This B and B stainless steel hand tool is like a miniature hay fork. It has round instead of flat tines so it's better when it comes to digging up plants with fibrous roots. Think about the difference between using a digging fork with wide tines and a compost or hay fork with round tines. The digging fork digs up clumps and the compost fork lifts more fibrous material. This is how this round tine fork works...It's a good fork for containers. The overall size is 11.5" long.