Weeding aids

I share your frustration. Kneeling is difficult for me know although not impossible on a pad. Have you seen the kneeler/seats? One might help. They have a pad one side with side support for those who can kneel, turn it over and it’s a sturdy, low seat. I use one for weeding and planting small things in narrow borders also for planting my tubs. Saves wear and tear on my back. Mine was my Mums and is goodness knows how old. Easily available from garden centres, DIY barns or places like B&M.

That sounds like mine cornergran. I couldn’t manage without it. I can’t kneel so sit down to plant and weed.

I bought the kneeler/ seat yesterday and l found it great.
I found that l can hold onto the bars if l needed to reach a bit to get at a weed. Also great as a seat if l wanted a short break or to answer mobile call.

I run a hoe over the garden a couple of times a week or more which keeps the majority of the weeds down

You can get long handled hoes and forks - like the small gardening one but with a long wooden handle so you don’t need to kneel down. I have ones from Joseph Bentley which I think came from Greenfingers. They have however been appropriated by dh since his heart op. I use ordinary stainless steel lady’s border spade most of the time these days.

Unfortunately hoeing doesn’t get rid of perennial weeds such as buttercups, dandelions or ground elder. You have to get down and dig the roots out.

Spear and Jackson have a garden trowel with a 40” long handle for about £18 if that’s any help. I couldn’t find the JB ones.

Older people often don’t have the strength to use a long handled garden tool effectively especially if the ground is hard.

Fiskars weed puller is good especially for dandelions

Croatia1

Fiskars weed puller is good especially for dandelions

I'll second that...........brilliant piece of equipment that was gifted to me because the person that bought it couldn't work out how to use it.
It gets the whole dandelion root out intact!

As an interim, assuming your knee will recover, can you pay for someone to help out?

Fiskars was founded in 1649 so must have pulled a few weeks by now. I haven't tried their weed puller but I have some of their other products and they have never disappointed.
But as Germanshepherdsmum says you need strength to use some of these gardening tools.

I use WolfGarten tools, they have a good push pull hoe that attaches to either a long or short handle, I find it easier to use then a traditional hoe. I use that all the time as a lot of my garden is banked. They also have a great grubber to pull out deep rooted weeds, which you can also attach to a variety of handles. They are German, and very well built tools, worth the investment.

Living in London I have a small rear garden which was paved many years ago. I bought a lightweight gadget from Amazon that resembles a spade but is very sharp. I have little strength in my hands and this works a treat.

Croatia1

Fiskars weed puller is good especially for dandelions

This looks super Croatial!
thecarpentersdaughter.co.uk/reviews/fiskars-xact-weed-puller-review/

My mum had something on a long handle that sort of spun the weeds out, that she swore by.

I've no idea where she got it, but it would have been something like "Betterware".

I am a fan of ground cover and/or pots. I have very little soil showing so rarely weed.

Thanks so much, all of you. I’d forgotten the kneeler seat (my mother’s, too) and will definitely drag it into service where possible. Most of the borders are too deep for it, however, so I think I’ll go the weed puller route (pun??). Luckily I’m relatively strong so can still use long-handled tools but in view of the suddenness of this ailment it’s clearly going to be wise to be prepared. And thanks, Jaxjacky but I’m my own worst enemy and wouldn’t even trust my best friend to weed my borders. The path edges, maybe ……… hmmm.

I cannot kneel or stoop down so I use a sharp hoe to get weeds out then use a litter picker to put weeds into my trug. Takes a while but does the job.

can I also suggest that you get someone to water the ground for you the day before you hope to get weeding? If the ground is very hard or you have not had any rain you might find that the roots dont come up or it makes it even more difficult to get the wretched weeds, and if the soil is dampened down it will help you pull up weeds but also if there is rain , it will encourage it to go into the border rather than run off. good luck