White Hand Fork 14cm with Ash Handle - Heavy Duty Soil Loosening Tool

A hand trowel for loosening soil, turning small areas of ground, and the kind of close work that a full-sized spade cannot reach. It suits anyone who spends time at the border or the potting bench.

The trowel is a short-handled tool, and that closeness to the work is the point; you feel what the soil is doing rather than guessing from a distance. It is well suited to breaking up compacted surface soil before planting, working in compost around established plants, or lifting small clumps for division. At 290mm in length it sits comfortably in one hand, and at 200 grams it carries no unnecessary weight through a long session.

The thing most people get wrong with a trowel is using it as a lever. It is a digging and loosening tool, not a prying one; if you meet a root or a stone, work around it rather than forcing the blade. Kept clean and stored dry between uses, a trowel of this size will see out many seasons without complaint.

In our experience, a trowel earns its place in the garden from the first sowings of spring right through to autumn planting. It is the tool you reach for when the job is too small for anything larger and too important to do with your hands.

• Hand trowel for soil loosening, small digging and close planting work
• Weight: 200g
• Overall dimensions: 290 x 80 x 45mm
• Short-handled design for one-handed use
• Suited to border work, container planting and potting bench tasks
• Clean after use and store dry to extend working life

A trowel this size is worth having to hand from March onwards, when the ground is workable and the planting begins in earnest. Rinse the blade after each use and it will not give you cause to replace it in a hurry.