Why would this "weed grabber" not also disturb other plant roots as you pull out the "weed" the same as when you pull them by hand? The only way to eliminate a "weed" that is full grown without disturbing nearby desirable plants is to cut it at soil level and leave the roots in place.
These implemants do work.

I had your same problem.. Just get pulling them by the roots.. Mulch around your plants heavily!

What I did when I started my beds was:

-pull as much roots as possible
- smother with a tarp/newspaper/cardboard(optional)
-pile soil ontop of that(raised bed)
-mulch
-plant!

I went from growing weeds to maybe weeding a handful the whole season!

Use a sharpened weeding fork and slice the weed off below the crown ... it will not resprout leaves and it doesn't yank out a huge mass of dirt.

I pull the leaves to one side and jab under them aimed at where the taproot would be - about 1 inch below dirt level - to make sure I get the whole crown and growing point.

Thank-you both for your input. The land was completely wooded but the previous owners decided to cut all the large trees (mostly tulip poplars) around the house. This removed the precious shade that probably prevented weed overgrowth. I want to restore what I can of the forest. It is so sad to see mayapples and bloodroot coming up overshadowed by thistles. In clearing the weedy areas of wineberry, bittersweet and thistles etc. I tried to pull the weeds by hand but the land is very rocky and it is hard to get roots that have grown among rocks. I have done some cardboard/mulch in the front but quite honestly I don't have the $$ for more mulch so I am trying to do what I can by weeding. Thankfully poplars seem to be very fast at re-populating and the spicebushes are starting to come back. Maybe they will shade the area in a few yrs and the weeds will be sparser?

I will try the grabber. Maybe it will be easier to take out roots from between rocks.

Thanks again for your help.

lazy,

Thanks for your input...please forgive my ignorance but what is a weeding fork? Is this the size of a trowel but w/prongs or is it hoe-sized?

don't have the $$ for more mulch so I am trying to do what I can by weeding"

Collect leaves in the fall, compost your kitchen scraps, grow a cover crop/green manure, free chipped branches from tree service, there are plenty of inexpensive ways to improve soil and mulch.. You really don't understand how beneficial mulch is, all I can say is mulch!

Lazy:

Very interesting about cutting the crown of the weeds to kill them... I have very few weeds, so i dont have a very efficient way to pull weeds.. Must of the weeds in my lawn and around my property I eat, and some of them i even cut some root to use.. Let me tell you, it grows back vigorously with a vengance, I wonder how many weeds will die just by the crown.. Most weeds roots are very deep in the soil, I only can see then growing back..

Adidas, here's a link of the weed fork.. There's plenty of weeders out there.. But the weed fork is one of the smallest.. It looks like a Phillips screwdriver but has two points like a fork... Google "hand weeding tools" "weeding fork" you'll find a rough idea.. My knife works just fine, though..

Joe

Joe,

Thanks for your input! Don't get me wrong, I know how important mulch is! I do compost kitchen scraps and the crab grass clippings we get in the summer. I do! It's just that we are in a remote area and we've called around for "scrap wood". It costs a mint in ANY form to bring it up here! I even called around to see if we could rent a chipper..$$$ My other dilemma is that there are some plants that I wouldn't want to mulch over, butterfly flowers (Asclepias, dogbane, columbine etc) and woodland plants like bloodroot and mayapples etc that grew here because there used to be a forest around them. So how do you selectively mulch the bad stuff?

How do you selectively mulch the bad stuff"

Good question! If the plants are already established you just mulch around them.. For exampe, when you plant vegetable starts outside, just mulch around them..now with mayapples, inkberry, and other natives, if you look around them, you even mentioned they live in a forest, forests shed their leaves, the natives come up through the leaves.. Their shouldn't be any probably with natives.. They will find a way to come, trust me..

I'm the same way you are, I keep the dandalions, plantains,queen Anna lace(wild carrot), yellow dock etc, thriving in my yard.. They make good food/medicine! Nothing like having a medicine cabinet an food pantry all in your own yard!

Joe

Hi Adidas,

One of my favorite tools happens to also be perfect for thistles. I've linked to Amazon, as they have a video in the first review showing how to use it , as it happens, on thistles. This is one of the tools I automatically grab as I head out, since it has many uses.

Here is a link that might be useful: CobraHead Weeder and Cultivator

This post was edited by plaidbird on Sat, Apr 20, 13 at 18:19

Another favorite is my Hori Hori . You might be interest in that instead. I use both, but it depends on what I'm doing and where I'm at. The belt holster is definitely worth it BTW.

Here is a link that might be useful: Japanese Hori Hori

Appreciate the links, plaidbird. Adidas, I use two kinds of knives. One about the size of the Hori Hori, but is just a kitchen knife with some serrations on the blade. Second is a short paring knife.

I've kitchen knife with some serrations and a notch in the end of the blade, from a thrift shop for a quarter, that I use for weeding.