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We have multiple clumps of ornamental grasses that are overgrowing their beds. I tried today to split them and could not get a shovel thru the clump. Next I tried an edging tool with even less luck. What the heck do you recommend?
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Never heard of anyone wanting to break them up. Usually you just let them grow. But if you wanted to I'd just an axe to chip it into smaller pieces.
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A transplant spade works. It really helps to sharpen it up a bit on the grinder or with a file. They can be tough roots to cut but just keep chopping. Generally Ornamental Grasses are very hardy once they are well established and cutting them apart really doesn't hurt them at all.
Mike
If you're the smartest person in the room, you're in the wrong room!
But not today...
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A 10" single cut file vigorously applied to the edge of a good spade.
Blackhat
Bad experiences come from poor decisions. So do good stories.
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A grave digger's shovel, well sharpened with a file as already suggested, will make short work of splitting most any garden plant.
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sawzall
Al
I turn, therefore I am!
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Funny, this reminds me how I never appreciated the merit in sharpening garden tools until I spent two summers working on my FIL's vegetable farm back when I first got married, and he planted green beans, strawberries, etc. in 800 foot rows. One of my first jobs was to hoe the weeds in those rows. The first year, after I was taking too long to complete the first row I worked on, my mother in law came over, observed, and then asked where my file was. I looked at her with a blank look on my face, she shook her head, got into the truck and came back with a file, showed me how to sharpen the hoe (crescent shaped hoe, I still have it!) and my productivity improved dramatically. After I commented to her how this improved the work, she again looked at me, saying nothing as she rolled her eyes and then drove off in the truck. I imagine she was thinking why she ever allowed her daughter to marry such a dolt who didn't know 'nuthin.
Credo Elvem ipsum etiam vivere
Non impediti ratione cogitationis
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I've got a whole collection of hoes. Stirrup, V shaped, mixers, you name it.
Shovels out the wazoo, rakes, sickles, machetes, anything with an edge you care to name.
Every year, I sharpen them all, whether I used them the previous year or not.
I have several files, diamond sticks, and stones.
I have a 5 gallon bucket with coarse sand in it. (Orange sand)
I dumped 2 qts. of motor oil in it & keep a lid on it.
I take my shovels & pointed tools & shove them in that sand several times after sharpening them to polish the blades. The oil coats the blades as I sand the surface rust off the blades.
My grandpa taught me that trick almost 50 years ago.
Maybe this tip will be passed on to help others.
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I've found that repeated applications of Roundup works best/ A few years of rotting takes care of the rest!
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(04-16-2017, 07:14 AM)Admiral Wrote: Funny, this reminds me how I never appreciated the merit in sharpening garden tools until I spent two summers working on my FIL's vegetable farm back when I first got married, and he planted green beans, strawberries, etc. in 800 foot rows. One of my first jobs was to hoe the weeds in those rows. The first year, after I was taking too long to complete the first row I worked on, my mother in law came over, observed, and then asked where my file was. I looked at her with a blank look on my face, she shook her head, got into the truck and came back with a file, showed me how to sharpen the hoe (crescent shaped hoe, I still have it!) and my productivity improved dramatically. After I commented to her how this improved the work, she again looked at me, saying nothing as she rolled her eyes and then drove off in the truck. I imagine she was thinking why she ever allowed her daughter to marry such a dolt who didn't know 'nuthin.
Don't forget to sharpen you shovels. They come from the store dull as can be but once sharpened digging is much easier and it's ready for the first snake you find as well.
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