- Essentially miniature spades and forks, these tools are used for small-scale jobs like light weeding, cultivating in rock gardens, raised beds and containers, and dividing small bulbs and plants. As before, choose the best quality you can afford, making sure the tool feels comfortable to hold.
- Hand forks have either wide and flat, or narrow, round prongs. The flat prongs are more suited to weeding since the weeds are more easily trapped and held between them; the round, narrow prongs are better for cultivating as they pass freely through the earth. A single, flat-pronged hand fork will be adequate for most gardeners.
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- Hoes are used for weeding around plants and cultivating topsoil. There are several types. The popular 'Dutch' hoe is used like a sharp-bladed spoon to skim along the surface of the soil, loosening weeds, which may then be sliced through. Turned so that the blade is at right angles to the ground, it may also be used to break up and aerate topsoil.
- The small, sharp head of the hoe is useful for making seed drills and marking out lines. Swan-neck, or draw hoes, used in a chopping motion for weeding, are less commonly used; other, specialised hoes include onion and triangular hoes.
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- A general-purpose cultivation tool, the garden rake can be used with its prongs facing down to break up the surface of the soil and collect stones, leaves and other debris. Inverted, it is used to level the ground. Choose a rake with a head of suitable width for both your own size and the scale of raking job you will most commonly undertake.
- Choose shaft length carefully, too. To avoid back strain, you should be able to rake without bending. A 1.5 m (5 ft) shaft suits most people, but taller gardeners may need a longer handle. The strongest rake head is made in a single piece, unlike the cheaper, riveted head with its individual nail-like prongs, which are more liable to distortion and loss. A lawn rake is an entirely different tool.
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