Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This is a fantastic labor-saver; if you have weeds that need to go, this is your answer. I hesitated to buy it, reading through the reviews here, because my primary weed-of-choice is a HORRENDOUS infestation of crab grass (or crabgrass, depending on your spelling preference) and the reviews were mixed--2/3 said it worked on crab grass, 1/3 said it didn't. IT WORKS. And easily. Last summer, I spent several afternoons in 112 degree Texas heat, on my hands and knees, cutting crab grass out of our St. Augustine yard. Blistered hands. Tired back. Sunburn. Bug bites. About 35 plants removed after about 5 hours of really, really hot, hard work. We'd tried killing it with weedkiller that said "safe for St Augustine"--it wasn't. Huge swaths of the St Augustine died after spraying the crab grass, which just seemed to get bigger. So, after talking to a horticulturist, we tried heavy acid vinegar. No go: "what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger." Finally, my husband, in a fit of frustration, said he was going to kill it all with Round-Up and we'd re-seed the yard if we had to. So in September, he sprayed. The crab grass looked like it died. The St Augustine DID die. And this Spring--behold the miracle--green crab grass. A yard FULL of healthy, green crab grass and yellowed, dead St. Augustine. And two new puppies, which meant that re-seeding the lawn was OUT for this year. The only answer was to hand-extract the crab grass and pray that some random strands of St Augustine had survived the nuclear option. So, I found this upright weeder on Amazon, bought it, and was AMAZED that it truly worked and was EASY. No more back-breaking labor; no more blistered palms. And I'm quickly making a dent in the crab grass infestation. I've only had this for 2 weeks and have only used it for about 3 hours total, and we've disposed of 5 WHEELBARROWS full of crab grass so far. Plus some fuzzy cabbage-like weed and other odd weeds. Some hints: 1. Don't try to use this on dry, hard ground. It's easiest after a good rain or the day after you've run your sprinkler system. 2. Aim the center of the four "blades" at the center of your plant (for crab grass, you'll quickly learn there's less pigmentation at the center of the plant, where its "limbs" intersect--in no time, you'll develop a "feel" for this). 3. I've found it works best to insert this at a slight angle (about 30 degrees, rather than straight down), then gently tamp the black "heel" of the tool completely into the ground. Use the leverage of the "heel" to extract the weed from the ground. 4. Carry a bucketful of sand or topsoil with you, with a small garden shovel & fill the little "gopher holes" this tool makes. I extract about 8 weeds, then fill 8 holes. It's quicker than it sounds, but in our case, a necessity, lest the puppies learn that we're all REALLY, really into digging up the yard. You really will have to fill the divots this tool leaves behind. But in my opinion, it's worth it to get the crab grass root balls OUT. Permanently. 5. This model has a great feature: it "ejects" the weed after you've pulled it, using a little sliding bar on the handle. You get the great auditory reward of a ca-ching that sounds something like loading a rifle. Just the right motivator to go after more crab grass. I've Gotcha now! (Kinda makes you feel like you're channeling Carl from Caddyshack). This tool is REALLY easy to use, light in weight, and does the job. I've been very impressed with the fact that I can truly stand comfortably and successfully weed the yard. I've heard that if we can ever establish some healthy St Augustine, it will more or less keep itself weed-free--the best joke of all, I've just learned that St Augustine is a close relative of crab grass, which is why no chemical weedkiller will really kill crab grass and leave St Augustine unscathed. Who knew? Good luck with your weeding; buy one of these & you'll amaze yourself at the speed and ease of your Springtime weeding tasks--I'm really glad I bought this (and so have 2 of my neighbors, once they tried mine). Highly recommended!