I don’t know about you but my garden weeding tools are as simple and few as I can make them. I don’t use many fancy tools, preferring some solid, old-fashioned tools that do the job and do it well.
I also tend to buy decent tools, preferring to spend twenty-five dollars on a tool that will last for years rather than picking up something for a few dollars that’s going to bend or break and will be hard on the hands and arms (or worse, backs)
Good tools can be used for years and make hard work easier (anybody who tells you hoing is easy work is pushing a line)
Best Hand-Weeding Tool
My first choice (and only choice) for hand weeding is the simple ho-mi or weed-eze.
This plow-shaped ended tool comes in short-handled and long-handled forms. I have a big belt loop and this tool sits in it constantly when I’m out working in the garden. It’s really easy to be scraping around with it and collecting the weeds and grasses with the other hand. Here’s pricing and shipping info
Note that this never needs sharpening and if you keep it relatively clean, will not rust too much (but I never worry if it does a bit)
This is one of my two all-time favorite tools and I’ve written about it before and had them (they last forever) for years. The only reason I have a new one is because my old one got lost in a move a few years back.
Standing Up Weeding Tool
For standing-up garden weeding tools, I really like two tools.
The first is a form of Dutch Hoe called a winged-weeder. This one cuts weeds off on both the push and pull stroke making it extremely efficient. You can get pricing here on Winged Weeder garden weeding tools
It also scrapes ice of winter sidewalks, and is dynamite and cleaning up gravel pathways.
I’ve had this tool for years and if I ever lost it, it would be replaced in a heart beat.
The second standing-up tool I tend to use is a general cultivator. I like this one because we’ve got some really rocky and clay soils that make it tough to use a general hoe. I’m breaking my back and shoulders with regular hoes while this is opening up soil easily and quickly. I removed a bunch of tines from it to make it easier to pull in rocky soils.
You can see one option here with pricing to get a sense of what you’re looking for
Summary
Those are the three main garden weeding tools I use on areas of the garden that are not under a layer of mulch. I note the hoe-mi is used to help pull tenacious weeds in mulch layers and works really well there too. The other two are mostly tools of open ground.
I have other posts on tools here.
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