Weeding becomes less frightening when important factors are known to the hobby gardener. Guarantees of success for a weed-free garden are the best time, gardening persistence, and optimal tools and equipment. Stop letting dandelions and their ilk make your green life hell. Read practical tips on how to properly pull weeds here.
What is the best way to pull weeds?
To weed effectively, choose moist soil, remove weeds before they bloom, and weed at least weekly. Useful tools include weed hoe, weeding sling or pendulum hoe. There are handle tools such as the shovel or the handle weeder for back-friendly work.
- Clever hobby gardeners know when to pull weeds correctly: when the soil is moist, before flowering and at least once a week.
- Prima hand tools for weeding are: weed hoe, weeding fist, cross hoe, weeding sling, flower claw and weed cutter.
- Top handle tools and devices for weeding without bending over are: pendulum hoe, shuffle, weed cutter, star cutter, weed disc, weed pen, Japanese hoe and Dutch shuffle.
Weeding properly – 3 tips
When and how often you remove weeds is sometimes more important than the tools and equipment you use. The following 3 tips get to the heart of how to properly weed the garden bed:
Tip 1: Soil must be moist
Weeding is easier when the soil is moist
A light rain shower at night or early in the morning provides valuable assistance when weeding. In softened soil, stubborn root weeds and massively rooted seed weeds are noticeably less resistant to removal. If heaven keeps its floodgates closed, simply moisten the bed soil with a watering can or water hose before eliminating field bindweed, groundweed, buttercups and other green vermin.
Tip 2: Pull weeds before flowering
The worst weeds spread using seeds and roots. By weeding dandelions, shepherd's purse and the like before they bloom, you prevent self-seeding in the bed.
Tip 3: Weed weekly
Weed the bed according to the motto: Constant dripping wears away the stone. Regular plucking and pulling leaves no time for cunning weeds to grow back vigorously. Dedicate yourself to spearing leaves and stalks at least once a week. With persistent continuity, you starve the weeds and reduce the infestation pressure to a minimum over time.
The following explanations with a picture reveal which tool you can use to remove annoying weeds from the bed.
Weeding effortlessly - anti-weed tool
A colorful array of tried and tested tools provides useful assistance when you are crossing blades with weeds in the bed. Even a simple hand tool optimizes the success of the fight and defuses the tedious drudgery. Weeding without bending is possible with the practical handle tool. The following picture shows the best anti-weed tools for hobby gardeners:
Handle weed hoe
The handle weed hoe is also aptly called a pull hoe. A sharp-edged metal blade attached across the handle protrudes at a right angle. The tool is perfect for cultivating soil up to a depth of 3 centimeters in order to pull out all weeds using pull and pressure.
Hand weed hoe
The handy counterpart to the handle weed hoe is used wherever a long handle on the tool is annoying. Hobby gardeners swear by the hand pull hoe to pull annoying weeds in raised beds.
Schuffle
On straight, sandy garden soils, the Schuffel makes short work of rampant weeds. This can be done without bending over using a wide, rectangular steel knife on a long handle. Hobby gardeners maneuver the shuffle horizontally forwards, backwards or sideways over the weedy bed area. The sharp edges cut the weeds just below the surface.
Weeder fist
Are you looking for a lightweight, affordable weed removal tool? Then we would like to recommend the practical weeding fist to you. There is a narrow and a wide metal bracket on the ergonomic handle. The following video demonstrates how you can easily pull weeds with the Swedish tool:
meine ernte Gärtnertipps - Die Jätefaust
Handle pickaxe
The special construction makes the handle hoe a popular anti-weed tool. There is a sharp-edged leaf and three to five tines across the stem. The stem, leaves and tines form a cross, which is what the name refers to. Depending on your needs, the tool handle is rotated to chop weeds, pull them out with the tines or loosen the soil.
Hand-pickaxe
As a mini version without a long handle, the hand pickaxe is useful if you want to quickly and flexibly remove weeds in small beds, large buckets or raised beds.
Pendulum hoe
With a movable, double-edged steel blade, the pendulum hoe literally cuts off any weeds. Because the tool with the hardened cutting blade does not penetrate deep into the earth, the effort required is not worth mentioning.
Weeding loop
If you pull the metal loop of this tool through the ground, the roots of the weeds will be cut. Because a weeding loop can be used easily in small spaces, even the smallest weeds can be easily weeded between seedlings in the bed.
Stem weed cutter
Since the Gardena weed puller (€10.00 on Amazon) has been available, back pain and dirty hands when weeding are a thing of the past. Two patented special knives at the lower end of the working handle grab the weeds and pull them out of the ground together with their roots. Dandelions and other root weeds have nothing to counteract this functionality.
Hand weeder
Use a classic hand-held weeder to tackle dandelions with a V-shaped steel blade. To weed, hobby gardeners have to kneel next to the weeds and press the leaf deep into the soil. In return, the traditional anti-weed tool is available for just 5 euros.
Excursus
Motivation boost Calorie consumption
The calorie consumption of weeding is remarkable
Growing weeds put your motivation to work in the garden to the test. A look at the calorie consumption will give you fresh energy for another confrontation with couch grass, groundweed and dandelions. Getting slim by weeding is not an illusion, but rather based on tried and tested facts. A 30-year-old amateur gardener who weighs 68 kilograms and is 1.70 meters tall burns a motivating 330 calories per hour pulling and hoeing weeds. For a man who weighs 80 kilograms and is 1.80 meters tall, the calorie consumption increases to a whopping 364 calories per hour.
Easy weeding - Top 5 devices to combat weeds
Sophisticated devices take on weeds in the bed, saving your strength and your back. The following table introduces you to the top 5 by name along with the price:
| Anti-weed device | Price |
|---|---|
| Gardena star tiller | 34 EUR |
| Krumpholz Garden Disc | 21 EUR |
| Wolf weed pen | 32 EUR |
| Japan hoe | 30 EUR |
| Dutch Schuffel | 76 EUR |
The following brief descriptions explain how the individual devices work in the fight against weeds in the bed:
Gardena star tiller with weeding knife
The Gardena star tiller with weeding knife is an impressive combination of tiller and pendulum hoe. Specially shaped, galvanized star wheels loosen the soil. This is followed by the integrated pendulum hoe, which rigorously cuts off weed roots.
Krumpholz Garden Disc
The Krumpholz Garden Disc is perfect for hobby gardeners with a penchant for innovation. There is a circular knife on either the long or short handle that cuts off weeds, removes moss from joints and smooths the edge of the lawn.
Wolf Weed Pen
With its weed pen, the well-known manufacturer Wolf provides you with a useful helper in the fight against large-scale weeds in the bed. An attachment made of a hardened blade with an effective serrated edge grabs the weeds and cuts them off. The associated work handle guarantees back-friendly work without bending over, regardless of body size.
Japan hoe
It is thanks to the sharpened, double-sided blade of a Japanese hoe that even deep-rooted weeds in the bed have to give way. Hobby gardeners appreciate that with the traditional Asian garden tool, planting pits can be dug for flower bulbs, perennials and small shrubs in no time.
Dutch Schuffel
You only buy a Dutch Schuffel from the master smithy Sneeboer once in your gardener's life, because the device is indestructible. The hand-forged shuffle blade is razor-sharp and available in different widths. A long handle made of ash wood rounds off the well thought-out construction.
Tip
In the perennial bed, ground covers guarantee furious abundance and are useful as green weed police. Where fat men (Pachysander), evergreens (Vinca minor) or blue cushions (Aubrieta) unite to form a dense carpet of plants, bold weeds have a bad hand because they are denied access to sunlight.
Frequently asked questions
When is the best time to pull weeds in the garden?
Weeds should definitely be pulled before they bloom
In fact, the time you choose is more important than the tool you use if you want to pull weeds properly. The soil should be slightly moistened by rain or irrigation water so that you can pull up even stubborn root weeds more easily. Always pull weeds before the flowering period begins to prevent widespread self-seeding in the garden.
I want to pull weeds according to the lunar calendar. How does it work?
The waning moon is the best time if you want to effectively weed the garden. Take a look at the lunar calendar and choose a time when the waning moon is in the zodiac sign Capricorn or Aquarius. It is said that once weeds are pulled, they grow back more slowly.
Is there a machine for weeding?
Weeding weeds by machine has so far been reserved for agriculture in Germany. The large devices are usually mounted on the tractor; they are rarely self-propelled. A glimmer of hope for amateur gardeners shines from across the Atlantic. A weeding robot is already making its rounds in numerous gardens in the USA. The smart machine is solar-powered and pulls anything larger than 2.5 centimeters out of the ground. Priced at around 270 euros, the Tertill weeding robot is likely to become a bestseller in German gardens as soon as it is available in stores.
What does weeding mean in English?
In England, probably the most annoying gardening job is described in one word: pulling weeds is called “weeding” in English.
Tip
Weed-plagued hobby gardeners don't rest their hands in winter. As long as the garden soil is not frozen, you should continue to weed, hoe, pluck and pluck regularly. Resilient weed seeds germinate at 5° Celsius. Robust root weeds remain insidiously deep in the soil and gather their strength to sprout in time for the start of the new season.
