Wolf Garten Ks2K Fixed Hand Tool Weeding And Planting Knife
(You can click the image or link above to view product details or purchase this product from Amazon and support Deep Green Permaculture!)
A Weeding and Planting Knife is one of those garden tools that you’ve probably never heard of before, but once you use one, you’re left wondering how you lived without it. I’ve used mine for several years now, and I’d feel it’s absence If I had to go without it.
At this stage you’re probably thinking why you’d want a knife for the garden – but rest assured it’s not a knife at all, it’s really more of a cross between a very long, narrow garden trowel and a weeding fork. there aren’t any sharp edges to cut yourself with, no matter how hard you try, but it cuts through plant roots with ease.
How does it work? The inwardly curved tip works like a chisel to slice through roots, it can put a lot of cutting force on the tip if you push it down into the soil. The curve in the tip catches the roots and prevents them sliding away. Basically, you push this weeding tool into the soil, cutting around any plant you wish to remove,
If you’re not already familiar with WOLF-Garten tools, what you need to know is that they’re a premium German garden tool company, and anyone who buys tools knows that German tools are always the top-tier of tools, the best of the best.
This tool is great for transplanting volunteer seedlings growing around the garden or weeding deep-rooted plants such as dandelions, because this tool lets you get deep. The blade can lift out all the fine seedling roots or deep dandelion taproots without damaging the roots of surrounding plants. It’s a real precision weeding and planting tool.
The manufacturer’s product description is as follows:
“The WOLF Garden KS2K Premium weeding and planting knife is ideal for cutting out deep rooted weeds. The tool head is made from cold rolled steel for extra strength and the handle has been specifically designed to ensure Control via finger contours Comfort via padded grip and Power via large surface area on handle end for when that extra push of power is needed during use. Application – Weeding Handle / Grip – Premium design comfort-grip”
How to use it
Here’s my tried and trusted Wolf-Garten Weeding & Planting Knife
Dandelions usually grow in compacted soil, so they usually appear on my mulched paths between garden beds. Here’s a small dandelion tucked up against the timber raised bed border with the tool plunged into the soil to its right hand side. Don’t be deceived by the plant’s size, the roots go deep!
Here I’m beginning the removal process, plunging the tool vertically down around the plant then slightly diagonally to sever any long root as deep into the soil as possible.
Here’s the dandelion removed with a long section of root attached, lying against the weeding tool for comparison. I was able to cut carefully around the dandelion and lift it out without cutting into my irrigation supply lines that run under my paths! If you want to go even deeper than the length of the blade, you can simply remove some of the surrounding soil around the plant to give the tool more access further down.
This tool is excellent at removing plants from places you don’t want them growing, but it’s also great for transplanting them too! As you can see in the picture the little dandelion we removed has been relocated into a garden bed (so no plants were harmed in the making of this review!) Dandelions are very useful plants, they’re perennial edible and medicinal herbs with deep tap roots that break up compacted soils, and their flowers are a good nectar source for bees and other beneficial insects, too good to throw away!
Product assessment
The Wolf-Garten Weeding and Planting Knife
A lot of thought has gone into the design, which is the sign of a superior quality garden tool. The plastic handle is ridiculously solid and strong, I often bash the tool through roots with my palm while putting my whole body weigh behind it and there’s nothing much it can’t cut through that way, and it’s stood up well to rough treatment. The smooth wide end of the handle allows you to pound it into the ground without damaging your hand or the tool. The handle is ergonomically shaped, and has extremely durable dimpled grey rubber grips attached so the tool never slips from your hands, no matter how wet or muddy they may be, which also allows for precise but firm handling when doing more delicate and exact tasks such as transplanting seedlings.
The red plastic handle with the bright yellow section near the blade makes it easy to locate the tool in the garden so you’ll never lose it or leave it behind. The end of the handle has a hole for a lanyard or hanging hook for storage, which is a nice addition.
In summary, this is a high quality weeding tool with a long, slim trowel-like blade with a inwardly-curved cutting end, designed to cut roots deep below the ground, and for getting into tight, narrow spaces for weeding between plants without damaging surrounding roots. It also works brilliantly as a very fine and precise transplanting tool. This is a very versatile tool that will serve you for many years to come and will be able to do those difficult tasks that no other tool in your garden shed can manage!
Deep Green rating for the “WOLF-Garten Weeding and Planting Knife ” is 5 stars!
If you are interested in submitting a product for review, please contact us via email at deep_green@optusnet.com.au , thanks!