Rose Fork with Burgon & Ball Handle - RHS Range

With its narrow head and sturdy tines, this British rose fork with a traditional handle by Burgon & Ball is a precision tool designed to loosen, cultivate, and crumble the soil deeply on small surfaces. It is well-suited for working with clay or heavy and compacted soils. It allows for soil aeration without turning it over, simply by penetrating with the two tines. Unlike a spade, this garden tool does not disturb the soil's microbial life nor sever earthworms, which are essential for soil health and fertility. It can be used to uproot weeds, which can be easily removed. The rose fork can also scrape and rake the soil surface.

This tool is highly durable, tested with a breaking strain of 90 kg, much higher than the British standard of 55 kg. Made from certified FSC* hardwood, the handle has a comfortable "Y" grip, double-riveted at the base for added strength. The socket that holds the handle is extra long and secured with two rivets, providing strength and flexibility to this crucial joint of the tool. The stainless steel tines are highly resistant to rust and easily glide into the soil. They are rolled for exceptional bending strength and resistance. The two "steps" at the top of the head multiply the force: they support driving the head into the ground.

* FSC is an international eco-label guaranteeing that the wood comes from sustainably managed forests

Dimensions: head: 23 x 14 cm (6in) - handle length: 75cm (30in).

The English have the privilege of being experts in gardening (but not cooking). Promesse de Fleurs has chosen the British company Burgon & Ball for the quality of its materials and its nearly three-century-old steel manufacturing methods. The company has been working with steel in Sheffield since 1730, initially with a solid steel sheep shears patent. The production of garden shears and equipment quickly surpassed that of sheep shears, and the Royal Horticultural Society officially approved Burgon & Ball's stainless steel tools - probably the ultimate award in the gardening industry.

The tines of this fork are hot-forged, a process that aligns the metal's grain structure to provide exceptional bending strength. Hot-forged tines are very unusual in producing stainless steel tools - the standard practice is to cut the tines to length, weld them together, and grind the ends to a point. The choice of this more expensive manufacturing process is an additional quality criterion.

The heat treatment allows for precisely the correct steel hardness for each tool. If it is too hard, the metal can break or chip; if it is not hard enough, it will bend or lose its sharpness. The thickness of the steel used also depends on the tool. This rose fork requires a thicker steel than a knife, which can be made of much thinner steel. The thickness of the steel also affects the weight, so it is a balance that Burgon & Ball, with nearly 300 years of experience, has validated to ensure that its tools are both practical and enjoyable to use.