Remove Weed Trees Easily

Removing weed trees is a yearly battle for anyone with a lawn, but an important one because they compete with your plants for sunlight, growing space and nutrients. Volunteer trees are harmful to your home’s foundation and become a challenge to remove when they grow next to your shed, inside hedges or along your fence.

Weed Trees Can Quickly Become a Problem

It takes only weeks for a mulberry or elm seedling to grow a 12’’ tap root, which makes it hard to remove. If the trunk is 12” in length, the root can be twice as long.

Then, when you do try to pull the sapling out you just snap off the top. The tap root continues growing, making the nuisance tree an even tougher foe later.

The Struggle with Saplings

Although I ignored this area last year, I lack the strength to engage in a tug-of-war with these volunteers.

Digging them out with a shovel wasn’t an option given their location which was close to the base of my tree. It also has 2″ of landscape mulch. And I had a lot of weed trees and vines.

The Simple Solution for Removing Weed Trees

In my garage, I found a tool you can use to remove weed trees in an instant. The Garden Weasel Weed Popper, aka the Step & Twist By Garden Weasel®, was designed to pull out weeds such as dandelions, which also have long roots with tops that break off when pulled.

I discovered this relatively cheap, (under $30), garden tool also is perfect for pulling out any unwanted volunteer trees, such as maple, mulberry, and elm varieties. There’s not a good “before photo, “because I didn’t know how good of a job it would do.

How to Use It

To operate the Garden Weasel Weed Popper, just position it on top of the weed tree want to remove with the blades on either side of the trunk. (This sapling was well on its way to being a tree!)

Step down to set the Weed Popper’s blades. Then, twist the handle, turning clockwise with an auger-like motion to loosen the soil around the tree. The twisting motion also loosens the deepest roots. (Think of it as a root canal for an unwanted tree. Okay, don’t think of a root canal. Those aren’t pleasant.)

When the roots are all twisted up around the Weed Popper, simply lift up on the handle and pull the tree out. The Garden Weasel Weed Popper has a handy lever on top to jettison the unwanted tree. (Wait for it–pop goes the Weasel!)

Works in Any Soil Conditions

The Garden Weasel Weed Popper will work in any soil conditions, but I’ve had the best luck when the soil is dry because the tree sapling comes out easily and in one piece.

If it has rained the night before, the sapling may have absorbed too much moisture, making it easier to break, and a bit harder to remove, however, keep twisting and the root will still come out.

The Garden Weasel Does the Job

My Garden Weasel had been sitting in my garage, still with the tag on, ready to be returned. I tore the tag off after this job. It’s a keeper.

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