The Craftiest Workshop

Anyone that talks to me during the summer will know that I spend a fair amount of my time weeding. Weeding the garden, weeding the gravel driveway, weeding the stone firepit circle and don’t get me started on the weeds everywhere else on our property.

When we first moved onto our acreage, the only weeding tool that I had was a foot long forked weeder. This meant getting down on hands and knees to attempt to dig out weeds. I would put them in a small pail that used to have drywall mud and then walk to a few different spots to dump the weeds.

Here we are, our fourth summer on our property and I feel like my strategy for weeding has definitely improved. The idea is working smarter instead of working harder.

I bought this long handled forked weeder tool which is necessary to try to get weeds out of the gravel driveway. This one is from Home Hardware priced at $19.99 and I do like it but the metal gets worn down as it constantly rubs against rock. Chris has used the grinder to sharpen the metal for me once already. The handle reaches past my armpit and has a rubberized end which has been great for grip when twisting and turning.

This second tool to keep me from bending over while weeding is this trash picker. I finally found one this week at Home Depot for $29.99 that has a 36” handle. My inseam is 32” so this means I am able to keep my hand at about my hip and squeeze the handle to grab weeds. It may seem expensive but I have already used it for a few days and it was worth every penny. Many hardware stores have a similar tool for use in the garage but the handle was only 32”.

The weeds get deposited into our Gorilla dump cart and I pull that to my weed dumping spot. I simply lift a handle to dump the cart.

The last tool I want to buy is something called Grampa’s Weeder from Lee Valley. I did find a $20 copycat at Home Hardware that I bought and tried. It worked really well for about an hour before the white metal snapped in two when I stepped on it. I had almost filled the dump cart with large dandelions by that point. Again, the Lee Valley product says casted steel so I imagine it will be more durable. I don’t mind spending money on a quality product. This page of their garden catalogue shows both the grampa’s weeder and the long handled forked dandelion digger. I like the idea of the concave part of the digger so you can lever out the weed.

I also have a heavy duty tool for digging out crabgrass clumps but it only works right after a rain if the grass is in the gravel.

We try to avoid using chemicals for weed control with so many birds and bees around. We have had some success with burning weeds in the gravel but, because of the fireban we have had for some time this spring, that is not an option.

Having better tools makes my back much happier. My forearms do not have an ounce of fat on them from the constant twisting of the digger and squeezing of the trash picker. I especially like not having to change to cowhide gloves to pick up thistle; the trash picker makes that step unnecessary. If anyone has any other great weeding tips please feel free to share.