Thursday, October 9, 2014

Natural Weed Killer: Quick, Easy, Cheap and Effective


image by Kevin Tietz, freerangestock.com


I'll start of by saying I know its a little late in the season for this post, but if you are like me and want one final shot at eradicating weeds before the season ends, you might find this helpful.

At the beginning of the season I tried two applications of a "weed and feed" type product on my lawn, to no avail. I live next to other properties that are either abandoned or have a weed issue, so my property becomes a haven for the weed seeds that fly around in our canyon wind exposure.

I read about a natural solution to the problem and decided to try it. I love it! It acutally works, and long-term, too. It didn't completely eradicate all the weeds-one particular type is a nightmare to get rid of, particularly when many around me are plagued with it, too. However, this natural weed killer got rid of all the other weeds and over the long-term. I went from battling weeds on a weekly basis to only tackling the worst one and a few sprouts of other kinds twice for the rest of the season.

What is this miracle weed killer? Vinegar. Yup, plain white vinegar. I read it works best to add some dish soap to it, so it will 'stick' on the weed leaves, so I tried that variation and was pleased.

On a hot, sunny day, spray or soak your weeds with a solution of 1 gallon vinegar mixed with one ounce of any dish soap. Over the following several hours you will see them brown and shrivel. It seems to continue to work until the weed is killed, on most types of weeds. Once they are dried up and brown, you can rub them with your foot and watch them crumble and disappear. Most of my thus-attacked weeds did not return.

Now, bear in mind, this natural weed killer will kill any green life it lands on-it is not selective. If you get it on your grass or flowers, it will kill them, too. So, apply with care. I used a Powerade bottle and sqeezed the solution onto the weeds to really soak them and to control the aim better than with a sprayer. My method of application uses a lot of the solution to cover a small area, so you may need more than one gallon of vinegar to attack all of your weeds. I did.

The natual weed killer worked so well for me, others asked what I did and have been using it now, as well. It has been working for my neighbors, too. Maybe betweent the lot of us using it, we can mimize the overall weed exposure we all have.

In my area, one gallon of vinegar runs for around $3 and you can get a bottle of dish soap for $1 at the dollar store or on sale/with coupons.

If you try this, please be sure to let us know how it worked for you and any tips or tricks you discovered.

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