Making a Natural Weed Killer
Posted: Tuesday, August 08, 2006
by Andrew Bicknell
If you are like most homeowners then you wage a constant
battle with weeds in your yard. Many homeowners these days are trying to find
alternatives to the commercially made herbicides currently found on the market
today. Using a natural weed killer can be just as effective as chemical weed
killers and the exposure of your family and pets to toxic chemicals is no
longer an issue.
The manufacturers of these chemical weed killers and even
the government say that using these toxic chemicals do not pose a risk to
people but for many the long term affects of these chemicals is still not known
or understood. So much so that they have found more natural ways to deal with
the weeds in their lawns and gardens.
While there are many different recipes out there for a
natural weed killer most of them are based off the following ingredients.
- 1 gallon of white vinegar.
- 1 cup of table salt.
- 1
tablespoon of liquid dish soap.
Mix everything together making sure the salt is completely
dissolved. You can then pour this into a spray bottle or one of those weed
sprayers you can get at any garden center.
You spray this solution directly on the weeds you want to get rid of
preferably on a hot day. One thing to remember with this solution is to not get
it on anything you don’t want to kill and don’t spray it on the soil. It is
non-selective in what it kills meaning it will kill any plant life it comes in
contact with and it will sterilize the soil for up to two years depending on
how much you get on the soil.
If you don’t want to spray this natural weed killer solution
near your desirable plants you can wipe the solution on the leafy surface of
the weeds you wish to kill with a cloth. It is advisable that you wear rubber
gloves to do this as the vinegar solution is acidic and can burn sensitive
skin.
Using a natural weed killer is a great way to get rid of
those nasty weeds that seem to pop-up every summer. It is also a great way to
protect your family and pets from the unknown affects of commercially available
weed killers.
Andrew Bicknell is a writer and researches and writes about a variety of subjects. For more information about Making Natural Weed Killer Click Here.
This article was great for us, since we had lost the newspaper article that had the recipe. We have been using the distilled white vinegar, salt & liquid soap combo for a couple of years and haven't killed anything but weeds. It really does work, but the salt must be fully disolved in the mixture.
Does this mean it is harmful to pets mixed together? thanks
all 3 contain chemicals, are they safe for the environment afterall?thank you :)
Where I am in India I can only get food grade synthetic vinegar, which is diluted acetic acid and not what I would use as a food item. Leon from India
Those who are nervous about the application of "chemicals" in their gardens, check out Neem. It is a very effective application against a variety of garden pests.