What’s old is new again

I would like young gardeners to know how we dealt with weeds long ago. I remember digging out dandelions in lawns with a special tool designed to lift out the entire root, along with the top growth. With current banning of many garden chemicals, wouldn’t it be wise to return to old methods?

A: The impressive array of weeding tools at garden centres leads me to think that many gardeners still do weed by hand. There are six pages of various weeding devices in the Lee Valley Tools catalogue.

I’m guessing that the dandelion digger you mention is the same one I have. It’s a long-handled claw weeder that Lee Valley still lists as “Grandpa’s Weeder.” The claws are centred over the head of a weed and a foot pedal is stepped on to push the claws into the ground. Tilting the handle levers up the weed and its long root.

This useful tool has an interesting history, according to the Lee Valley catalogue description: “This elegant weeder was first produced in the early 1900s, but manufacturing was abandoned when materials were diverted to the war effort during WWII. A timeless tool, it works with a simple technique that is fast, easy, and doesn’t require any stooping.”

A similar tool, available in long-handled and short-handled versions, is a century-old V-shaped design with a spoon-shaped backing that allows for easy levering of weeds out of the soil.

I hope and think some of the “old” gardening practices are coming back into common use. Here’s an example: When I started out gardening, clover was often a component in lawn seed blends. Then, clover came to be regarded as a weed that required eradication with the use of herbicides targeting broad-leaved plants.

Now, clover is considered again to be a valued component of lawns as a natural manufacturer of nitrogen to feed grass plants. It is also, once established, tolerant of dryish conditions.