Garden Rakes

A Garden rake is a long handled mechanical tool, which is used to loosen or gather material or to grade or level a surface. The tool is designed with sharp and curved teeth, which are usually made of high-carbon steel to pulverize dirt, clods, and straight backs to level the soil for planting. The head of a rake is set close to the handle, which is attached by driving the shank of the head into the handle. A rake can be easily used for different garden works like-

• Lawn grass raking
• Scarifying
• Raking gravel
• Removing autumn leaves
• Seed bed cleaning and preparation
• Gathering hedge trimmings, twigs, garden refuse etc.

Types
There are different types of rakes available in the industry and the choice for a particular garden rake depends on your preference and the application. In broad terms, a garden rake can be of two types -

• Garden Rake: A garden rake has stiff metal tines and its primary use is in cleaning rocks and debris from the garden, spreading mulches, and smoothing seedbeds.
  
  
• Lawn Rake: A lawn rake has various thin flexible tines generally made of metal, plastic, or bamboo. A leaf rake is a type of a lawn rake, which has shorter tines. A lawn rake comes in several sizes and is used to rake leaves and gather loose plant debris.
  
  

There are other types of rakes also available in the market that is designed for some specific purposes and applications, such as grading and removing thatch from lawns. Some of these specially designed garden rakes include -

• Bow Rake: A bow rake has large, thick, unbending teeth. It can be used to both level as well as work the soil. One important feature of bow rake is that it can be used to prepare ground for planting after the soil has initially been broken up.
  
  
• Leaf Rake: These rakes have large, often somewhat triangular groups of teeth, which are quite flexible. These rakes are used to pull together piles of fallen leaves and to do light garden work.
  
  
• Hand Rake: Smaller version of a garden rake, a hand rake can be either a bow rake or a leaf rake. The prime use of a hand rake is to work the soil or clear small areas in flowerbeds.
  
  
• Thatch Rake: A thatch rake is designed for lawn grooming and allows the user to remove moss and thatch from the lawn.
  
  
• Lake Rake: Lake Rakes are used to skim the vegetation or algae off the surface of a lake or pool.
  
  
• Landscape Rake: It is a tool that is used to spread the ground covering material smoothly over a surface, whether dirt, sand, or gravel.

Specialty Rakes
Specialty rakes are also available in the market that are designed to work with a specific material. These rakes may include - an asphalt rake (for spreading and grading asphalt), road and stone rake (for raking and leveling stone), field / aggregate rake (used by baseball ground crews) and concrete rake (to level concrete after it has been tamped).

Garden Rakes - Buying Tips
The most important tip while buying a garden rake is to know what your specific requirement is. Different types of garden rakes are available in the market that is designed for different purposes and works. So to get maximum benefit from your garden rake it is essential that you buy a rake that suits and matches your requirement. Make sure that the rake you are buying is easy to use and control. Don't buy a heavy rake, as then you would not be comfortable to use it over and over again.