worth the cost you’re spending on this. Furthermore, the blade structure is also very unique and beneficial. To be precise, the welded shaft is 18 gauge by 14 gauge in measurement. 

On the other hand, the blade front is sharp which makes it a good penetrative shovel. So, you can cut through the pile of mulch with it. Added to this, the sleek blade will make the mulch spreading quite easier as well. 

So, you can use this shovel for other purposes like cutting a trench or turf too. Besides, it’s rust-resistant, so using it for digging soil or moist mulch is also possible. The powder-coated steel is easy to clean, so you can use it without bothering about the washing process. 

Hence, you can understand, this shovel is reliable as well as eligible for multiple uses. That’s why this has topped our list of all the best products. 

But as we researched through it very precisely, we think they should focus on their quality control a bit more. That’ll make their good product a better one. 

2. AMES Aluminum Scoop 

At A Glance

• Handle Material: Wood
• Spade Material: Aluminum
• Dimension: 11.25 x15 x 45.5 Inches
• Weight: 3.52 Pounds

Time to dive deep into our second product that is from the brand AMES. This is a wood-handled aluminum-made metal shovel. This durable and lightweight shovel is a very good pick for mulch spreading. Furthermore, you can use this shovel for snow scooping as well. 

Starting off, the rustproof aluminum blade has a total of 15 x 19 inches of total area. It can even hold a good amount of mulch while using it. On top of this, the alloy is very strong and provides a good service. Besides, the strong durable wood handle with a comfortable grip makes the shovel holding easier and pleasant. 

That said, the main concern about using a metal shovel centers around the rust resistance and the washing process. But this aluminum alloy doesn’t get affected by water and moisture. It’s completely rust-free. 

As we know mulch includes some wet materials and composts. Hence, you can use this shovel for scooping these types of mulch without worrying. Lastly, the lightweight makes the mulch transporting handy. 

But as a matter of fact, this shovel is good for loose materials and mulch. You can’t use it for digging or to penetrate through a large chunk. Another thing that you must keep in mind before choosing it is it might not be a good pick for tall people. 

As the handle is not too long a tall person will have a hard time using it. Hence, they’ll need to bend every time using it. Consequently, that increases the chances of having lower back pains. 

That said, it has its glory. And, the thin blade gives you quite an amount of advantages. So this might be the shovel you’re looking for. 

3. Bully Tools Mulch Scoop

At A Glance

• Material: Polypropylene co-polymer, Triple Wall FiberGlass
• Dimension: 53.25 x 14.25 x 10.25 inches
• Weight: 3.45 pounds

Let’s welcome the third product that we have on our list- Bully Tools Mulch Scoop. This one has high-quality materials with good finishing. Moreover, this product is budget-friendly and quite affordable. 

So, this product is a commercial-grade shovel that’s perfectly designed for mulch transferring. It has a poly head that’s very good for carrying anything including snow. Plus, the triple wall fiberglass handle with the comfortable D grip goes hand-in-hand. That’s why it can ensure a comfortable user experience.  

To add to this, the fiberglass handle is very strong and handy. The D grips are also superior in quality and make the shovel holding easier. As the poly scoop is also very high capacity. So using it will make your mulch scooping much easier. 

Moreover, it doesn’t have any metal edge. So, you can’t use it for digging due to this. But at the same time, you can use it without worrying about ruining your rubber roof.  

So to conclude, we can say that the engineering is pretty thoughtful and good in quality. But this shovel isn’t the best one for scooping a thick layer of mulch. So, consider everything before picking this product. 

4. Harris Farms Poly Barn Shovel

At A Glance

• Material: Plastic
• Dimension: 44 x 14 x 6 inches
• Weight: 3.5 Pounds

So, we’ve come a long way and reached up to the 4th product on our list. Let’s introduce the only plastic-made shovel that we have on our list. This one is from Harris Farm and stands out from others for its extra-wide D-grip handle.

As we already got a heads up that this shovel has a wide grip. Therefore, what’s so fascinating about it? Well, the wide D-grip gives your hand enough space to carry the shovel in comfort. So, carrying the shovel weight becomes comfortable. 

Apart from this, the product has other features to offer as well. The first thing is it has a deep scoop that gives it more space to hold mulch. So, logically it can carry more amount of mulch than the normal shovel scoops. 

Hence, it can really be a good pick for transferring mulch from one place to another. As you can carry more mulch at a time using it. Another unique feature is their material. A plastic shovel is much more useful in some regards than the metal one. But why? 

Well, because plastic doesn’t react with water or air. Hence, it’s chemical-resistant and non-corrosive. So, you can use it to dig moist soil or mulch. The moisture of the mulch won’t affect this shovel. 

Moreover, plastic is much more durable as it’s a neutral material. It doesn’t get affected easily. But as a plastic shovel, this one should have more durability. So, some improvement in this regard would make it a better one.

5. Hooyman Shovel with Heavy Duty Construction

At A Glance

• Material: Steel
• Dimension: 60.25 x 9 x 3 inches
• Weight: 2.20 Pounds
• Grip Style: Ergonomic 
• Style: Digging Shovel

Time to greet our last pick that is the Hooyman Shovel with Heavy Duty Construction. Even though it stands last on our list, we love every bit of this product. 

This shovel has an ergonomic grip style that makes it unique and preferable. An ergonomic grip style reduces injury and increases the safety level. Plus, productivity increases too. It’s designed to minimize the bodily stress of shoveling. So your experience becomes smoother. 

On top of this, the no-slip H-grip ensures a secure and comfortable holding. Hence, the mulch shoveling and scooping becomes easier. The grip security obviously lessens the risks of slipping away. Also, the fiberglass-made handle is very sturdy that adds to the secure holding. 

Moreover, this digging shovel has a custom blade serration. This feature gives it some extra points obviously. But why? Well, the blade is uniquely designed to dig mulch or even snow more efficiently. 

On top of that, the weight and balance of this shovel are top-notch. So, it can be a good choice for both professional and seasonal gardeners. You can even use it for heavy-duty snow digging missions during winters. So, the versatility of this is also appreciable. 

Besides it, the oversized flanges on both sides of the scoop give it some extra leverage. One last but not the least thing about this shovel is its elegant outlook. We would like to crown it as the most stylish shovel on our list. 

What Is Mulch And How to Pick the Best Mulch?

Yeah, maybe I’m going to spill some known facts. But as we are discussing mulch shoveling, hence it’s necessary to know where we should use it. Besides, which type of mulch is usable and which type isn’t is also important to know.

Basically, mulch is a mixture of various types of material that covers the soil surface. It can include shredded or chipped bark, pine cones, and needles, grass clippings, fallen leaves, shredded straws, and many more. 

But not that mulch only includes organic materials that help to improve your soil. Even though organic mulch is good for soil drainage and nutrient holding. But there is inorganic and synthetic mulch as well which deteriorates the soil quality. 

Hence, this type of mulch should be decomposed. These can be detrimental to soil health. Even though some of the synthetic mulches are good, not all of them. 

Here is a list of materials that make the best mulch. If you’re a bit confused about how you can pick the best mulch for your garden. This list can actually help you big time. 

Shredded Bark 

This is one of the best types of mulch. It’s environmentally friendly and breaks down relatively slowly. Hence, it can hold the moisture for the soil effectively and for long. Plus, it even takes up some nitrogen from the soil while decomposing. 

Straw 

This is popular as it’s a very good quality mulch. Added to this, it has a very fine golden color that makes the soil top look better. This one is also good at holding moisture as it decomposes slowly. And, it’s good at keeping mud off the edibles. 

Compost 

Compost is almost a soil-looking material, but it’s darker than soil. It adds to the soil structure faster by breaking down fast. And, it’s even possible to make compost from grass clippings and leaves on your own.

Some people use rocks and stone, mainly to control the growth of plants. So you can understand, rocks and stones are mainly used for cactus or this type of plant. 

So to conclude, we must know the importance of mulch. Then we can easily sort which one to replace and which one to reuse to enhance the soil quality. Moreover, the soil structure, aesthetics, and plant choice have some effect on choosing the appropriate mulch type.

How to Shovel Mulch?

As we already know, it’s important to put mulch around the plants. So, you must follow some steps to put the mulch perfectly. Moreover, you can’t do everything with your hands only. 

That’s when you need other tools to do this. Mainly, we need a shovel to spread the mulch around the gardening bed. But before spreading the mulch, we must clean the beds. The dried leaves, debris, and old and non-reusable mulch should be cleaned away. 

Then you can use your shovel to draw lines amidst the flower beds. Don’t forget to water the beds afterward. Now that you’re all ready, you can use a shovel to spread the mulch around the flowering bed area. 

How to Pick the Best Shovel?

Mulch is basically a mixture of various types of materials. But we know that all of them aren’t even useful or necessary. Therefore, you need to keep some of them to cover your soil when others should be taken away for good. 

To do this, you must know the techniques and types of shovels. Not all shovels are good for all purposes. Therefore, you must know which type serves which purpose the best. 

Just to make it easier for you, we’ve added a list of shovels and where they should be used. You can check them out to get more reliable insight into this.

• For digging soil- Round shovel with pointed edges
• For moving pile of fine mulch- Large scoop shovel
• For pieces mixed mulch material- Square point shovel

Hence, you must choose your shovel for mulch carefully and keep these things in consideration.

What Is the Best Way to Shovel Mulch?

Honestly, the mulch shoveling process kinda looks like scoop-dump-scoop and it goes on until you’re done dumping all of it. So this process is repetitive. Moreover, doing the same thing can tire your muscles as well. 

Therefore, what can be done in this regard? 

Well, you can follow some ways to lessen the pressure on your lower back. So, what are those? 

If you have some prior working out experience that’ll strengthen your hip muscles. This will help you to take this stress without getting lower back fatigue. 

Besides, choosing a strong position that doesn’t put all the stress on your back can be really helpful as well. On top of this, another important thing is to use your whole body. 

It seems confusing? Okay, let me describe. 

So most people prefer to move the upper portion of their body while keeping the lower portion still. It takes a huge toll on their body. It puts more stress on their hips and lowers back. 

Hence, one should definitely avoid twisting their spine. Rather turning their whole body while dumping after shoveling can be a wise decision. Also, keeping the wrist straight while dumping can help as well. This minimizes the extra pressure on the shoulder as well. 

Frequently Asked Questions

Question: What is the purpose of mulching?

Answer: Mulching is not only a decorative cover on the soil. It’s a protective layer as well. The mulch ingredients enhance the soil quality and improve the soil drainage. It also protects bare soil from weeds. 

Question: Should old mulch be removed?

Answer: Actually, old mulch can be a very good ingredient for your soils. The slowly breaking materials produce some important nutrients for the soil after getting old. That’s why changing the mulch every year is actually a waste of time, money, and energy. You can prolong the time of replacement. 

Question: How long will mulch last?

Answer: Theoretically, organic mulch should last up to 5 to 6 years. But for other reasons, the longevity gets shorter. But the yearly replacement is not necessary normally. But you need to change them in 1 to 2 years as the organic ingredients decompose over time. 

Question: What is the best time to put down mulch?

Answer: Spring is considered to be the best time for putting mulch. It’s because the winter coldness ends in spring and the soil starts to warm up. So, Mid to late spring is the best time for mulching. It doesn’t hamper the natural warming process and keeps the soil healthy as well. 

Question: Should you wet mulch after you put it down?

Answer: Not that it’s a mandatory part but watering the mulch after putting it down is good. If the mulch layer is too thick, water struggles to reach the soil. So watering the upper layer makes it easier. Moreover, final watering helps the mulch to settle properly on the soil too. 

Parting Words 

That’s all from our side. Hope this clears out your confusion and gives you a better understanding of the best shovel for mulch. 

You can check the product reviews to pick your shovel for mulching that suits the best with your needs. 

Moreover, the choosing factors and other information are also given here. You’ll also find some tips and tricks about better ways of shoveling mulch. So, don’t forget to check those parts as well. 

It was a long read but I hope you enjoyed it. Don’t forget to let us know about your experience. Until next time, happy gardening.