I would be very unhappy without the following four tools. They all make life much easier.

First, one the same page:
The hand hoe, sold by Johhny's. And
The homi

Here is a link that might be useful: Johnny's hand tools

Then the long and short handled Japanese draw hoe, sold by Lee Valley Tools. I could get by with just the long handled version, as it is easy to choke up on the handle and use like a shorter hand tool. But I truly enjoy having the both.

How you describe using that piece of slate is much the same action used with all of these tools.

George
Tahlequah, OK

Here is a link that might be useful: Japanese Draw Hoes

My all time fav for such chores is the cobra head hoe. I have the hand held version.

Moni

Here is a link that might be useful: cobra head hoe

I have the asian designed hoe from Johnnys & I do like it very much. HOWEVER~~~~ my favorite favorite favorite thing is my Oak Valley Wheel hoe! I have the 8 & 18 inch blades, the furror & 4 tine. I LOVE it! DH fussed about the big expense, but he uses it too. Couple weeks ago as he was building a new goat pen he used the wheel hoe and attachments to clear the ground for over 200 ft of fence. He did say he was sore the next day, but my kids can even use the wheel hoe. If you visit their site they have videos of how it works.
FYI~ I have a bulging disc in my back so I understand about the regular type hoe causing problems. I do find a stirup hoe easier than a normal hoe, but the wheel hoe is still the easiest of all.

Jessica, an alternative to weeding those nasty low winter annuals is to smother them out. I have areas where I will just lay 3 or 4 sheets of newspaper and then pile on more of the chip mulch. If you do it soon the weeds won't have time to set seed. And don't forget that you are still welcome to come get some of this mulch.

I have one of the three tine cultivators that I use and once I smack them a could times that goes the job, however for those really hard ones like some you described I have pulled out my garden fork and dug the darn things out (not if there is a plant I want there)

I use a stirrup/scuffle hoe. It is easier on the hands. Cuts on the push and pull and just rips thru weeds in nanoseconds - well, not really, but you catch my drift.

Ace Hardware carries them for about $18.

Susan

Here is a link that might be useful: Scuffle Hoe

Thanks. the japanese draw hoe, stirrup/scuffle hoe and valley wheel hoe all look great , but with my poor eyesite I need to be close to the ground so I won't pull out the good plants.

By the way I love the corbra head tool. At first it felt like it was going to make my wrist more painful because I could feel slight pain while using it, but it wasn't lasting pain and could have been from the pain I already had from weeding with my hands.

Stand up and do your weeding with the NEW drill driven weed removal tool: Weed Spinner It will save your back and knees. It's a low cost durable weed removal tool that produces the WOW factor when used.

See it in action at www.weedspinner.com

My drill driven weeder is not a great tool for someone with weak wrist. I would suggest that you use it in a drill with an adjustable clutch or a sturdy side handle because it can place quite a shock to the wrist if you hit a rock or root.

I have both the bulb auger and the weeding bit , but if you don't want a sprang wrist, use caution. I have not used mine as much as I thought I might, but they both work.

Larry

I agree with Susan, but I call mine a hula hoe. It is wonderful!