"H Ryder" wrote in message
...
Can anyone recommend a really strong fork - I've just snapped my second
one.
This one was stainless steel and the steel snapped (it was a Senator) - is
SS softer than the black stuff (can't remember it's name)? My previous one
snapped through teh handle so an not having much luck

Also is there any standard way of digging up large shrubs without snapping
forks?

--
Hayley
(gardening on well drained, alkaline clay in Somerset)



Stainless steel is not a good metal for garden spades or forks. It looks
pretty and does not rust but that's about it.
Any metal fork should be OK for digging up perennials but don't use it for
trees and big shrubs you *will* bend the tines.
I am a bit cack-handed so I break forks and spades on a monotonous basis. I
have found the cheapo things at around £8 to be just as good, if not better,
than £50 jobs.
Final suggestion is that you should be more lady like in your digging and do
not go at it like a bull at a gate :-)