Okay, so I’ve been needing to do some serious work in my backyard lately. The ground is super tough, packed down, and full of rocks. My usual shovel just wasn’t cutting it. I even bent the darn thing trying to pry out a big stone! That’s when I remembered my neighbor talking about this thing called a crowbar.
Honestly, I’d only ever seen them in movies, used by burglars or something, never thought to use one for gardening! But my neighbor swore by his, so I figured I’d give it a shot. I went down to the local hardware store and picked one up. It was heavier than I expected, solid metal, with a pointed end and a flat, chisel-like end.
First thing I tried it on was that stubborn patch of dirt where I wanted to plant some roses. I jammed the pointed end into the ground and leveraged it back and forth. Man, this thing is a beast! It broke up that compacted soil way easier than my shovel ever did.
- I used the chisel end to pry up some smaller rocks that were just impossible to dig out before.
- The weight of the crowbar really helped to drive it into the ground.
- I even managed to lever out a couple of medium-sized tree roots with it!
There were a few times where I struggled a bit. Like this one giant rock I almost kill myself trying to get out. It was taking forever. At that point, my neighbor saw me, came over, and he showed me a neat trick. He said to dig around the rock a bit first to loosen it up, and then use the crowbar to kind of roll it out of the hole.
Using it wisely
It worked like a charm! After that, it became my go-to tool for the rough stuff. It saved me so much time and effort. I finished preparing the whole garden bed in just one afternoon. If I had stuck with the shovel, it probably would’ve taken me days, and I would have ended up with a seriously sore back. I also learned to wear gloves when using it for a long time because the metal can really start to dig into your hands. Also, definitely wear closed-toe shoes. I had a couple of close calls where I nearly dropped it on my foot, and that would not have been pretty! All in all, this crowbar has been a total game-changer for my gardening. I highly recommend getting one if you’ve got tough soil or lots of rocks to deal with.
