Digging fork

Need to divide your Iris or other perennials or bulbs? I invested in a digging fork after noticing that all books that were showing how to divide iris was showing the person using this digging fork and I'd also pulled some tuitiorial videos from internet up showing same tool. Well, folks, I had almost 30 or more iris dug up in no time this morning. Loved that tool and I can see me using for other tasks. Before we always used a shovel and you ended up not getting all of the rhizone or cutting into. It was $25 and some change at Home Depot. Has a sturdy wooden handle and heavy duty tines on the fork. I wished I'd had this tool long time ago. Worth the investment!

Used one exclusively for years and wouldn't dig without it. You really notice the difference when digging into hard soil. The fork goes right into the soil where a shovel just bounces.

I'll have to check the digging fork out. I've been using a 2 inch wide pry bar to ease them out of the ground. Beat the heck out of trying to dig them out.

Once the clump is up, there's nothing like one of those AM Leonard soil knives for prying apart divisions of tough-rooted DLs, irises, or hostas. :-)

is it a hand held? can you post photo? I have a hand held fork but not sure about using it.

here's my soil knife: http://amleo.com/index/item.cgi?cmd=view&Words=4750

You can find a sturdy 4-tined digging fork (usually has a handle like a shovel but a bit shorter for good leverage) at any nursery, home depot, etc. I like one with a sturdy cross-piece above the tines where I can really stomp down with my foot. My current one is a Fiskars, as pictured here: http://www.amazon.com/Fiskars-96666925-Garden-Fork-9666/dp/B000F99IFY

This is what we call a potato fork from the old days when you planted and dug your own potatoes. The nice thing about a standard type such as this is handles are easily available at most hardware stores. And you will break a handle sooner or later.

This is called a spud bar and makes an excellent tool for lifting a large peony clump or root ball from large bushes and shrubs. About 6 feet long made of 1 inch or more of solid steel with a flattened end for cutting stubborn roots and the other end is rounded for tamping. Weighs probably close to 25 pounds and, when sharpened, will cut a 2 or 3 inch tree root with a few repeated strikes in the same place. Excellent exercise device to build arms and shoulders.

The cutting end.

Never heard of one of those. hmmm....maybe a large pry bar would work too.

wow, impressive tools. Thanks for all the show and tell. I may have to go invest in a few garden tools. I'm a wimp when it comes to digging.

Since we're talking serious tools, gotta mention that I bought a little shovel from Lee Valley when I was at the Philly Show this year, and I'm loving it. Next time I bust my digging fork, I'm getting a replacement from them. Their stuff is *stainless* and guaranteed never never to rust. That's good 'cause I'm not real sweet to my tools, tend to leave them out too much when I'm done, figure I'll be back out there "in a bit" and then get distracted.

I LOVE everything that Lee Valley has. Saw them at a garden show a few years ago.

Okay, you folks have caught my attention. Do we have a website for Lee Valley ??

http://www.leevalley.com/us/Home/OnlineCatalogs.aspx

Thank you LiliMerci !

I checked the sites out. I think I'll stick with my wide pry bar that only cost a couple dollars. I use it more than any other tool.

But that digging fork would be nice to have.

thanks for posting that knife link. I've been looking for a good sturdy one. One of the interns at Plant Delights Nursery had one and would not lend it even for a second as she was always using it for quick weeding and slicing and dividing.

The friend who gave me my knife won't go into the garden without it... I find I still use my favorite digger more often (triangular head on an 18" handle), but the knife is a close second as a good multi-purpose tool.

I really like using my old potato fork for digging iris. Like some above, the fork tends to keep the tubers together better with less damage.

last time I checked, a "potato fork" is a digging fork. 1st time I ever saw a digging fork was in Idaho!

More potato forks. A lot of terminology use depends upon your area.

http://www.shopwiki.co.uk/Potato-Fork

How much are we talking for the knife? Is it worth putting together a co-op buy? I'd like two.

Check the past co-op threads. I don't remember who organized it, but AM Leonards was willing to put together a co-op for us in the past, including this knife and a couple of other things... basically it was a discount opportunity based on volume... we said we could collectively purchase at least xx number of items, and they gave us a discount based on that. I'm not sure if that sort of "group purchase" will still fly under the new co-op guidelines, but it seems to me that it's in the right spirit.

well, I'd buy, so if y'all do one, someone dmail me, would you? I don't check on the co-op forum much any more - I spent too much $$ on them!

Thanks for the info, I'll search for it and see what they say.

Found another use for my digging fork this morning. I have this beautiful bronze mum that has spread a lot, and is crowding out my azelea. I dug up some small shoots of the bronze mum and are saving those, I potted them up in 6 in. pot to transplant somewhere else. I took that digging fork and lifte one side and then another and it was out of there in a matter of minutes, with no damage to my azelea. This is well worth the cost of $25..Tomorrow morning, I digging another friend some iris and taking them to her.

usually it's my azalea that crowds out my mums! I've got some volunteer nandenas that have to go - that's how mine is going to get used today.

I use the root knife from Lee Valley as it is curved and fits my hand...

Would not go and do the siberians, JI, Spuria or when I had daylilies those without it anymore...

D

We found winged weeders both long & short handles. Don't work them very well. Do you have to go both back & forth? that seemed better.

if just wanting to scalp the top off back and forth, if you want to go deeper just push forward at angle. I have 6 short handled ones and 3 long handled ones would not work in field without them, but this is a person who can not use a hoe or the hula hoe...LOL

D

Just got a nice digging fork at Home Depot yesterday. And now I'm going to look for that soil or root knife...

I'm thinking I will stop this evening and pick up one. My sis uses one and she said she would rather use it than a spade.

I can't hoe either.

Never could this is why I love my tool....

D