I don’t believe in using chemicals to rid our lawn of weeds. It would take forever to pull them all out by hand, so instead I use this handy weed remover tool. Mine is from HoundDog, but there are others too. It grabs the weed, root and all, and easily discards the unwanted intruder with a release mechanism. It kind of sounds like I am cocking a shotgun over and over, which my Texan husband finds hilarious. 🙂 I discard all of the weeds into a bucket, and am starting to notice a big improvement in the areas I have been doing a lot of work on. It even pulls up the tiny little annoying clovers! (Taken with instagram)
A few tips if you do decide to try my method:
1. Don’t be alarmed when you notice little bare patches after you pull out the weeds. Just throw down some grass seed, water regularly, and in a couple of weeks the bare spots will be gone.
2. Be sure to discard the weeds into a bucket or trash can so you don’t end up spreading weed seeds elsewhere.
3. Be patient. It takes a lot of work but will eventually become less work. I spent a few entire days working on our one area while I was avoiding being in the house when the fireplace, chimney, and central heating were being repaired (I have horrible dust allergies). I still wasn’t able to finish all the areas, but I am setting a goal of one hour per day. The area where I spent a lot of time is already looking much better and needs very little weed upkeep now.
4. If you use the HoundDog model, be sure to twist while you push down. Other brands may work differently, so be sure to read the instructions.
5. It works best if you place the blades in the center of the weed. If you can’t tell where that is by looking, just feel around a little with your hand to find it.