The Best Way to Pull Weeds

Weeds are the most common, persistent problems that home gardeners have to deal with. As we become more conscious of our impact on our local ecosystems, more and more homeowners opt out of using toxic chemicals to kill their weeds. The best non-chemical way to deal with weeds is to pull them out of the ground. But you can't just yank them up. The best way to pull weeds and reduce their chance of growing back is to dig them out, roots and all.

Trowel

Instructions

- 1
  Water the weedy ground to moisten the top few inches of the soil if it's dry. Moist soil is much easier to dig than dry, hard soil.
- 2
  Put on a pair of gardening gloves. Some weeds ooze an irritating sap when they're disturbed.
- 3
  Insert a trowel (use a shovel to remove larger weeds) into the ground to the base of its handle, 3 inches away from the base of the weed.
- 4
  Push the trowel's handle down toward the ground in the opposite direction of the weed to push the blade up and push the weed out of the ground.
- 5
  Grip the weed at its base and lift it out of the dirt.
- 6
  Widen the hole a few inches on each side and remove any large root pieces that you see. Some perennial weeds produce rhizomes, root-like structures capable of growing entirely new plants from root pieces as small as 2 inches long. Keep widening the hole until all of the large weed root pieces are gone.
- 7
  Throw the weeds away. Don't leave them in the area. They may re-root or drop developing seed and re-establish a weed colony.
- 8
  Monitor the area for the next two growing seasons. Overlooked root pieces or seed in the soil may still sprout. Pull these emergent weeds as soon as you spot them.

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