Garden Tools: Pruners, Loppers and Weeders

Garden tools here are the hand tools for the jobs between sowing and harvest: pruners and loppers for cutting stems and woody growth, and weeders that lift a weed out with its root.

The grow guides say when each job comes up. University of Minnesota Extension keeps an asparagus nursery bed free of weeds, because the seedlings cannot compete with strong weed growth, and cultivates turnips just deep enough to cut weeds off below the surface. University of Illinois Extension warns that deep cultivation may injure carrot roots. Utah State University Extension controls weeds around edamame because they give cover to cutworms and armyworms. Clemson Extension cuts tall okra back to 6 to 12 inches above the soil line, and University of Maryland Extension removes tomato suckers weekly on staked plants.