The latest edition of Kevin Kelly's Cool Tools has a review of the Weed Wrench, a tool that makes short work of thick, woody weeds. It looks like a lot of fun. Don't you just love leverage?
THE tool for the job if you're uprooting alien and invasive plants such as French broom and Scotch broom. Those plants, like other invasives, tend to form aggressive monoculture areas that drive out local biodiversity, and they often make dense undergrowth fire hazards. Ripping them out is a kind of joy — a fine workout, more productive in every way than a couple hours at the gym.
Built like a cast-iron frying pan, the Weed Wrench is a seriously macho tool. Its fierce jaws grip the miscreant plant or small tree by the throat (base of stem), and big leverage yanks it bodily out of the ground. If you get the smallest (mini) and the largest Weed Wrenches, you've got everything covered up to 2 inch diameter (beyond that, use a saw).
Reader comments:
Pamela says:
With regard to the Weed Wrench, our favorite new
gardening tool is the Flame Weeder.It's got its roots in organic gardening (no
herbicides!) and it provides a great deal of
satisfaction, too!
Kevin Kelly of Cool Tools says: "Yes, we do weed torches as well." Link
Bill Fletcher says: "That weed flamer you linked to is no longer available. Try this one." Link
