The right shovel for digging up a few inches of turf for a sandbox

August 3, 2023 5:42 AM

I want to dig up a 4' x 6' area of my lawn a few inches deep to make a level spot for a sandbox. What's the right kind of shovel to do the digging out? (If you can link to a specific example, that would be great.)
posted by Wolfdog to Home & Garden (8 answers total)

Best answer: You want a square shovel like this to cut down through the turf and then cleanly lever it away.
posted by ananci at 6:00 AM on August 3, 2023 [3 favorites]

The right kind of shovel is a spade, not a shovel. From experience, you want something with a flat blade and a sharp edge. A lot of the work involves cutting, either downwards to slice the turf into sections, or parallel to the ground when you're separating the turf from the soil. A wider spade will allow you to cut and lift larger pieces, but will take more strength.
posted by pipeski at 6:02 AM on August 3, 2023 [5 favorites]

Best answer: Just a note: you can sharpen the blade of your spade to make this easier.
Here is a guide that seems reasonable. Just do the part with the hand file. I personally just take a file and freshen the edge in a 30 second freehand process because I know I'll immediately ding it on some buried rock.
posted by Acari at 7:15 AM on August 3, 2023 [2 favorites]

When I did this, I found a dense network of tree roots under the turf, even though the nearest trees were 40 feet away, so long handled loppers were also very useful.
posted by Jasper Fnorde at 9:15 AM on August 3, 2023

A pickaxe is the best tool for this job if your ground is hard. Use the flat side, and then use a square-headed shovel to scoop away the dirt.
posted by The_Vegetables at 9:17 AM on August 3, 2023

I'll agree with ananci's recommendation. I've probably dug up 600+ sqf of my front and side yard this way to plant more interesting things than grass. But I will add that having a shovel with a rounded head and tip at the end is useful if you need to cut through roots or other obstructions (just make sure you are 100% certain about what you're cutting through and don't accidentally hit any wires or pipes).
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 11:08 AM on August 3, 2023

Response by poster: Thanks, all. I now have a nice spot dug out and I was glad to have the right tool. (With no fewer than five hardware/tool stores here, not one of them had the right thing in stock, and I had to put one on order.)
posted by Wolfdog at 7:00 AM on August 18, 2023

Response by poster: Follow-up: My daughter is delighted with her new sandbox.
posted by Wolfdog at 6:51 AM on August 23, 2023