Fairground Neighborhood Association

BUILDING A HEALTHY LAWN

WEED KILLERS

I have found a few homemade remedies and a list of suggestions to help keep your lawn free of weeds. Remember to always use caution with any chemicals, including the ones below, and to tend to your lawn with good water and food throughout the growing season. A stressed lawn is more apt to be overrun by weeds.

Weed Killer

Mix 1 gallon white vinegar, 1 cup table salt, and 1 tablespoon dishwashing liquid together and spray on weeds. To do so, remove approximately 2 cups of vinegar from the jug, pour in the salt and dishwashing liquid, then return the 2 cups of vinegar to the jug. Close the lid and shake to mix.

Transfer to a spray bottle (after shaking to mix the ingredients) as needed. It works as well, if not better, than Chemicals, but is much cheaper. Be careful, it will kill whatever you spray it on!

If you go purchase vinegar, 10% acidity, 20% acid would be better, and spray it on the weeds in the heat of the full sun, you will have an effective weed killer.

All-purpose weed killer:
Boil a liter of water, add 2 tablespoons of salt and 5 tablespoons of vinegar. Pour directly on weeds on sidewalks, driveways, etc., while still hot.

Cheap Weed Killer
Makes a quart.
Pour 4-ounces of lemon juice concentrate in a 1-quart spray bottle. Fill it to the top with white vinegar. Shake well and spray on the weeds. This is good for spot-weeding. It will kill dandelions and Creeping Jenny although if the plants are big ones, it may take more than one dose. This is really good to spray between cracks in a sidewalk.

Safe around kids, pets etc. This is basically two forms of acid so if you really soak the ground, nothing will grow for several months.

CHEAP WEED KILLER

A friendonce told me that she found a weed killer in a mail order catalog, safe for the environment, biodegradable and safe for pets, for "only" $8 per quart. It was made of lemon juice and vinegar (both cheaper than $8) so she made her own formula, tried it, and sent it to me.

I tried this and it works quite well. I called my Extension Agent and he said that basically it is two forms of acid and perfectly safe around kids and pets.

He did caution that if you use too much, it could make the ground so that it won't grow anything for a few months ... but that's okay, especially in the cracks in the sidewalks!

WEED KILLER FORMULA

In a 1-quart spray bottle, pour 4 ounces of lemon juice concentrate (you can get the cheap stuff ... it works just as well), then fill the bottle up with white vinegar (28 ounces). Vinegar (on sale) costs around a penny per ounce and the lemon juice concentrate I bought was 3 cents per ounce.

For the mixture detailed above, that's a total of 12 cents for lemon juice and 28 cents for vinegar, which means the homemade version costs 40 cents per quart instead of $8!
Yards are full of weeds, but there are organic ways to get rid of them. Spraying 100 percent vinegar on weeds works great. Or, trying using a hula hoe to cut weeds below the root line. The small hoe is available at any home center, hardware store or nursery.

To get rid of weeds at the roots, use Finale or Round-up. Use either product early in the morning and don't water for at least 24 hours. Make sure the surrounding plants are healthy before you spray.

For a more potent mixture, mix a little ammonium phosphate and soap with Finale or Round-up. This works well on Bermuda grass. Contact Herbicide is good to use on annual weeds and will kill only the leaves. I like Weed Be Gone, but any brand will work. It is available at any home center.

Manage kills nut grass and purple and yellow nut sage. Pre-emergent kills weed seed in the soil before the plants emerge. Always wear gloves, a long-sleeved shirt, long pants and a hat when using any chemicals. A mask to cover your nose and mouth is also a good idea.

BUILDING A HEALTHY LAWN

The key to a weed and pest-free lawn is to build strength in your grass.
Overseed every year to create a dense lawn that will crowd out weeds.
Fertilize naturally with manure and compost.
Encourage good bugs: worms, lady bugs and spiders.
Mow less often. Keep grass 6 cm tall to crowd out weeds and grow longer roots.
When watering, allow the sprinkler to soak the grass, to build deep roots.
Rake out thatch to discourage pests
Dig out any weeds by hand.
Learn to tolerate some weeds. Pesticides are not worth the health risks.

Q. Weed killers: Is using vinegar and lemon juice safe on lawns?

A. That would depend upon the concentration used. If you poured it straight out of the bottle onto patches of lawn, no, it could seriously burn the areas. I am curious what weeds you are trying to kill. There are organic, safe substances which may be used to kill weeds in beds and lawns. Check for 'Safer' products, for one. Both vinegar and lemon juice have not been proven to eradicate weeds effectively.

Remember to use all the above home remedies at your own risk.