Garden Forks

If you have a garden in your house that is of a decent size, then you ought to have a garden fork at your disposal. Basically, it supports a state of prongs, similar to a fork. It is a very versatile and useful tool in a garden.

You can use a fork to do many things that a garden spade can do. The only difference is that, in many cases, forks are just better at the job. It is easier to dig into the dirt with a fork than with a spade. It is not surprising that this benefit alone is enough to make the fork a staple tool in every garden. As it might be difficult to raise a thick sod with a fork, it will be convenient to use both the fork and spade together for more demanding jobs. Forks do not get stuck in the ground as spades do. Moreover, if you are working on hard clay soil, using a spade to dig is going to be a nightmare. Read this article to know more about forks. Having a better understanding of them will help you make the right choices while you shop.

Different types of garden forks

Not all garden forks are created equal. For many people, it might be surprising to know that there are ten different kinds of garden forks. Well, you don’t need all of them for gardening. Even a very sophisticated gardener will only need at most 2 or 3 types. For the rest, having a versatile one is going to be enough. A basic hand fork is sufficient for most gardeners. However, it is still going to be useful to know more about the other types as well. Since there are many kinds of garden forks out there, it can be difficult for you to choose one. However, here is a list of the four most common types of forks. So, let us go through the same.

Spading forks

This type of forks is the most traditional models that typically featured a wooden handle and remarkably long prongs. However, newer spading forks do come with solid steel or a hollow steel handle. Goes without mentioning that forks with steel hands are stronger and more durable than the traditional wooden ones, albeit being heavier. The four tines of the spading fork will always be some sort of rust-resistant steel. These are very versatile tools for digging. You can use them for digging borders and for planting vegetables and flowers.

Weeding forks

These are lighter and, therefore, easier to use than the spading fork. Weeding forks are much shorter than spading forks and almost always come with wooden handles and stainless steel tines. People who find it difficult to handle a heavy traditional spading fork prefer weeding forks instead. Because of this, weeding forks are more popular among homeowners with small gardens. It is also a good choice for people with bad backs and those who have issues with the shoulder or knee. Despite its smaller size, you can use it for digging borders, or light digging works.

Trench forks

These forks are designed for more demanding jobs. While you can use trench forks for general spading, they are more suitable for digging deeper trenches. The prongs of trench forks are significantly longer than spading forks and weeding forks. The tips of these forks will be very sharp as well. That allows the fork to penetrate easily even through hard and stony soil. In order to ensure the strength for such heavy tasks, the prongs of these forks will be made from a single piece of steel. Undoubtedly this helps to improve the overall durability and strength of the fork. If you don’t have to dig trenches but often find yourself working on hard soil, it is better to choose trench forks over regular spading forks.

Compost forks

This is going to be the lightest fork in this list. Compost forks are not suitable for digging in the soil or any other demanding jobs. Rather they are only good enough for mulching or working with manure and hay. Even though the material of the prongs will be stainless steel, the fine tips will bend if you try to dig with it. Compost forks are only useful for light jobs like compost aeration and transplanting manure. It is very common for compost forks to have very sharp prongs with quite a bit of space between them. This feature helps them to cut through things without getting tangled.