Nature's Herbicides: How to kill weeds without poisons

No matter how much time and care you put into your lawn and garden, you're going to have to deal with weeds at some point. Because they're often tougher and more proliferative than even the hardiest desirable plants, it's important to get control over them before they can overwhelm you. Although there are many potent herbicides designed to make this easier, they're terrible for the environment. Furthermore, weeds can quickly develop an immunity to them, rendering future applications useless. Fortunately, there are a number of methods that kill weeds naturally without compromising the environment or causing plants to develop a resistance.

Corn Gluten Meal

Corn gluten meal is a completely natural product derived from corn and available in most home improvement stores and gardening centers. It works as a pre-emergent herbicide and keeps weed sprouts from developing normal, healthy roots. For this reason, it is best used in garden maintenance as a preventative measure early in the growing season, because it doesn't work once the seedlings are already established.

Pulling

Depending on what weeds you're dealing with, sometimes nothing works as well as good old-fashioned pulling. A weeding fork is a gardener's best friend for most weeds. However, special caution is needed for weeds with taproots such as dandelions, hemlock, thistle and oxalis. If the root breaks off beneath the soil, it's likely to grow back. Before you pull these, wet the soil to make them come out more easily. Unfortunately, pulling is impractical if you have a field of weeds.

Black Plastic

If you have garden beds that are riddled with weeds by the thousands, there's still something you can do about it. Simply purchase a roll of black plastic, like the kind used for paint drop-cloths. Cut it to the dimensions of your beds and cover it with a few inches of mulch. The weeds underneath will not only be deprived of light but also cooked to death by the heat buildup. If left in place, it will also prevent new weeds from growing. Just be sure to leave ample uncovered space around the bases of your good plants, or they may suffer the same fate. Replace the plastic at the beginning of each year during your garden maintenance routine.

Eat Them

Few people realize that the weeds that interfere with their vegetable gardening are actually vegetables themselves. Nearly all of the much-hated weeds are delicious and nutrient-rich food sources. These include plantago, dandelion, pigweed, lamb's quarters, chicory, purslane, clover, dockweed and mallow. Instead of cursing them, consider serving them up with dinner.

Salt

If you've ever gotten road salt on your grass from springtime snow melt, then you know how effective it is at killing plants. Fortunately, you can apply this principle to those weeds invading your garden as long as there are no desired plants too close by, or on those cracks in your driveway or sidewalk. Simply mix a little rock salt with water and pour it over the offending weeds. They should die in a few days. Vinegar has also been known to work.

Weeds are an inevitable part of maintaining a lawn or garden, and if you allow them to flourish, they only become harder to control. If you want to get rid of them, don't reach for the poison. Try some of the tips above and you'll be surprised at safely and effectively you can control the problem.