Maybe there is a "how-to" section here but I'd like to know how the experts dig a neat plug if detecting on a finished lawn that needs to be left neat and tidy.
I'm new at this but I tend to cut a neat circle with the shovel pointed quite vertically. I lift and flip out the circle of turf with a fair bit of soil attached, often someone cone-shaped. That seems to leave plenty of soil for the roots to be mostly undisturbed - at least left in a way that ensures healthy growth after being put in place.
However, it's the subesquent digging around, deeper, that tends to leave a situation where the plug doesn't lay flat anymore b/c of the loosened soil that's been put back in the hole.
Just curious about tips and tricks.
FWIW, the only shovel I currently have is a standard garden shovel. Long handle, large blade that comes to a point. Not a spade. Not a specialized shovel.
I'm new at this but I tend to cut a neat circle with the shovel pointed quite vertically. I lift and flip out the circle of turf with a fair bit of soil attached, often someone cone-shaped. That seems to leave plenty of soil for the roots to be mostly undisturbed - at least left in a way that ensures healthy growth after being put in place.
However, it's the subesquent digging around, deeper, that tends to leave a situation where the plug doesn't lay flat anymore b/c of the loosened soil that's been put back in the hole.
Just curious about tips and tricks.
FWIW, the only shovel I currently have is a standard garden shovel. Long handle, large blade that comes to a point. Not a spade. Not a specialized shovel.
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