What do you get when you cross Mother Nature and a willingness to experiment in the garden? Dolly Sickles, our Optimistic Gardener. When she isn’t working in the non-profit sector, she can generally be found brandishing her gardening gloves.

Calling All Weeders

By Dolly R. Sickles

Posted: Sep 7, 2008

All right, in the aftermath of Hannah, the mister decided to spend the day weeding our garden. He's a bit of a traditionalist, opting to use his hands as much as possible. Me, too, though sometimes the roots are too deep and determined to stay in the ground and I have to use a good mechanical advantage.

When turning to weeding tools, my first choice is a weeding knife. The sharp vee in the tip works well to work small bulbs out of the ground. I like a hand trowel for bigger efforts, and even better is my Japanese Hoe Rake.

What's your favorite weeding tool?

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I prefer barehanded, too. I can feel what I am pulling and if I have gotten to the base of the offensive weed! Lately, I have developed tendonitis in my fingers( a side effect from my RTP job!) so I have been using a garden knife or claw, too!

Arthur in the Garden
GOLO member since July 13, 2007
September 9, 2008 2:32 p.m.

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hands - no gloves. Real easy yesterday after all the rain. Some times I use my garden claw when the ground isn't moist.

cbarnett
September 8, 2008 3:25 p.m.

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i use miracle grow weed preventer first, and a triangle pick if the boogers do come up!

lynddsy
GOLO member since September 9, 2007
September 8, 2008 12:59 p.m.

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My dandelion weeder/digger is the best. Since it is a skinny tool, it can go down deep (in clay!) to dig up the roots. As for gloves, typical garden gloves are too bulky. Either bare-handed or with stretchy gloves works best.

fernvalley
September 8, 2008 11:08 a.m.

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Pulling weeds by hand is so much easier after a good rain. Most of the time I wear Mr Clean latex gloves (which sounds really weird I know!)but they are less bulky than traditional garden gloves and they protect my hands from the dreaded "worm and other critters". Yuck!