Saturday, December 6, 2014

Keep Your Garden Healthy By Discovering What To Use To Kill Weeds

By Claudine Hodges


Once summer weather rolls around it brings with it green lawns and bountiful gardens, however there is also one aspect of this time of year all gardeners dislike, weeds. Finding out what to use to kill weeds is important to keep them from spoiling the look and health of one's property. Fortunately there are many safe and natural ways to do this without resorting to harmful chemicals.

In some cases, such as when weeds grow in close proximity to flowers or vegetables, they will need to be pulled out. It's important to do this properly or they will just grow back. After watering, when the soil is moist, dig until the bottom of the weed's root system is reached, and uproot the entire plant. The discarded weeds can be used as compost.

It's also possible to put an end to these pesky invaders by suffocating them, cutting off their access to sunlight. Cut some old newspapers into strips and place them over areas of weed growth, then cover this up with some garden mulch, it will be necessary to use several layers of newspapers because some weeds can poke through.

Commercial herbicides on the market often contain potentially hazardous chemicals, as an alternative to this, one can prepare a homemade weed killer that only contains safe ingredients. Mix together thoroughly two cups of white vinegar, one-half cup of salt, and several drops of dish soap, making sure the salt dissolves fully, pour into a spray bottle and spritz weed-growth with it. Make sure it does not come into contact with other plants or it may kill them.

One area that is often plagued by weed growth are the cracks between paving or patio stones. The best way to kill these off is to dump salt on them, either table salt or driveway rock salt work well. One must ensure that they don't get salt on nearby grass though, or it too will die.

Heat and fire are also effective herbicides. The use of a regular blow-torch or a propane-powered weed scorcher works well as a spot treatment, without actually igniting the weeds, the hot flame passing over them will dry up the moisture inside them, causing them to wither up and die.

In ornamental flower beds, it is possible to plan one's plantings in such a way that it will reduce the likelihood of weeds being able to thrive there. Selecting ground covering plants that by nature prevent weed species from getting the nutrients, sun, and water they require to flourish is a good way to avoid this issue altogether. Examples include creeping thyme, Walker's low catmint, and Majestic lilyturf, to name just a few.

When preparing beds for fall planting in the summer, a technique called "solarizing" can be particularly effective for killing existing weed growth, and also preventing it next season. It is done by first raking and tilling the soil in the bed to eliminate debris, digging a trench about 8 inches deep around its perimeters, then placing a clear, plastic sheet over the bed, positioning the edges in the trench and securing them with soil. This must be kept in place for 4-6 weeks then removed, fertilized, and it is ready for planting.




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