Weeding is one of my least favorite gardening chores. I would
rate it somewhere between going to the dentist and listening to a
2-year-old have a tantrum.
Weeding is one of my least favorite gardening chores. I would rate it somewhere between going to the dentist and listening to a 2-year-old have a tantrum.
That said, there is a certain amount of satisfaction derived when one gets weeds under control in the garden – and I’m not just talking about spraying weeds with RoundUp.
For the home gardener, the most common method of controlling weeds is to douse them with a synthetic herbicide, such as RoundUp or Finale. But I prefer more natural methods of weed control whenever I can.
In a past column, I wrote about a homemade weed-killing concoction made with inexpensive sulphate of ammonia fertilizer. In fact, applying too much of any fertilizer on any plant will do it in. To make a sulphate of ammonia weed-killer, simply make a slurry seal of a few tablespoons (or handfuls, it really doesn’t matter) of sulphate of ammonia in water until there’s a slightly thick liquid. Then, simply pour the concoction on weeds. The high nitrogen content in sulphate of ammonia will kill things rather easily when overused.
But there are other homemade concoctions, too. Try a blast of vinegar, for example. You can use vinegar full strength, sprayed from a plastic spray bottle. Please note, that vinegar will not work on the more fleshy, succulent-type weeds. Another great weed killer is boiling water, which kills not only the weeds above ground, but also seeds waiting to germinate.
Of course, carrying boiling water in a sauce pan outdoors can be adventurous in itself!
Alcohol is another good weed killer. No, I’m not recommending you waste good booze on weeds (or cheap booze for that matter). Mix a few tablespoons of rubbing alcohol to a quart of water and spray.
A strong dose of dishwashing soap mixed at a rate of five tablespoons per quart of water works wonders on weeds, especially when it’s applied on a really hot day. Dishwashing soap, used at a lesser rate of a tablespoon per gallon, can also be used as a natural method of control on soft-bodied insects like aphids on roses.
Mulch is also a great weed suppressor. It is readily available at nurseries in the form wood chips, shredded bark, redwood soil conditioner or even simply as mulch. Add a couple inches of mulch over any bare ground in your garden. Applied thick enough, mulch prevents sunlight from reaching weed seeds, preventing them from sprouting.
Finally, for those pesty weeds that keep popping up in the driveway or sidewalks in front of the house, I have a fool-proof method for getting rid of them. It’s called a flat-heard screwdriver. I just scrape that screwdriver over those weeds and – voila – they’re history.
