Skip The Hand Pulling: This European Tool Makes Removing Weeds 10x Easier

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Weeding is a frustrating chore for many gardeners, especially when they have to do it by hand. Hand-weeding involves repeatedly crouching and pulling unwanted plants out of the ground manually. It's time-consuming and can take a toll on the body. It makes sense, then, that gardeners are looking for easier ways to banish weeds from their yards. One option is using a wrotter, an unusual garden tool that originated in the Netherlands.

The word wrotter is a Frisian word meaning hard worker, according to Sneeboer, a Dutch manufacturer that has been making and selling gardening equipment for over a century. The wrotter is about a foot long and has a handle made from ash or cherry wood and a stainless steel rod with a sharp, arrowhead-like tip. The tool is designed to minimize soil resistance while weeding.

Curious about how a wrotter works? Let us break it down for you. When you see a weed you want to get rid of, push the tip of the wrotter into the ground at a 45-degree angle until the blade is underneath the plant's root system. Then pull the tool out of the ground. In most cases, you'll remove the entire plant from the soil rather than cutting it off at the soil surface, leaving nothing behind to grow back. Disinfect the tool before you store it — it's one of the many things you should always do after weeding, according to our Master Gardener.

So, what are the perks of using a wrotter instead of pulling weed by hand? Like the Dutch hoe, a European tool for removing weeds from gravel driveways, using a wrotter may help reduce arm, wrist, and hand strain during weeding by requiring less twisting and pulling. The tool is small, so it's easy to use in a compact garden or hard-to-access spots. It's ideal for weeding around established plants. The wrotter has other uses in the garden, too, such as loosening and aerating compacted soil.

Despite all these benefits, this rare handcrafted gardening tool does have some downsides. The cheapest Sneeboer wrotter with an ash wood handle costs a bit over $45, while the cherrywood-handled tool is almost $52. Standard hand-weeding tools start at about $7 on Amazon. Also, while Sneeboer ships its tools to the U.S. (and other parts of the world), American customers have to pay international shipping rates and a 15% import duty.

While the wrotter is unique, there are comparable tools available closer to home. For example, the $45 broad arrow weeding hoe by Red Pig Tools is hand-forged and features a hickory handle. The Berry & Bird Winged Weeder Tool costs about $29, though the triangular blade sits at a right angle to the wooden handle. If that's still beyond your budget for a hand-held weeding tool, there are cheaper options available. The Radius Garden ergonomic hand weeder is a lightweight find from Amazon that makes hand-pulling weeds easier and costs about $14.