Review: Berry & Bird Hula Hoe
I recently purchased this Hula Hoe or Stirrup Hoe as it also known. I have seen it used by many gardeners I follow online, and it seemed like a magical weeding device. I was hoping that by gently stroking it over my beds, all my weeds would just disappear. It would be the tool I never knew I always needed. It turns out it is not magical, but it does work.
What I would say it that it depends on the application. Where is works best is on established beds, either in ground or low raised beds. As you gently rake it over the soil it will pull up and remove any grass, small weeds or plants. At that point, you can use a flexible rake to rake up the weeds and compost them or if it’s only a few weeds, just pick them out by hand. It will leave a smooth area ready to plant in again. Which is lovely.
Where it does not work well is in beds that contain a lot of mulch. I’m talking chunky wood chip type mulch. This type of mulch just doesn’t allow the hoe to travel smoothy over the soil. It also didn’t work very well on weeds that act more like vines. For this my small garden cultivator worked better. The hula hoe seems to get tangled up a bit more while the cultivator was able to just grab the vines and rip then out. If I raked the mulch back, then I was able to use the hula hoe to edge the beds and remove weeds in my recently mulched beds pretty well. Surprisingly, it worked to remove weeds between my beds where I have pea gravel. It was definitely a workout to remove weeds this way but nevertheless, it did work. This would likely not be useful if you use taller raised beds. It would be awkward to use in a 3 foot bed. If this is your set up, hands tools are probably your best bet. Even though it is advertised as a method to remove grass, I would not opt to use it for this application. If you just want to extend a bed a bit, then yes it will cut back grass. However, if you are looking to create a new garden bed entirely, use a different method. Your hands will probably fall apart and you will be exhausted before your will clear enough grass away to create your new garden or flower bed.
I purchased this particular hoe from Amazon. It comes highly reviewed and has an extra long handle which is very important for someone like me who is 6 feet tall. Depending on the state of the weeds or cover you are trying to remove, it can be quite a work out, and I was really using some force so it is important that it is well made. I could see how a filmsy or poorly made hula hoe could break easily and end up being a waste to money. This one may run on the pricey side but you get what you pay for. It is good quality and durable. Both my husband and I put it to the test on garden beds, flower beds, and our kids play area and it held up well. I’m glad I purchased it and it will definitely be useful in my garden tool collection. If you were hoping for a tool that was going to magically remove weeds or be able to cut away grass to create new beds, I would use alternative methods or tools. I will say it makes the top 3 list of my favorite or most useful garden tools but it not number one.
Link to Berry &Bird hula Hoe: Hula Hoe
Link to Garden Cultivator: Garden Cultivator
