New Gardener! How to tackle weeds?

[PolkadotRosa]

Hi! I have pulled out/cut down the dead, brown bits and phase 2 is weeding.
What tools do I need? A hand fork and shovel shaped tool? And which one for what task? Any tips for weeding?
It's all new to me and I really want to learn how to tidy and look after the garden, so any advice appreciated.
Thank you!

You need a strong fork ( hand forks will be a lot of effort with deeper rooted weeds ) & a decent spade,that's it.

make sure you dig down to get the roots out, don't just rip the top of the weeds off. And weeding is like laundry - it just keeps coming.

Weed the same place again and again - if you do it 3-4 times in about a month this almost completely kills the weeds in it.

Also dandelions are a bastard - if they are in your lawn dig them out as they will flower & go to seed and the seeds will fly into your flowerbed.

One of these is useful for dandelions. If the ground is really bad it might be worth getting a garden sieve so you can remove all the bits of root that can grow into new weeds. Otherwise, it is just a case of digging them out over and over again - obviously you want to remove them before they flower and spread themselves around all over again.

Thanks everyone for your advice! I have weeded lots:) still lots to do. Looks loads better. Some of the weeds were blummin' tough, I became a bit paranoid at one point that I was pulling up the hydrangea roots. But there were dandelions around the base so hoping it was them!?

What flowers/plants would be good to grow with 2 hydrangeas (in their own quite large bed in the centre of patio)?

You want plants that are happy with a bit of shade. I'd go for something like lily of the valley, one of the white geraniums (also good for ground cover and keeping the weeds at bay) and maybe some foliage (ferns, hostas) for a bit of year round structure.

I don't know if this will appeal to you, but I paint stubborn weed leaves with a paint brush and really strong weedkiller (available to dilute from wilkinsons). It even works on brambles eventually. It does look a bit weird though if anyone sees you painting plants.