Written by: Advita G.
Edited by: Tahreem
Designed by: Melanie Hem
Published by: Kiritika Rana
So you want to learn how to pull out weeds. Well then, you’ve come to the right place! In this post you will learn all the tips and tricks from what tools to use to distinguish plants from weeds.
How to remove weeds?
Tip 1: With pulling out weeds by hand, you might be tempted to just grab it by the stalk and yank it out. Do not do that. More often than not, it breaks, leaving the roots still embedded in the soil. Try loosening the soil around it, then grabbing the base of the plant and slowly, ease it out of the soil so that you’ve pulled out the roots. Avoid wiggling the weed as you pull because there is a chance it could spread seeds.
Tip 2: Different ways of loosening the soil could be with your hands or using tools like a hoe or scuffle hoe. Just drag one of these along the top layer of the soil to loosen it.
Tip 3: Tamp or pat the dirt back into place. Disrupted soil makes a great home for new weeds to sprout. Putting cardboard or mulch over the area will act like a barrier against weed growth.
Tip 4: Say you’ve got a garden, don’t wait for the weeds to tower over your precious tomatoes before pulling them out. It’ll be like playing tug of war with an elephant. So tip #4 is to pull out the weeds when they’re young and small. Then, their roots will be a lot shorter and weaker and they won’t have as much grip.
Tip 5: Often, weeding after it rains or when the soil is wet makes your job a lot easier.
Tip 6: Take your freshly weeded weeds and drop them either into a compost bin or take them to a waste disposal facility in your area.
Tip 7: Be careful not to strain your back. Kneeling or using a small stool for comfort is worth using.
Tip 8: Always use gardening gloves. Weeding can be ruthless on your hands, especially if the weed has prickly spikes. It’s even better if they’re extra padded and puncture resistant. Plus some of them are really pretty.
What’s a weed and how to prevent them growing back?
Another thing you need to know is what a weed is and what’s not. Well, if you have a garden, then anything you haven’t planted is a weed. If you don’t have a garden, then here are some of the most common weeds in Canada and ways to get rid of them.
Dandelions: Prevent them from returning by using a broadleaf herbicide that doesn’t affect the grass or use mulch
Lamb’s quarters: Dig them out before they flower. 
Oxalis: Prevent them by mulching garden areas in the spring or spray weeds with broadleaf herbicide. 
Crabgrass: Pull out before it seeds. 
Quackgrass: Dig it out to stop it from spreading and going to seed. 
Buckhorn plantain: Dig out before it flowers. 
Bull thistle: Wear gloves and pull out before it produces seeds. 
Common burdock: Pull or dig out before it produces seeds. Make sure to get the whole root. 
What tools make weeding easier?
Kneeling tools
- Diggers/Spades. Either of these are great for small areas and if you’re hand-pulling root heavy weeds such as dandelions. Have a knee pad handy to protect and relieve your knees of the pressure.
- Hori Hori knives. For long tap roots, try Hori Hori knives. Big, established weeds often tend to have long, strong roots. They’ll help you dig out the roots quickly and efficiently. Plus, they’ve got a serrated edge to cut things with.
Standing tools
- Scuffle Hoes. Also known as hula hoes, they are long metal tools with a little loop at the tip. They make disposing of small leaf weeds a cinch. All you have to do is place the metal loop upon the soil and move in a back-and-forth motion to scuffle the dirt and pull out the weeds. However these aren’t the best tools for large weeds like dandelions.
- A Hoe. Hoes are good for large areas with soft, loose soil and lots of small, leafy weeds that you need to take care of fast. It’s another long-handled tool but with a sharp metal blade that can break up top soil quickly.
Now that you’ve got the basic foundations of weeding, why don’t you put it into action today! See you out there!
Citations:
https://www.almanac.com/weed-control-techniques
https://gardeningstepbystep.com/removing-weeds/
https://gardeningvibe.com/pulling-weeds/
https://www.wikihow.com/Pull-Weeds
https://www.wikihow.com/Pull-Weeds-Fast