The hoe is a hand tool used in farming and gardening. It has a blade, usually of metal, attached to a long handle, usually of wood. There are many types of blade, with a variety of uses, probably the most common of which is the removal of weeds. Along with the spade and fork, the hoe is considered a basic, essential hand farming implement.
Hoes are used to:
- agitate the surface of the soil around plants, to remove weeds
- pile soil around the base of plants (hilling);
- create narrow furrows (drills) and shallow trenches for planting seeds and bulbs;
- generally dig and move soil, and chop weeds, roots and crop residues.
There are many types of blade of quite different appearance. Some are design variations, and used by personal preference. Others are intended for a specific purpose (e.g. the collinear hoe has a narrow, razor-sharp blade which is used to slice weeds by skimming it just above the surface of the soil with a sweeping motion).
Hoe is also a name for a square-bucket shovel installed on 3-joint hydraulic arm of an excavator or a backhoe-loader. The hoe is used for mainly digging and excavating land.
See also: tractor, loader, bulldozer, excavator.
