Espalhei o adubo no canteiro com o ancinho.

In Portuguese, the subject pronoun is often omitted because the verb ending already shows who the subject is.

• espalhei = I spread / I scattered
• The ending -ei tells you it is 1st person singular: I

So:

• Espalhei o adubo no canteiro com o ancinho. = perfectly natural
• Eu espalhei o adubo no canteiro com o ancinho. = also correct, but eu adds emphasis, contrast, or clarity

For example:

• Eu espalhei o adubo, não o João. = I spread the fertilizer, not João.

Espalhei is the pretérito perfeito simples of espalhar.

That tense is used for a completed action in the past.

So espalhei means:

• I spread
• I scattered

Relevant forms of espalhar in this tense:

• eu espalhei
• tu espalhaste
• ele/ela espalhou
• nós espalhámos
• vós espalhastes
• eles/elas espalharam

In this sentence, it tells us the action was completed: the speaker finished spreading the fertilizer.

Portuguese uses definite articles much more often than English.

So where English might say:

• I spread fertilizer

Portuguese very naturally says:

• Espalhei o adubo

Here, o adubo can mean:

• the fertilizer
• or sometimes simply fertilizer, when the context makes it clear which fertilizer is meant

This is very common in Portuguese. The article does not always sound as specific in Portuguese as the does in English.

No is a contraction of:

• em + o = no

So:

• em o canteiro → no canteiro

This is standard Portuguese grammar.

Examples:

• no jardim = in the garden
• na casa = in the house
  (em + a = na)

In your sentence:

• no canteiro = in/on the flower bed / garden bed

With places like this, Portuguese uses em where English may use in or on, depending on context.

In this context, canteiro usually means a garden bed, flower bed, or vegetable bed — a prepared area of soil where things are planted.

It is not the same as:

• jardim = garden in general
• vaso = flowerpot / plant pot
• horta = vegetable garden / kitchen garden

So no canteiro suggests the fertilizer was spread in a specific planted section of the garden.

Com o ancinho means with the rake, and it tells you the instrument used to do the action.

So the structure is:

• Espalhei = I spread
• o adubo = the fertilizer
• no canteiro = in the garden bed
• com o ancinho = with the rake

In other words, the speaker used the rake to spread the fertilizer.

This use of com to express the tool or means is very common:

• Escrevi com uma caneta. = I wrote with a pen.
• Cortei o pão com uma faca. = I cut the bread with a knife.

In normal context, yes, it is understood as the tool used.

So the natural reading is:

• I spread the fertilizer in the garden bed using the rake.

Technically, com can sometimes create ambiguity in some sentences, but here the most obvious and natural interpretation is instrumental.

If someone wanted to be extra explicit, they might say something like:

• Usei o ancinho para espalhar o adubo no canteiro.
  = I used the rake to spread the fertilizer in the garden bed.

But your original sentence is completely natural.

Yes. Ancinho is a masculine noun, so it takes:

• o ancinho = the rake
• um ancinho = a rake

That is why you get:

• com o ancinho = with the rake

If the noun were feminine, you would see a instead of o:

• com a pá = with the shovel

Yes, the word order is natural and neutral.

Standard order here is:

• Verb
  • direct object
    • place
      • instrument

So:

• Espalhei o adubo no canteiro com o ancinho.

That is a very normal way to say it.

Other word orders are possible, but they may sound more marked, more literary, or more focused on one part:

• Com o ancinho, espalhei o adubo no canteiro.
  This emphasizes how it was done.
• No canteiro, espalhei o adubo com o ancinho.
  This emphasizes where it was done.

The original version is the most neutral everyday order.

Yes, espalhar often corresponds to English to spread, scatter, or distribute over an area.

In this sentence, it means the speaker distributed the fertilizer over the garden bed.

Common uses of espalhar include:

• espalhar sementes = spread seeds
• espalhar adubo = spread fertilizer
• espalhar creme = spread cream
• espalhar notícias = spread news

So it is a very useful verb with a broad meaning, much like English spread.

In European Portuguese, pretérito perfeito simples is very normal in everyday speech for completed past actions.

So:

• Espalhei o adubo... is exactly what you would expect in natural European Portuguese.

This is different from English, where speakers often use forms like I have spread in some contexts. In Portuguese, the simple past is extremely common for a finished action:

• Ontem espalhei o adubo. = Yesterday I spread the fertilizer.

So the tense here is not literary or formal — it is ordinary spoken Portuguese.

You would normally use the pretérito imperfeito:

• Espalhava o adubo no canteiro com o ancinho.

That means something like:

• I was spreading the fertilizer in the garden bed with the rake
• or I used to spread the fertilizer..., depending on context

Compare:

• Espalhei = completed action, finished
• Espalhava = ongoing, habitual, background action, or incomplete past action

So the original sentence presents the action as a completed event.