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nygardener

Best tool for pulling close-in weeds?

nygardener
14 years ago

My two most annoying weeding problems are both to do with weeds that sprout very close to growing plants. The "good" plants are usually herbs, flowers, and veggies that have tender stems and thin roots, so I don't want to disturb them or their roots if possible.

The first is grass. It usually comes up in more than one long stem, and the first step is to find all the stems coming from a single base. Then how do I get underneath it to pull it by the roots  especially if there are many "good" plant stems right nearby, like in my tarragon patch?

The second are wild garlics or onions. They have thin but tough stems and emerge from bulbils that are very deep in the soil, usually at least 6 to 8 inches. Even if I get a big piece of underground stem, they will re-emerge from the bulbs. It's also not enough to loosen the soil and pull the plants and bulbs up, because the bulbs produce loose side cloves that stay behind when the main bulb is pulled. But that would slow them down and is better than just slicing the stem below the soil surface.

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