5 Ways To Naturally Kill Weeds (without Chemical Weed Killers)
Posted April 23, 2010 – 8:59 am in: Cape Cod Green Cleaning News
Many people want a weed-free lawn but don’t want it at the expense of negatively impacting the environment with harsh weed-killing chemicals. Here are 5 sure-fire ways to kill weeds and have a beautiful lawn the eco-friendly way year round:
1. Pick your weeds. This is the best and most eco-friendly and economical way to get rid of those pesky weeds. No plastic containers. No harsh chemicals. Only a small amount of elbow grease is needed for this process. Make sure to get all the roots out when picking weeds, or the weeds can grow back. For the deep rooted weeds (such as dandelions), try a screwdriver to help with getting out the whole root system.
2. Use organic horticultural vinegar. This vinegar is just like normal household vinegar but with less water mixed in. Normal household white distilled vinegar is 5% acidic whereas horticultural vinegar is 20% acidic. Organic horticultural vinegar can be found at most local garden stores or by ordering over the internet. It can be used in a normal hand sprayer or 1- or 2-gallon pump sprayer. Mix it with some citric acid (squeezed lemons or oranges) for even more of a powerful punch. Spray between noon to 5 p.m. during the hottest sunniest time of the day. Make sure to saturate the weeds completely and come back in a few hours to see a lawn full of dead weeds. This will biodegrade in the soil within a couple days and spreading grasses will take over the dead spots. Make sure to only spray weeds and not your whole lawn as it will kill anything sprayed.
3. Keep your lawn healthy. This cannot be emphasized enough. Your lawn and weeds are in constant competition with each other. One will always win. If you can keep your lawn healthy, then you are sure to keep weeds at bay and coupled with one of the 2 methods above, you will probably have the nicest looking lawn on your street. So here’s what to do to keep a healthy lawn. Aerate your lawn each season. This requires a machine which many professional lawn companies utilize to take plugs out of your soil which are then redeposited onto your lawn. This aerates your soil and keeps your turf healthy. The aerating machine can also be rented at a local machine rental store. Small handheld devices are also available. Use organic fertilizer, and fertilize a couple times each season. Fertilizing your lawn supplies it with nutrients that it needs to thrive and stay healthy. Pick up an organic fertilizer at your local garden store, and read the directions carefully before using. Make sure to only get it on your lawn to avoid runoff into local waterways. Manure also works great for fertilizing lawns, but some people don’t prefer the smell. Mow weekly. Cutting height is very important as well. Research to find the correct cutting height for your grass and stick with it. Regular mowing keeps weeds from reaching full maturity (so they don’t reseed and spread). Correct mowing height also cuts down on the need to excessively water your lawn. A longer lawn will retain more moisture, which requires less watering.
4. Use salt water for driveways and rocky areas. Avoid the use of chemicals such as RoundUp by mixing just 1 cup of table salt with 1 gallon of water or white distilled vinegar and use in your 1-gallon pump sprayer. Make sure that you shake it well to avoid clogging your sprayer. Spray directly on weeds and in cracks of driveways, rocky paths/walkways, etc. This will sterilize weeds and keep them gone for a couple months. Don’t use this in your lawn , as it will also sterilize the soil where you spray.
5. Use corn gluten meal as a preemergent. This is usually applied twice a season depending on where you live. Corn gluten meal is a natural eco-friendly product that can be used to suppress weeds. It works like any “weed-and-feed” preemergent to control weeds from popping up throughout the season. It generally takes a couple seasons to have much effect but can greatly reduce your number of weeds after several seasons of use. Make sure to couple this method with the above methods of killing weeds to have a great looking lawn all year long.
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