How do You Handle Weeds?

I really hate weeds. I had heard that you can pour boiling water on them but I have not tried that. It is best to get them when they are small so they don't go to seed. I have used vinegar on the small ones to kill them. The vinegar doesn't work as well on larger weeds. You just put pure ordinary vinegar in a spray bottle and give each weed a few sprays of it. The best time to spray them is in the morning and by afternoon they will start turning brown. It doesn't smell good but it does work.

 

I have used the vinegar straight from the bottle on the weeds that grow along the driveway. I didn't want to put the vinegar on the grass or the plants I want to keep. It has worked good. There is one weed that is growing between a step and the landing that will not die. I can't pull it out.

 

We get someone in professionally to pull them out every so now and again. We also discovered some weeds are actually valuable herbs, so now we keep an eye on them. I have heard that growing certain plants deter them, also there are non-toxic weed killers out there.

 

You can use chemicals, but if you are growing food you should carefully check the chemical. Some of these chemicals are harmful to your plants, but they can also leach into the fruit of the plant and make you sick as well! I prefer the old fashioned method of hand pulling or intensive gardening to keep the weeds down.

 

I found a recipe on Pinterest for making your own homemade weed killer with household products ,so I thought I would share. The people who pinned it on various boards said it works. Most people have vinegar, dish soap and salt, so you might be able to make this today.

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I'm a weed puller too! I don't like chemicals. And I try to keep my garden as chemical free as possible. The other great thing about wedding yourself is it is usually cost effective unless you have a huge garden.

Does anyone have any experience with weed liner? It's like a canvas you put down and it inhibits weed growth.

 

I grow organically so don't use chemicals, and some of the weeds in my garden are there on purpose because I like the flowers they produce! I guess it depends on what weeds you have though. I don't mind the physical work of removing them by hand, I think it's very satisfying and gives me the chance to really get to know the garden, where things grow and what is not quite working. Also, if weeds are taking over a certain part of the garden, it might be because the plants you have there aren't thriving enough to put up a good fight.

 

I've tried plain salt water on weeds and it has worked. Not tired vinegar yet. Will do soon. I've also got a weed burner that I occasionally use on stubborn weeds that grow on the driveway.

 

Vinegar will kill your grass as well as your weeds. I wouldn't be spraying it on your regular lawn. We have a product at our store that has iron in that kills dandelions and a number of other weeds. It turns them black in a couple of days and then they are gone. Its environmentally friendly.

 

I pull out and burn weeds. The best way to ensure that you don't contaminate your environment and also don't hurt the other plants. I have tried using vinegar but that has almost killed my other plants. I have never used salt for this pupose though. I have used salt to keep ant off some plants, especially my okra. I did not know that it stops weeds from growing.

 

I have the weed puller, too. I actually love using it, but it does leave little holes in the grass. I've also used the boiling water on the ones in my concrete cracks. It seems to work well.

 

I also don't like chemicals so I just pull up weeds. I don't mind some weeds though, I think some are pretty. It depends on the area of the yard that they're in and whether they're getting out of control or not. I've got a pretty big yard with a wood in it so I leave weeds around the woods. I like the natural look of it.

If you have a big spot of just weeds you can lay cardboard on top of them, the weeds will die and then hopefully grass will grow in its place or you could plant grass seeds. This is a method that gardeners use for getting rid of grass and weeds where they're going to have a garden.

 

I do it the old fashioned way and pull them out on the weekend. It is a great way to relax after a wild week of working. I don't want to put any chemicals in my vegetable garden so I just get down and sweat it out.

 

We hire someone to cut the grass and weeds in our lawn for us, but we are fortunate that the weeds that sprout in our house are not that many. But I also heard that vinegar is effective in keeping the weeds at bay.

 

Vinegar and salt solutions are good for weed killing, but can affect your soil's pH balance. Salt, in particular, should be used cautiously as it is an effective killer and can dissolve in the soil and spread to the roots of plants you didn't want to kill. Most plants are rather sensitive to salt.

Mulch film (landscape fabric) or a tarp, or anything that blocks the sunlight completely will also kill any plants beneath it. If you've ever left something in the yard, such as a concrete block or a child's toy, for a long period of time you'll notice that when you pick it up the grass is dead or dying beneath it. For this you can also use several layers of newspaper, though it will degrade quickly.

Chemically, Roundup brand (Glyphosphate) is commercially the most popular and effective weed control. It can be purchased in another brand, but to compare prices be sure you are looking at the same % of concentrate. It works well, though the results can take several weeks to see. You can actually use it one day and then plant seeds the next day in the same ground with no lingering effects, as it is absorbed by the plant's leaves. Normal chemical handling precautions should be used to keep it off your skin, out of waterways, etc... Always read the label before using chemicals. Unfortunately, vinegar does not have a label for use on weeds...

 

We have used a variety of solutions in the past.

At one point, we even poured gas on a certain area, let it kill the weeds, and then after it had dried up, burned off that area. They kept coming back otherwise.

That's obviously frowned on because of environmental concerns, too, though...

 

I rent so I dom't have to deal with the weeds. There are sprays that are advertised on television, that seem to work.

 

I was watching Extreme Cheapskates and one of the cheapskates, Jeff Yeager said that after he's done cooking pasta or boiling eggs, he dumps the boiling water on his weeds. His reasoning is that you have already paid for that water and paid for the energy to heat that water to boiling, so you should get the most out of it by using it to kill weeds.

 

Weeding: I have real good experience with weeding regularly.
If you weed once a week and keep doing that every week then weeds stays away.