A
garden fork,
spading fork,
digging fork or
graip is a gardening implement, with a handle and several (usually four) short, sturdy
tines. It is used for loosening, lifting and turning over
soil in gardening and farming. It is used similarly to a
spade, but in many circumstances it is more appropriate than a spade: the tines allow the implement to be pushed more easily into the ground, it can rake out stones and weeds and break up clods, it is not so easily stopped by stones, and it does not cut through weed
roots or root-crops. Garden forks were originally made of wood, but the majority are now made of
carbon steel or
stainless steel.