When you’re trying to make your yard (or your garden) look it’s best, there is nothing more frustrating than weeds. They take over land that is really intended for other plants: grass in the yard, plants in your garden. All too often, weeds choke the life out of the plants you really want to have in a given space, Unfortunately, figuring out what to do with them can represent its own challenge.
Commercial weed killers come along with an unrecognizable list of ingredients and chemicals that you don’t necessarily want to use. Not only do you not want them out in the yard, where your kids and pets play, you certainly don’t want to spray them on your food.
Want a natural weed control option for your lawn?
Are you seeking an easy weed killer that you can throw together yourself–all with ingredients that you can actually pronounce and know where they come from?
This natural way to kill weeds but not grass will amaze you with just how effective it is–and how simple it is to throw together. With just a few ingredients, I’ve managed to take care of all of the weeds in my outdoor space in one fell swoop.
Personally, I got sick of dealing with weeds every time I walked outside–and even worse, I was tired of looking through chemicals and wondering what they would do to my garden and to my family’s health. When chemical weed solutions suggest that you not let children and pets play in the yard for several hours after application, you have to wonder what your children are taking in from the ground even after the initial coating has been washed away. Worse, those solutions don’t always take care of the weeds.
Fortunately, thanks to a recommendation from a friend, I now have an easy solution for natural weed control for lawns. The weeds get killed, which means that finally, the grass has room to grow. After using this solution, my lawn looks better than it ever has, and I don’t have to worry about stacks of weeds in my garden–which means that I spend less time weeding and more time enjoying the fruits of my efforts.
Ingredients:
- 1 gallon white vinegar
- 2 cups Epsom salts (if you’re going to be using it on a garden intended for use as food, pay a trip to your local garden center for garden Epsom salts. These may also be cheaper than those intended for you to soak in.)
- 1/4 cup dish soap
Mix all of the ingredients together in a large garden sprayer. This will make it easy to spread them out over as large an area as possible in as short a time as possible. You don’t want to have to keep going inside or back to a bucket to retrieve your natural weed killer!
Once your ingredients are well combined, head outside and spray your weed killer on the offending area of your path. You can use it on your garden walkway, spread it out over your yard to get the weeds in your grass, or take your weed killer to the garden itself. So far, I haven’t seen any long-term problems with using this over a large surface area: the grass survives, but the weeds quickly wither and die. I usually see results within about eight hours of spraying the weed killer.
Helpful hints:
1) Wait for a sunny day before spraying your lawn or garden with this weed killer. It needs time to seep into the roots and leaves of the plants, destroying their natural oils and dehydrating them. If you spray them on a wet, rainy day, including a day when rain is predicted within the next few hours, you may find your spray washed away before it has a chance to work. Luckily, this weed killer is cheap and easy to mix up, so you can always pick up a few more of the ingredients and try again!
2) If you have an area where you want to be more cautious about what you’re using–or if you don;’t want to pick up the ingredients–boiling water is also a great way to kill unwanted weeds, especially around flagstones. Unfortunately, this method does mean you have to cart boiling water outside and dump it over your weeds, which can be a time-consuming process.