Gardening refers to the purposeful cultivation of land plots to grow various plants. Our ancestors began gardening by planting fruits, herbs, and vegetables for sustenance. Over time, people started to grow gardens using a mix of flowers and ornamental plants for aesthetic and beautification purposes. As the scale and complexity of gardens evolved, so did the tools and technologies needed to make one.
Modern gardening typically serves a combined purpose of sustenance and aesthetics and comes about better and more efficiently thanks to modern machinery. In this article, learn about heavy equipment used in gardening and five key ways it helps your garden flourish.
What Is Heavy Equipment?
Heavy equipment includes machinery designed for heavy-duty work, serving large-scale applications with larger material volumes. Some of the heavy gardening equipment include the following:
Loaders
A loader is used to move materials conveniently from one area to another. The common types of loaders are backhoe loaders, skid steer loaders, and wheel loaders. The most recognizable feature of a loader is the wide bucket attached to two arms in front of the machine.
Excavators
An excavator is a machine used to dig up earth and scoop materials. It consists of a single arm with a bucket for scooping and carrying materials, tracks to help with the excavator’s movement, and a cabin to house the engines, fuel tanks, and the machine operator. Excavators differ from loaders because they can reach farther with their single boom, allowing for deeper digging and easier maneuvering.
Tractors
A tractor is a machine that pushes or pulls other heavy equipment and operates agricultural implements. Depending on the attachment, tractors can also mechanize several gardening and farming tasks, such as tilling and plowing. You can find the proper tractor attachment for your needs from a selection of John Deere’s aftermarket parts.
How Heavy Equipment Helps Your Garden Flourish
People usually associate heavy equipment with construction work. However, heavy equipment offers a variety of uses for gardening work. Here are some examples:
Use #1: Clearing the area
Heavy equipment helps clear your land and make it suitable for gardening. Specialized equipment can be used to demolish and remove unused structures, such as old garden sheds, without damaging the surrounding nature and structures. After demolition, the debris can be transported using loaders.
Use heavy equipment to remove undesired materials from your garden, such as rocks, stones, and excess grass.
Use #2: Leveling the soil
Bulldozers and scrapers can prepare the land for gardening through leveling. Soil leveling is beneficial for many reasons. First, it promotes the even distribution of water and better irrigation. Next, it ensures proper water drainage, preventing soil erosion and flooding in garden areas.
Use #3: Digging up the earth
A lot of digging happens in gardening. Digging and mixing the land before planting helps break up any compacted soil, improving airflow and allowing plants to take root more securely. Compost for your plants can be made by creating pits on the ground and mixing in organic matter. Some planting techniques require the burying of media. For example, most mushroom species, such as shiitake mushrooms and reishi mushrooms, thrive on trenched logs rather than overground ones.
Digging is a labor-intensive and time-consuming task. Using heavy equipment, such as diggers and excavators, can tremendously speed up the process.
Final Thoughts
Gardening has come a long way from just a means of survival to a combination of aesthetics and function. Heavy equipment is crucial in modern gardening, supporting several tasks such as land clearing and soil leveling. Check out this resource for more information on standard gardening tools and equipment.
