Natural Weed Control

Keep your landscape pest and chemical free

“Nothing is so beautiful as spring —
When weeds, in wheels, shoot long and lovely and lush”
— Gerard Manley Hopkins

By AMY ROGNLIE

As much as I agree with Gerard Manley Hopkins about the beauty of spring, I beg to differ with his opinion of weeds. They are definitely not lovely. I know some folks who just give up the weed fight altogether and take the philosophical approach: “There’s no such things as weeds. They’re great plants — they’re simply in the wrong place.” Uh huh. I don’t know much that’s great about ragweed. Or thistles. Or crabgrass.

I’m sure someone could enlighten me about all the little creepy-crawlies who make these plants their homes. However, that still doesn’t convince me that I need to let henbit or dandelions grow between the cracks of my walkway or in the middle of my flowerbed.

I’m also not fond of spraying poisonous chemicals in my yard. Not only are these chemicals hazardous to people, pets and wildlife, they ultimately contaminate the soil and leach into our water supply. So what to do?

The best defense against weeds is to not let them gain a foothold to begin with. This, of course, requires time and diligence, especially during the spring and early summer when weeds are busy “shooting long and lovely and lush.” If you have an established garden or landscaped area, lightly hoeing will uproot many tiny weeds before they have a chance to grow larger. For larger weeds such as dandelions or thistles, you can dig them out fairly easily when they are smallish, especially when the soil is moist. A little hand spade works great, but you can also purchase specialized tools to help pry these unwanted plants out of their comfort zones.

Of course, most of us don’t have time to spend hours in our yard or garden every day and need a little extra help, which is where chemical warfare comes in. I concede that there are times you may need a little bit of a commercial weed killer, especially on an area that has been neglected for a long time and has many mature weeds. However, for regular yard and garden maintenance, natural solutions are a better idea.

And though there are many “natural” weed killers on the market, you can easily mix up some on your own.

One time-tested (and free) method is to pour boiling water on the weeds, which will kill the leaves immediately. However, this method will not kill the roots, so it may take more than one treatment. Also, it’s not great fun to be lugging large containers of boiling water around when it’s already 101 degrees and 85% humidity outside.

A better idea is to use a spray bottle filled with highly concentrated vinegar. The vinegar we can purchase at the grocery store is typically diluted with water to a concentration of 5%. However, you can purchase industrial-grade vinegar that is 45%, 50%, or even 75% vinegar, which will quickly annihilate even the toughest thistle. Be cautious though. It will also burn the skin off your fingers if you touch it without gloves. At least one person has gleefully claimed that they successfully “sizzled” fire ants with it … but I digress.

Once again, be aware that natural products are just that — natural — so they will not kill the roots of a large weed with just one application. However, they will also not kill you or your pets, so that’s a plus.

If none of those solutions work for you, you can go for the big gun: a blowtorch. For real. Hear me out on this. For under $25, you can purchase a propane-powered 1,200,000 BTU weed torch flamethrower (with 30-inch detachable arm, presumably so you don’t accidentally torch yourself instead of the weeds). If you want to shell out more cash, you can be the proud owner of a deluxe model that offers 2,100,000 BTUs of weed-zapping power, plus a 12.5-foot hose.

I have no idea what all that really means, but it sounds like it would do the trick. But not on a windy day or when there is a burn ban, please.

If you try it out, let me know.

Cutting down even a little bit on the amount of chemicals we use will go a long way in keeping everyone and everything healthier in the long run.