Agarden fork,spading fork, ordigging fork (in the past also anasparagus fork,[1] the same name as a very different utensil) is a gardening implement, with a handle and a square-shouldered head featuring several (usually four) short, sturdytines. It is used for loosening, lifting and turning oversoil in gardening and farming, and not to be confused with thepitchfork, a similar tined tool used for moving (or throwing) loose materials such ashay,straw,silage, andmanure.[2]
A garden fork is used similarly to aspade in loosening and turning over soil. Its tines allow it to be pushed more easily into the ground, and it can rake out stones and weeds and break up clods, it is not so easily stopped by stones, and it does not cut through weedroots or root-crops. Garden forks were originally made of wood, but the majority are now made of forgedcarbon steel orstainless steel.[2]
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Reflecting their differing uses, garden forks have shorter, flatter, thicker, and more closely spaced tines than pitchforks. They have comparatively a fairly short, stout, usually wooden handle, typically with a D- or T-shaped grab at the end.[2]
A smaller version of such forks with shorter, closer-spaced, thinner tines (but a full-sized handle) is known as aborder fork orladies' fork, and is used for lighter work, such as weeding amongst other plants. Forks with broader, flatter tines are made for liftingpotatoes and other root crops from the ground. A pair of forks back-to-back may used tolever apart dense clumps of roots.
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