What is a rake or a hoe used for?

What is a rake or a hoe?

A rake, sometimes referred to as a hoe, is a gardening or agricultural tool consisting of a long handle, usually made of wood, and a sharp steel blade. A long handle allows the gardener to work while standing, saving their back. The blade can be rectangular for “pulling” tools or sometimes triangular for “pushing” ones, but other models exist.

Unlike a hoe, a rake only penetrates the soil very slightly. The blade thus allows for cutting “weeds” just at the collar.

There are mainly two types of rakes or hoes:

• Pushing rakes: these tools, such as the Spear & Jackson pushing rake, are used by pushing in front of oneself;
• Pulling rakes: these tools, like the Spear & Jackson pulling rake, are used by pulling towards oneself.

Some rakes or hoes allow for both pushing and pulling. This is the case, for example, with the Leborgne NaturOvert rake, which has sharp edges on all four sides of the blade.

Note! : The blade of a rake can also be made of copper, as seen in this remarkable oscillating rake from the Schauberger range or the more classic Sabik hoe. More and more gardening tools are being made from copper. This metal has two major advantages: copper tools do not rust and never become dull.

What is a rake used for?

Hoes are used for:

• Weeding paths and gravel surfaces;
• Hilling up “weeds” or adventive plants in the garden and vegetable patch;
• Loosening or aerating the top layer of soil in the case of draw hoes.

How to use a rake?

Rakes are mainly used in light soils or for cleaning paths or gravelled surfaces (petanque courts, access paths, parking lots…).

Pull rakes are operated by pulling the blade towards oneself with a sharp motion, which allows for a clean cut of the collar (the base) of the plant to be removed just at the soil surface.

Push rakes are used by pushing the blade with a broad, quick motion, but without applying too much pressure.

Rakes that allow for both directions of use can be pushed or pulled depending on the gardener’s preference.

Don’t forget! Clean your tool thoroughly after use and store it out of direct sunlight and adverse weather conditions.