If the tool in question is a D-handled fork, and you are me, don't use it to pry the Stella D'oro daylilies out of the front border. (Most especially if the tool in question came from a discounter and is not put together in such a way that the handle is replaceable...) The tool will break. Clean. At the point where the (terribly porous wood, now that I can look at it's composition) handle feeds into the head.
So. Now I have a fork on my wishlist. From Lee Valley, this time. And I might spend twice as much on it, but it will be guaranteed for ten years.
Honestly though, I was using it to dig up the entire lily clump from a raised bed. (There are four distinct clumps in the photo above. Really.) I wasn't trying to divide the rootmass as I lifted it. I was just working to get the clump out of the ground, and I am not sure I was abusing the tool. I just have to stop buying cheap.
Which means I am without a fork until next year sometime. I did without one for years in the past, I can do it again. Sigh.
I did get 17 new plants from two of those clumps. Those are potted up and in the 'nursery' to be given to friends for their new homes. One of the remaining clumps never came out of the ground and the other was divided in two and repositioned further away from the skirt of the Alberta Spruce - which had begun to resent being crowded. I am contemplating trying cheddar pinks - I've seen a variety in a lovely salmon color - in the place where the lilies were.
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