Whether or not you like weeding, there’s one frustrating aspect of this garden chore: You pull up the weeds (or at least you think you pull up the weeds), and two days later, there they are growing in your garden.

The reason your weeds magically reappear is because you never actually got rid of them. When you get rid of the foliage of the plant, the garden looks great, but you’re missing one important part: the roots. If the roots are still in tact under the soil, that weed is going to come back in full force.

To combat this problem, you need one simple tool: a garden fork. Use this tool to dig under the root structure and remove the plant completely, leaving no traces behind.

My weeding smarter, not harder, you’ll cut down on your weeding work and get on to more important farm tasks.