7 tools for weeding easily and naturally

Scraper or hand hoe

A scraper, or hoe-scraper, is a lightweight tool used for hoeing, that is to remove herbs quickly by pulling or pushing, manually or mechanically, by scraping soil with a sharp blade superficially without turning it over. Its head allows uprooting unwanted herbs that have grown in paving joints, paths, at edges of terrace, between ranks of vegetables in vegetable patch… There are traditional models with fixed blade, and so-called “oscillating” scrapers with a jointed blade, which helps optimise cutting angle. Head width varies from 8 to 16 cm depending on model and handle length from 14 to 150 cm for extra-long ones which spare user’s back. There are even two-in-one scrapers that cut herbs and allow gathering them.

The goose-foot scraper has a small triangular head with sharp edges; it is ideal for weeding in hard-to-reach places such as paving joints, between paving stones or at edges of terrace.

Traditional scraper, oscillating scraper and triangular or goose-foot scraper

→ Discover, our range of hoe-scrapers

→ Read Olivier’s article: What is a scraper used for?

Weeding knife

This hand tool, also called a weeding knife is a kind of knife fitted with a long cutting blade with a sharpened, forked tip that allows you to pull adventive plants directly from the root with a simple wrist movement. Some models have saw-toothed edges perfect for penetrating soil and cutting through dense, taproot systems such as dandelion, plantain and sow-thistles. It is a tool suited to localised weeding, allowing precise weeding of small plots in the vegetable patch or in the short grass meadow. The blade penetrates soil down to the root, severs rootlets; then pull to extract it from the soil. Choose a sturdy model fitted with a long 15 cm shaped handle that offers an optimal grip and equipped with a long, well-sharpened steel blade to penetrate any soil as easily as possible.

To clean, weed and remove moss in all hard-to-reach nooks and crannies, corners, grooves between slabs and paving stones, there are elbow-head models that slip into every crack and the tightest places.

In the same spirit the asparagus gouge, a sort of elongated spoon used to harvest root vegetables, is a tool that can also be used to extract the long, deep taproots of certain weeds that are particularly difficult to eradicate.

Sharpened metal weeding knife, weeding knife with long wood handle and root puller (asparagus gouge)

Hoe: weed without stooping

A hoe is an indispensable tool for weeding in vegetable plots without stooping or for maintaining flower beds in ornamental gardens without resorting to chemicals. If used to “hoe”, that is to loosen and break up the surface layer of soil, a hoe used as a scraper shaves seedlings and weeds between your plants and vegetable ranks. It comes in different blade widths and handle lengths. It consists of a handle with a head whose steel or stainless-steel blade has a very sharp edge, sometimes fitted with small teeth, and is particularly effective at cutting weeds cleanly at the collar at the soil surface, dislodging their roots, and raking between plants. Depending on the model, the sharpened head takes a heart-shaped form (for weeding in planters, as an edging tool for lawn or as a scraper to clean joints between paving slabs), a half-moon, a small round-headed blade (for sandy, light soils), or a “spork-shaped“.

Large traditional heart-shaped hoe, large traditional half-moon hoe and large traditional spork-shaped hoe from De Pypere

→ discover, our range of hoes

Manual edging shears

It is designed to cut short grass meadow cleanly along paths, patios or flower beds, and to create immaculate lawn edges. It is indispensable where lawn mower cannot reach. Different models are available: with a half-moon head (extremely effective on curves), a cutting wheel (for working precisely over long distances, on curves or along a straight line), or rectangular.

Traditional edging tool, edger with cutting wheel and rectangular edger

Garden claw or hand cultivator

This tool, which looks like a fork, is very useful for gathering small pebbles, clumps of herbs, and uprooted weeds. We offer multifunctional garden claws with scraper that also allow hoeing and cutting weed roots.

Tempered 4-tine garden claw with scraper

→ discover our range of hand rakes and garden claws

Root puller and dandelion puller

Some plants have very long roots that must be removed completely or risk resurfacing. Root puller is a handy tool with a steel head shaped like a two-pronged fork or a narrow, incurved and sharpened blade, knife-like, highly effective for isolating weeds without damaging lawn or surrounding plantings. By pressing on handle to lever it in, it easily drives vertically and deeply into soil to dislodge long taproots of certain weeds, notably dandelions. In general, it can also be used to dislodge plantain, thistle, sowthistles or dock, other unwanted herbs with narrow, tapered roots.

With short handle, it requires working crouched, so suited to small areas (flower beds, vegetable patch, base of a hedge) or to maintenance of elevated plantings such as raised beds or flower pots and planters.

Dandelion weeders fitted with a spiralled head are also available, ideal for uprooting taproots of many weeds without breaking them by a simple twisting motion.

Root puller and dandelion weeder

Deadheading knife

Here is a hand tool specifically designed to scrape soil, remove moss and weed joints between paving slabs. The weeding knife has a knife-shaped blade with two sharpened edges. It also allows precise removal of weeds from flower beds or flower boxes.

Weeding knife

Discover

Discover the Japanese hoe, an indispensable tool for Olivier. He demonstrates it in a video!