Top Gardening Forks

Choosing the Best Garden Fork

A high-quality garden fork provides you with a long-lasting, reliable tool to be used for many lifetimes. Whether you are new to gardening or have been doing it for a long time, the garden fork is one of the most versatile manual tools you can have. A garden fork can be used to fork borders, aerate the soil and many other essential tasks around the garden.

The high-quality & black forged tools of near past would last a lifetime, many of us who are old enough will most likely remember their grandparents owning such tools. Unfortunately, you will struggle to find a British forged garden fork in current times. Most are imported from the east with quality that is not comparable. Finding a well forged, reliable garden fork should be at the
forefront of your mind when purchasing yours. This is not to say that polished steel and carbon- manganese steel can not be used; however, the uses for these are usually in softer soil which is not common to find. The carbon-manganese steel can be used in a wide variety of terrain and has a similar strength to the forged steel, however; can be heavier, which can result in back strain during work. The buying guide below will give you essential information to consider when selecting your garden fork.

What to look for in the right garden fork

With hundreds of garden forks to choose from, available both in garden centres and online stores it can be increasingly hard to find one that will last as even cheap garden forks can be seen with stainless steel tines and wood crafted handles.

So how can you determine the quality forks which are better and stronger than the cheaper ones? You will be glad to hear that it is not necessarily the most expensive garden forks that will
give you the best quality.

Factors to Consider Before Buying

Material:
The most common material is Polished Stainless Steel. Stainless steel garden forks are robust, however often the tines of cheaper forks are unable to handle high pressures and can often wind up bending. This is the weak point of most stainless-steel forks. Without a doubt, if you need a fork for compact and stony ground, you need to select a garden fork manufactured from solid-forged steel or carbon-manganese steel. These head materials handle the pressure of
stony, rooty ground better and are less likely to bend and break over time when dealing with such a terrain; which, if you are looking for a long term fork, would be desirable.

Unfortunately, it is hard to come by a quality steel forged fork as there are few manufacturers left still producing this way. So these can often be expensive to fulfil their high quality and small supply as these are more difficult and expensive to manufacture compared to the easily produced polished steel.

Shafts:
Look for shafts that are hardwood, as they are strongest and usually weatherproof, meaning the shaft can match the life span of the steel itself. You may also find polypropylene shafts; they are also weather-resistant and robust; however, they must be stored in a potting shed to avoid sunlight colour fading and weakening of the material.

Some forks also have steel shafts, often with forged steel tines. Although these are strong, they are usually heaving compared to other types and hence maybe not the best pick for home gardeners.

Other forks can be seen with polypropylene shafts; these are weatherproof have no chance of oxidation and can be lighter, these will be seen in cheaper forks, however; are a bang for their buck. Often, however, these are not comfortable to use and will not last as long.

It is vital to observe the number of joints per shaft, as shafts composed of several smaller sections have more points of failure and are more likely to bend and break over time. Shafts consisting of only one piece/ few pieces will be less likely to break over time regardless of the material they are made from.

Type of Fork:
The two main types of fork include border forks and digging forks. Border forks have a narrower head making them suitable for use in small areas, between plants and narrow borders.

Digging forks are usually much bigger and are better for use on plots, allotments and more extensive beds, however, are often heavier and would be a pain to use when dealing with small areas and can result in back strain if used for the wrong jobs.

See below to see what designs we recommend when it comes to the products themselves:

In conclusion

All products tested were of excellent quality and served their purpose, so when it comes to selecting the one for you, the main question you should ask yourself is:

do you need a border fork for turning soil and forking around between plants, or do you need a larger digging fork for working larger areas? Although all materials used in these gardening forks are of high quality, you should often look to get forged steel, polished steel or carbon- manganese steel heads. The choice between polypropylene and wooden shafts are of personal
preference.

Most gardeners would likely be satisfied with the Spear and Jackson Traditional border fork, that is unless you need a larger digging fork; for which we would recommend the Bulldog Evergreen Digging Fork which is the best of its kind we have tested.

If you are in the market for a border fork for soil that is particularly heavy or you have stony untamed ground, stainless steel forks are not the choice for you; we would recommend the Bulldog Evergreen Border Fork.

It is important to note that all forks recommended by us come with a 10-year warranty to take some of the pressure of selecting one of these high-quality products and displays the producers’ confidence in their products as well as testifies to the forks lifetime.