Weeds are a nasty business, aren’t they? On one hand, they are a huge pain in the arse to get rid of and on the other, if you leave them alone, they multiply like crazy. If you’re on the side that you can’t have a yard full of weeds, then read on for tips on how to be rid of those suckers. I do not promise they will be easy, but I do promise 3 ways to remove weeds without the use of chemicals.
1. Dig, Dig, Dig
I actually find weeding sort of therapeutic. It’s just me out in the elements making my home a more beautiful place with no one to distract me or tell me I’m doing it wrong. So I don’t mind going at it the old-fashioned way and just digging.
To really be rid of weeds, you have to unroot them. To unroot them, you’ll need to dig. You’ll get new weeds for sure despite unrooting them. Your neighbors may not be so diligent about weeding and those pesky dandelions will flower and spread their seeds into your yard soon enough. You just can’t control it. But you can stop these ones that have already grown in your yard from getting any bigger. I’ll cover later in this post how you can do some preventative maintenance.
My method for weeding the digging way requires water and a cheap pair of sharp scissors.
First, you wet the weeds thoroughly so the land is kind of muddy. This will loosen up the dirt and the roots so you’re not digging into dried up, rock hard dirt. I mean, you really don’t wanna do that because it’s a lot like trying to dig into concrete.
Second, using a pair of scissors with the tips so sharp you have to be careful not to stab anyone with them, dig into the dirt while pulling at the weed.
I like using these scissors because they are sharp, they can get into small crevices, and you can use them to cut at anything that can’t be dug up. And they’re dirt cheap. You can find them in the ONE DOLLAR AND UP stores - not the dollar stores, okay?
TIP: If you’re digging up a lot of weeds, keep a large bin with you to corral it all so you don’t need to make multiple trips to the garbage/yard waste/compost bin.
2. Vinegar
What about the weeds that grow in the concrete cracks that the scissors just can’t reach? Try vinegar. Seriously.
The thing about using vinegar is that you need a hot, sunny day to help you out. If you’ve only got warm, cloudy days, this method won’t be as effective.
This is how you do it: you pour on a generous amount (don’t even think of spraying!) of vinegar on the weed, as close to the roots as possible. Then let sit as the sun works to dry it up. After about an hour, the weeds will wilt and look all cooked up. The weeds will die and just decompose back into the land in time.
Here’s what to expect if you choose to use vinegar:
The downside is that vinegar will also kill anything you want to keep. So this is not a good method for weeds in lawns or garden beds where you have flowers and vegetables growing. Unless you can really control where the vinegar won’t dribble.
3. Boiling Water
If you’ve run out of vinegar or just don’t have gallons of it on hand, the next best thing is boiling water. It works in the exact same way as vinegar does, but you will smell rotting vegetables instead of pickles.
The tip is that the water has to be boiling hot. Like, fresh off the stove boiling hot.
Now, I don’t know about you, but carrying a pot of boiling water in and out of my house 10 times just does not please me so much. Especially when I have to keep the stove on in a warm house on a hot, sunny day (because, like vinegar, the weeds won’t die if it’s just a cool, cloudy day). There are just a lot of factors that makes this method not so appealing to me. (Second degree burns tops the list, really.) But it is an option if you’re in a bind. Or if you haven’t let your weeds overgrown and you only need to kill 2 or 3.
Like vinegar, boiling water will kill the good plants too.
Which now leads me to how you can stop the weeds from spreading in the first place.
Bonus: Preventative Maintenance
So you’ve worked long hours in the early morning or late evenings (when the sun isn’t beating down your neck) to clear out all the weeds in your yards. You don’t want to have to repeat this work every month, do you? You remember how much your back hurts from crouching over or your knees ache from getting up and down so much? What about that icky droopy mess of sweat from real hard work?
Yeaaaahhhh…. not fun.
Try this:
1. When you see a weed starting to form, deal with it immediately. When they’re small, their roots haven’t grown as deep, so they’re easier to pull out without the need for tools. My MIL does this in our yard every time she comes by. Sometimes, I’ll look outside and just see dead weeds with exposed roots all over my lawn. It’s not pretty, but it’s quite funny! If you’ve missed one, keep those sharp scissors handy to unroot them. Pulling out a few at a time is not so bad. Trust me.
2. Mulch. Squelch out the sunlight of those annoying buggers with wood chips, soil, newspaper, dried leaves, straw, grass clippings, gravel, whatever!
3. Rake. In garden beds and gravel pathways, it’s just easier to turn the soil or smooth over gravel paths with a garden rake while lifting weeds in the process. Plus, less bending and abusing the back. You won’t need to pick up any of the weeds either! Once dug up, their roots will rot in the sun and die.
I hope I’ve given you some good tips at how to control those weeds! How do you keep your weeds at bay? Do you have any other tips to share?
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