Weeds are bad news – a plain and simple fact. Not only do these lecherous plants steal water and nutrients from your grass, but they can also turn a lovely landscape into an unattractive mess.
Weeds are hardy and aggressive, and if given a chance, they’ll quickly smother your yard.
Keeping these pesky plants away means diligent weeding habits, which usually include some version of manual weeding. The two most common manual weeding methods are hand pulling and using weeding tools.
These methods each provide a different set of pros and cons, and both are worth exploring. Follow along to learn how manual weeding can work effectively for you.
Why do weeds always return?
Weeds, weeds go away, come again NO other day! If only! However, as the old song says about rain, weeds always seem to come back another day. We pull and pull and pull, but weeds still find a way to weasel their way back into our yards. How are they so successful at staging comebacks?
Many factors contribute to the hardiness of weeds. One of the most common reasons these plants return to lawns and gardens so frequently has to do with how they are removed.
When manually removing weeds, bits of stem and root structure often remain hidden in the ground. Most weeds can re-grow from these plant remnants.
Weeds also return frequently to yards near wooded or untamed grassy areas. These wild, unchecked landscapes often contain high concentrations of weeds whose seeds wind up making their way back over and over.
Weaker, less healthy lawns containing unrepaired bare spots are easy targets for weeds to sneak into.
Weeds are hardy, highly adaptable plants capable of disrupting yards on a consistent basis. The only efficient, tried-and-true way to keep weeds from coming back is to have a lawn care company treat your yard with preventative herbicides throughout the year.
What to know about manual weeding.
Method #1 – Hand Pulling Weeds
When done correctly, pulling weeds by hand can be an effective means of removing undesirable plants. With hands and eyes so close to and focused on the ground, this method provides a level of targeting individual plants that no other manual weeding method can.
However, this method is both time-consuming and labor-intensive – not to mention back-breaking.
As you likely know, hand pulling involves gripping the weed at the base of the plant and pulling firmly straight up till the plant is separated from the soil.
To avoid the weed re-growing in the same area, your goal should be to pull up the weed with the entire root structure intact. Accomplishing this goal is tricky and does not always pan out.
Most weeds can re-grow from the root pieces left behind in the dirt, so give it your best effort to get it all. For best results, pulls weeds while the soil is wet.
Method #2 – Weeding with tools
Using weeding tools is a major time and back pain saver compared to hand pulling. Using tools is also highly beneficial when dealing with a large-scale weed invasion.
Some effective lawn and garden tools for digging up weeds are standard garden hoes, dutch hoes, dandelion diggers, garden knives, spade hoes, and cultivators.
One great perk of utilizing gardening tools is the many options. Your gardening kit may already consist of short-handled or kneeling tools that help you get closer to the ground to target specific weeds.
But there are also long-handled or standing options that are excellent choices if your health limits you from bending down to the ground repeatedly.
Gardening tools can even be found in unexpected places, like using an old screwdriver to pry up a weed from a tight spot. Shop around, keep your mind open, and choose what works best for you!
Top Ten Tips for effective weed removal.
- 1. Never leave any root or plant bits behind – weeds can re-grow from remnants.
- 2. Weed when the soil is damp – soil is looser when wet, making it easier to remove the whole plant. Hose the area down or wait till after a good rain.
- 3. Start removing weeds in early spring before they get a chance to really dig their roots deep into the soil and spread.
- 4. Weed often to avoid them spreading like wildfire.
- 5. Avoid leaving pulled weeds on top of the soil as you'll risk them growing back.
- 6. Cover any bare spots in your garden or yard with mulch to prevent weeds from taking advantage of those empty spaces.
- 7. If you can't find the time to properly remove weeds, at least chop off their "heads" to stop the seed-bearing heads from maturing and blasting seeds all over your lawn.
- 8. Keep your weeding tools sharp and well maintained for best results.
- 9. Use knee pads or stools to avoid injury and gloves to stop possible skin sensitivities.
- 10. Pre-emergent herbicides are the most effective way to prevent weeds from taking hold in your landscape.
Prevent weeds from the get-go with Gecko Green
You don’t have to worry about pulling weeds if they don’t grow in the first place! Lawn care experts agree that professionally applied pre-emergent herbicides are the most effective means of preventing weeds.
These commercial-grade products are expertly designed and applied to keep weed seeds from germinating.
At Gecko Green, we have structured our bed weed control service to ensure that you have protection every month of the year.
Our experienced specialists follow a plan tailored to the Texas climate and provide expert weed control for each season. We work hard to monitor weeds and keep your trees, shrubs, and flowers safe so that you don’t have to.
