Getting rid of annual and perennial weeds keeps your garden beds tidy and your plants healthy. Weeds inhibit plant growth and compete for moisture in the soil. Once established, weeds become hard to remove without damaging your plants.
You can restrict the growth of weeds in your garden by using dense planting schemes, covering the soil with a weed suppressing membrane and or a thick layer of mulch, but you can guarantee there will always be some part of your garden that needs weeding.
As weeding is often hard work, garden tool manufacturers try to help by offering a wide range of gadgets, however, if you can, try before you buy to save time and money.
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Hoes
Using a hoe removes shallow-rooted annual weeds, but cuts off deep-rooted perennials which will continue to grow and these are best removed using a specialised weeding tool. Hoeing improves drainage, aeration, and the spread of nutrients in the soil, it also helps condition your soil. A full-length hoe can take a lot of strength to use, but will save you bending, so look for lightweight models.
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Hand tools
Hand tools such as trowels and forks are used regularly in the garden so it's important to choose the best ones for you. Hand tools with longer handles are useful for light weeding and cultivating the soil and are particularly recommended if you garden sitting down or can't bend easily.
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Specialised weeding tools
There are many models on the market claiming to be specialised weeding tools, but there are only a few that Thrive can recommend.
Here are a few points to consider: most specialised weeding tools work on one weed at a time, so weeding a large area can be time consuming; try to use the tool before you buy or buy on recommendation from other gardeners or read the tool reviews in professional and unbiased publications.
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Easi-Grip Add On Handle and arm support
If you use one hand, or have a weak grip, you might find it easier to use long handled tools like hoes if they are fitted with an extra fist grip and arm support. The fist grip has a wide comfortable grip and sits at right angles to the handle. The arm support slots into the end of the grip. If you use two hands, you can fit a second fist grip further down the handle and hold it with your other hand.
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You can look at equipment and tools for weeding in two ways.
The full list of products is shown below, or you can use the Equipment and tool finder to look at products which might be useful if you: are gardening after a stroke or with heart disease; garden sitting down or from a wheelchair; have sight loss; have with a weak grip; use one hand; can't bend easily.