Finally, it's time to take down the tarps and bust out your gardening supplies once again! Spring is just around the corner, and everyone with green fingers is already chomping at the bit to get back to a spot of gardening. But, while gardening comes with many wonderful and relaxing benefits, it isn't without its annoying aspects too. For example, trying to find a way to destroy those pesky weeds without killing your beautiful flowers in the process.
The best bet for eliminating weeds and not your flowers is by using all-natural solutions. These 8 weed-killing alternatives are professional gardener-approved and can be made using products that you should be able to find in your cabinets at home.
1. White Vinegar
Pouring or spraying a little white vinegar on offending weeds will get rid of them very quickly. This acidic solution is perfect for shriveling weeds, but watch out for your flowers. Getting a little bit of vinegar on them won't kill them, but if you accidentally spill a large amount on them they will unfortunately die.
2. Cornmeal
If you want to stop weeds before they have even started to grow you should crack open the cornmeal. The proteins present in cornmeal - or specially-processed corn gluten meal - stop any seeds from germinating and growing. You can even sprinkle cornmeal on grown weeds as it will kill them just the same.
3. Boiling Water
This is the easiest and cheapest method on this list. Simply heat up a kettle of water and carefully pour it on your weeds for a quick and chemical-free way to purge your garden.
5. Homemade Herbicide
Store-bought herbicides have been used to kill weeds since they were mass-produced in the 1970s, but the amount of chemicals found in the majority of these is a major turn off for some gardeners. Therefore, a great alternative is to make your own homemade herbicide that is just as effective. Add equal parts vinegar, table salt, and dish soap to a bucket in order to create a weed killing solution that can be stopped. Put the mixture in a cheap spray bottle for easy use.
One teaspoon of baking soda per weed will be enough to kill it. It is important that the baking soda cover the entire plant, including its foliage, with the majority of the baking soda covering the weed's stem. This technique works best on walkways, patios, and driveways. Baking soda can also be used as a preventative measure by adding it to the cracks in which weeds grow.
7. Mulch
Laying down mulch is the most common way of smothering those unwanted weeds in the garden. Mulch won't hurt the plants that you love and tend to, but it will cover and kill those lower weeds. Best of all, the layer of mulch helps to hide the weeds after they're dead, keeping your garden looking nice and pretty.
8. Table Salt
This is one of the most popular methods for killing weeds and saving plants. You can sprinkle some salt directly onto the weeds or even create a salt mixture that can be sprayed. To ensure that your other flowers don't get hurt with this method, make sure just to sprinkle a little salt at the base of each weed.
Source: tiphero
