How to Remove Dock plants intact.

There is one good thing about the amount of rain we have had this year - the ground is still nice and soft, and it's quite easy to pull out umbellifers such as Cow Parsley, and good old Dock.

Here's one I pulled out recently, with my Daisy Grubber beside it for scale.

Not bad, eh?

I levered it out in the usual manner, using the Daisy Grubber to get it started, then grabbed a firm hold, braced against my knees, and straightened up.

When I say "grabbed a firm hold", by the way, I mean that having loosened it with the Daisy Grubber, I then bundled up all the basal leaves against the stalk, and took hold of the whole bundle. This helps to get all your effort into the central tap root.

I also find that bracing against the knees, and using your legs and back to pull, gives better results than just bending over and pulling with your arms. You get more strength from the bigger muscles in leg and back, you are less likely to hurt yourself, and you get a smoother pull, so you are more likely to get the root out in one go.

Of course, there is always the risk of it breaking, sending you toppling gracelessly (but amusingly) onto your backside, but no-one said that gardening was safe or easy!