Weeding Tools
our favorite hand held & stand up Weeding tools.
Small Hand held Tools:
We do a lot of weeding here because we choose densely planted perennial (garden-style) beds over tilage and landscape fabric as much as possible.
Our decision allows us to work our soil earlier in the season because our heavy clay soil takes weeks longer to dry out for tilling or bed flipping.
So we trade that earlier planting schedule for more weeding.
Our team’s favorite tool is a pointy, sharp-edged Korean weeding tool called a Hanshin tool. It is effective in loosening our thick soil so that weeds with think root mats can be broken up and more easily extracted. This is our best tool for removing grass from beds and re-shaping the border edge. Everyone on the farm team seems to love this tool.
For dandelions, some team members prefer a simple, long tool with a fork at the end. We guide it down the length of long tap roots and pry them up. Kyle likes this simple tool. Tools like this are available at many hardware stores.
And lastly, for the few areas on the farm where we have unprotected, open soil with young plants, we use a wire weeder. This version from Johnny’s is wider on one end and narrower on the other. So that you can weave in and out and disturb thread stage weeds before they take off.
Prefer (or need) to stand while you’re weeding?
You’re not alone. A number of tools have been designed to help with weeding from a standing position.
We have 4 tools for this purpose at our farm. In this video Karissa is demonstrating use of:
a wide Johnny’s stirrup hoe (young weeds)
a narrow Johnny’s stirrup hoe (young weeds)
a homemade wire weeder made from an old broom stick, coat hanger and dryer vent clasp. (thread stage weeds)
“Grampa’s” Stand Up Weeding Tool (weeds with taproots, like dandelions)