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What are garden forks and picks used for?
Garden forks and picks are essential tools for any gardener's shed. Garden forks are useful for lifting, turning and aerating soil. They’re also handy for dividing perennials or transplanting seedlings and bulbs. Look for spading forks with a comfortable padded or D-shaped handle for reduced hand fatigue during longer gardening sessions. A garden pick is a smaller version of a fork, designed for more precise tasks like weeding, cultivating and loosening soil around individual plants. The narrow tines on a pick make it well-suited for digging out stubborn weeds and roots without damaging surrounding soil structure or plants.
What's the difference between a pickaxe and a mattock?
The main difference between a pickaxe and a mattock is their head design and intended use. A pickaxe has a single pointed blade on one side of the head and a flat adze blade on the other. This makes it ideal for breaking up hard soil, digging in clay or rocky soil and making planting holes. A mattock has one flat blade and one chisel blade in its head. This dual-edged design makes a mattock efficient for tasks like edging garden beds, cutting new planting beds and lifting sod. Ergonomic handles are important with these heavier-duty tools to prevent arm fatigue.
Looking for more essential garden tools? Explore our selection of weeders, garden hand tools and cultivators, hoes and spades.
