HOMEMADE WEED KILLERS: THRIFTY ALTERNATIVE TO CHEMICALS + STORE PRODUCTS

HOMEMADE WEED KILLERS:
THRIFTY ALTERNATIVE TO CHEMICALS + STORE PRODUCTSIt's that time of year here again in North Carolina! Grass is greening up, spring flowers are blooming and when we can avoid the rain, everywhere you look you see families out in the yard, sprucing up for the season! It's my favorite time of year!

One of my least favorite thing about working in the yard, especially after planting and making a once plain or overgrown spot into a cozy landscaped or fully planted space, is what comes next....WEEDS! EEK!

I'm starting on some fresh landscape areas this year...or rather I should say, never planted before, so I've got quite a bit of overgrowth and other NOT SO PRETTY spots that I need to quickly rid of what is unwanted and am so excited to plant. Some of these spaces are very large and aside from my feelings about spraying chemicals throughout my yard (especially with small children & pets) it would be very pricey to go the commercial
weed killer route.

So, here are a few ideas - that you probably don't even need to leave the house for that I have found to work really well over the years!

Boiling Water: Pour boiling water wherever you want to kill weeds – be careful not to reach your plants! Boiling water basically “cooks” whatever it comes in contact with – down to the roots and is very effective for killing weeds and large areas of vegetation. We love this option because it is completely non-toxic and you don’t need to go to the store to get it!


Vinegar: Simply fill a spray bottle with White Distilled Vinegar and spray liberally to the desired weeds/area. Be careful not to spray your plants! The acetic acid in vinegar works to kill the leaves on the plant, but not the root. Vinegar will kill back (kill the leaves but not the root) any plant, but works best on younger plants because they do not have enough energy stored in their roots to regrow leaves. If vinegar is applied to more established weeds enough times, the plant will eventually deplete its stored energy reserves and die.


Salt: Will kill plants but CAN make the ground unsuitable for future plants. On a small scale, drop a small pinch of table salt at the base of the undesirable plants. It will kill the plant, but will will be diluted to a harmless level over the next few rainfalls. On a larger scale, you can cover your gravel driveway and nothing will grow there for months.


Rubbing Alcohol: – this household staple draws water out and helps to evaporate it quickly. This is another effective thrifty alternative to chemical weed killer that is also non-selective – it will kill any vegetation it comes contact with, so use carefully.

If you're laying new
landscape beds that you will thickly cover with topsoil or mulch, another great tip is to drown them out by not allowing sunlight by laying down cardboard. It breaks down over time so it's eco-friendly and even enriches your soil, but will remain long enough to starve the vegetation underneath.

Do you have a great homemade recipe for weed killers? Be sure to leave a comment below and let us know!

For even more Thrifty Little Tips, see my posts HERE



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ThriftyLittleThings.com is a personal blog written and edited by Wendy Kohn. The majority of what I post is based on my own ideas, thoughts and projects, for the sole purpose of sharing my passion. However, as a full time Blogger, there are times that I do selectively accept various forms of compensations such as cash advertising, sponsorship, or paid topic insertions and/or products and other forms of compensation and incentives from companies and organizations that I feel compliment the blog, and offer value to my readers. Compensation will never influence the content or posts made in this blog. All advertising is in the form of advertisements generated by a third party ad network. As the owner of this blog, I am sometimes compensated to provide opinion on products, services, websites and various other topics. Even though I may receive compensation for posts or advertisements, I always give my honest opinions, findings, beliefs, or experiences on those topics or products. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely my own and will NEVER be influenced by any form of compensation.