Hey, I\u2019m in the mood for something sun-dappled and peaceful, so let\u2019s introduce two of the gardening tools I\u2019ve been using lately.\n
\nThe first is a dethatching rake. In recovering these yards from broadleaf hell I\u2019ve pulled a ton of weeds, but just as importantly I\u2019ve let friendly grasses grow long to choke them out.\n
\nThis involves not only grass-blade shade and assertive roots but a mulchy, tangled layer of dead grass and debris called thatch (exactly like the roofing). If this goes too far though \u2013 and the mimosa tree out front that drops a blizzard of flowers this time of year doesn\u2019t help, that\u2019s about 12 hours of accumulation in that picture \u2013 it can turn the grass into a moisture-trapped, rotting mess. So this rake not only gathers debris from the surface but pulls through the thatch like a comb through tangled hair, loosening it up and pulling out broken strands.\n
\nSecond is a cultivator mattock \u2013 the tines are the cultivator, the thick blade is the mattock, like a pickaxe-hoe \u2013 in its native environment, a patch of tree-of-heaven roots. The tree-of-heaven is an invasive fast-growing weed/bush/tree that makes the soil poisonous to other plants, I\u2019ve never seen anything but weeds growing in this patch and until I pull all these roots I doubt anything will.\n
\nThe stuff poking out of the ground represent maybe one part in five of the woody roots I\u2019ve pulled so far with an estimated 3 parts left down there. The mattock is invaluable in getting down, breaking up big roots, and levering them out, while the cultivator is great at yanking out the dense netting of smaller roots that grows between them. Also indispensable for digging up roots from blackberry and climbing vines, chopping up creeping bamboo rhizomes, and loosening up packed or dry-crusted soil for planting.
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