If you believe that only the garden fork can be used to turn the soil in your garden, you are completely mistaken. The digging fork can also be used to dig a field. Besides, it adapts to any type of soil, except very sandy soil.
However, it can be used on stony ground, where ordinary forks are not welcome. However, to make it more comfortable to use, it is important to find a model that suits your needs and possibly your size. It is to facilitate your research that I suggest that you follow this comparison of the best-rated garden forks that I could find.
What is the best garden fork?
Users must face an overwhelming panorama when buying products of good quality, the challenge is to find the best option among a hundred brands and models.
This scenario also manifests itself when we talk about tools to work in your garden. Rest assured, by following our guidelines you can easily navigate the market challenges. Keep in mind:
Your height and the size of the tool, the construction materials, the brand, the weight, the design and the cost of the equipment.
Consult our comparative list of products and discover in it the options best valued by the user community.
Fiskars Ergonomic Garden Fork 4 prongs
It is a great garden fork, perfect for working compact or stony ground. It has a handle made of fiberglass, with a T-shaped design, for a solid point of support.
Spear & Jackson Kew Garden fork
For the novice gardener or for the expert looking for a good quality replacement.
It has a base and a head made of tough carbon steel, includes a waterproof hardwood shaft and a grip handle MYD. When you buy it you get a 10-year guarantee.
Bulldog Digging Fork
It is the cheapest garden fork of our selection. The design of this fork has a long and solid base, resistant to water and alkaline metals in the soil.
It includes an ergonomic handle and has a net weight of 1.9kg.
Bentley Stainless Steel Garden Fork
It is a economic garden fork with great resistance. It has a shaft of ash wood with a waterproof finish, a polished stainless steel head and an ergonomic handle. Weighs: 1.5kg and measures: 107cm
Spear & Jackson Select Stainless Digging Fork
It stands out for its modular construction and ergonomic design. It offers versatility and solidity when weeding, digging and ventilating the farmland.
Made with an alloy of stainless steel and textured plastic. It has a total length of 117 cm.
What is a garden fork?
A garden fork is an instrument fitted with a wooden or PVC handle, the end of which is terminated by iron with 4 prongs or even 5 in rare cases.
It is very useful in heavy soils that it easily penetrates. It is used in the same way as a classic fork for ploughing the soil.
When to use a garden fork?
As we have seen, the fork is used to plough the soil. In the vegetable garden, it is very useful for turning heavy and clayey soils and requires less effort than its cousin the fork. Its prongs preserve small animals inhabiting the ground.
It also makes it easier to extract tufts of wild herbs with a simple lever movement. The tuft can then be easily shaken to recover the soil around the roots. With the same movement, it will be used to place the removed herbs directly in a wheelbarrow, all without difficulty.
The garden fork is perfect for dividing plants forming a tuft, in particular, bulbous plants such as dahlias, daylilies and irises without major risk of slicing them in the manner of a classic fork. Just plant it around the edge of the plant to easily extract the bulbs.
The garden fork is ideal for working the soil around trees or shrubs because it does much less damage to the roots than the conventional fork which risks cutting them cleanly.
In the vegetable patch or in the beds, it can be used in the manner of a bio-fork to aerate the soil without turning it over simply by a lever movement.
In this case, it can even be used in light and sandy soils, which are its weak point when it comes to conventional ploughing.
This instrument is also used to easily lift piles of hay or straw to move them from place to place or to feed animals.
Very useful for cleaning litter boxes and manure, it allows them to be removed while staying well away from these smelly substances.
Types of garden Forks
Although all the garden forks look the same, if you look closely you can distinguish small differences in the shape and size of each tool.
Garden pitchforks
Designed to penetrate the most solid and stony soils. It has 4 sharp points to break more effectively the compact earth.
Excavation fork
They are light equipment equipped with 4 triangular and flat tips, ideal for working clay or sandy soils, they also work to mix nutrients and harvest tubers.
Potato Forks
Designed to lift crops from the soil without causing damage to food, for that reason its head has 9 flat and thin tips.
Edge pitchforks
It is the small version of the garden pitchforks and is designed to work in narrow spaces, between the edges of the terraces and the plantations.
Compost forks
Lightweight tools, designed to remove light organic matter from compost beds, have 4 or more prongs and a convex profile to prevent the gardener from leaning in each movement.
Extended forks
It seems to be a completely different tool to the garden pitchforks, however, they fulfil the functions in less time and with less effort.
What to look for when buying a good garden fork
Prongs and head
It is the most important part of the tool! Your best bet is to opt for a head made of carbon steel.
The shape of the prongs
There are different forms of prongs, each one designed to fulfil a special purpose. There are to harvest food, to remove light organic matter and to break the hardest soil.
The handle
The standard measurement is 30 inches, this length will be suitable for most applications in gardening. You can find them made of steel, wood and fibreglass.
The shape of the sleeve is also a point to remember. There are three main types of handles, including the apple handle, crutch handle and handle. You just have to choose what suits you the most. Note that not all users have the same preference for the shape of this element.
Shape
They come in two forms: T and D. It will depend on you, choose the option with which you feel most comfortable.
Building
Rivets and screws for modular constructions, the advantage of these are that you can replace only one piece if necessary and save a little money. One-piece designs tend to be more robust and resistant.
Materials
They come made of forged steel and stainless steel. Forged steel gives you long-term durability, as it does not bend or wear out so easily.
Axes
The best option is to choose shafts of hard and waterproofed wood.
Price
The price of garden forks starts at less than £20 and can reach up to £150. Because of this obvious difference, the budget is also an important point when choosing. However, it is always better to take into account the other criteria before checking the price. If you are looking for a cheap model, I have included products with a good quality/price ratio in the comparison.
