If you want to get the best tools for a job it’s good to talk to someone who uses the tool in their daily job. At Balanis.co.uk we have used various tools for removing tap root variants of weeds like dandelions, thistles etc. We recently did a job where we had to remove over 400 hundred thistles and dandelions from a 750m square lawn. We had to remove them by hand – no chemicals allowed – as the customer has an outdoor swimming pond. Here’s our short review of the best value for money stand up weed pulling tool on the market – Grampa’s Weeder. For the best alternative to this tool please scroll down to the money no object option, the best of the best, the Fiskars Xact weed puller
Watch the Video – Grampa’s Weeder in action
Here’s Tristan hard at work with Grampa’s weeder. Sorry about the sound quality – but it was a windy day. This tool takes the back breaking hassle out of removing tap root weeds – dandelions, thistles, dock etc. It’s a simple as 1,2,3,4
Four steps to successful tap root weed removal
- Identify the central area of the weed (push back leaves if necessary)
- Insert Grampa’s weeder in to the ground so the 4 teeth surround the centre of the weed
- Stamp on the base plate to push the tool firmly around the weed
- Snap the shaft back 30 degrees and the weed is removed with the tap root instact
Dandelions, Thistles etc – easily removed
The tool we chose was Grampa’s Weeder – a stand up tap root removal tool. The tool removed all 400+ weeds with 90% of them coming up with the tap root intact. On the occassions it snapped the root probably half of those were times we did not centralise Grampa’s Weeder properly.
Which weeds is this tool suitable for?
This weeding tool is suitable for all weeds with a single central TAP ROOT. We have found it to be most successful on the following common UK garden weeds
- Dandelion Taraxacumofficinale
- Cats Ear Hypochaerisradicata (like a stunted Dandelion)
- Broad-Leaved Dock [Rumexobtusifolius]
- Thistles
It is also effecting on the following common weeds – these have more fibrous roots but still successfully removed with Grampa’s Weeder
For help in identifying weeds, please refer to this guide from Perfect Gound Solutions
Other similar tools – Fiskars Xact and Worth Stand Up weeder
Gramdpa’s Weeder is not the only stand up weeding tool on the market – other notable alternatives include the Fiskars Xact and the Worth stand up weeder. Both very good alternatives. I hope to have a side by side comparison of the three tools soon
Fiskars Xact – stand up weed pulling tool
To be 100% honest, this is the tool I was going to buy, but it was a bit over budget for a tool we thought we might not use (how wrong we were). It has over 9,000 reviews on Amazon with an average of 4.5/5 ⭐ – on that evidence alone it must be good. If the budget is there and you prefer something a little more modern in design, please consider the Fiskars Xact as a worthy alternative, if not possibly better, weed pulling tool.
