As is true with our health, prevention is easier than the cure.
If you object to using toxic chemicals to kill weeds, prevent them from sprouting in the first place.
That may be easier said than done, given that an especially rainy monsoon season can wipe out lots of your preventative efforts. But they’re worth a try:
- Dedicate half an hour a week to weeding, all season long. Pull any visible weeds, they’ll all be tiny and new if you do this every week, or dig them up with a garden hoe before they have a chance to grow taller. Whatever you do, don’t let a weed flower and seed.
- An asparagus knife, a long, sharp knife shaped like a forked tongue, is an effective tool for weeding.
- Mulch your garden and lawn. After you rid your space of weeds, cover it with at least three inches of mulch. Place landscaping cloth under the mulch for extra protection.
- Pour boiling water on weeds that sprout between cracks in concrete or spaces between pavers.
- Spray weeds with white vinegar on a sunny day. When the sun heats the vinegar, it will kill weeds and their seeds. A caution: Like herbicides, vinegar can kill all kinds of plants, not just weeds, so watch your aim.
Or you can try this natural and safe miracle worker: 1 gallon of white vinegar, 1 ½ cups of salt and about a ¼ cup of Dawn dishwashing liquid. Don’t spray it on anything you don’t want dead. Safe for kids and pets and cheap too!
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