How to Pull Weeds

Common Weeds can strangle your plants!

Pulling weeds is an almost constant battle. If you're adverse to using chemicals for controlling common weeds, then chances are you spend a lot of time pulling weeds in your garden. Learn how to use a weed puller to remove lawn weeds, flowerbed weeds and grass weeds.

Things You'll Need

• Weed puller
• Garden hose or watering can
• Leaf rake
• Hoe
• Garden claw tool
• Gardening gloves

Instructions

1. 

   Soak the soil in the area of your garden where you'll be pulling weeds. When the soil is wet, the roots slip out more easily. It's important to try and get all of the roots out of the ground when you're pulling weeds. Some weeds can grow back when enough of the root is left in the ground, so it's important to remove as much of the root as possible. That's where the weed puller tool comes in handy.

2. Press the weed puller into the ground along the main tap root of common weeds, like dandelion or goats beard. The weed puller will loosen up the soil surrounding the carrot-shaped tap root and allow you to pull the weed out of the ground without using as much force or strength as you would if you were simply yanking it upward from the soil. Once the weed puller is in the ground, wiggle it back and forth a bit, remove it and reinsert it along the other side of the root and repeat. When two opposing sides of the tap root have been freed, insert it once again and use it as a lever to pry the root from the ground. It should break free quite easily at this point.

3. Grasp the base of other common weeds, holding as much of the greenery in your hand, and pull upward, removing as much of the root as possible. Some common weeds without a taproot include pennyroyal and chickweed.

4. 

   Scrape the ground with a hoe where small, freshly sprouted weeds are beginning to grow. Clover, crabgrass sprouts and pennyroyal respond well to a scraping like this, especially if you wait until the soil is dry again. Use a leaf rake to remove the bits and pieces of root and little green sprouts.

5. Grass weeds such as crabgrass have stubborn underground "runners" that need to be removed. Use a garden claw tool to help pull as much of the runners out of the ground as possible.

Tips & Warnings

• Wear sturdy gardening gloves so you can get a good grip on weeds with prickly stems.

• If you're allergic to common weeds, you might want to pay someone else to pull weeds in your yard.