The following recipes and weed removal techniques are recommended by several different authorities on herbicides. They’re also confirmed to be effective by average people who have tried them themselves.
1. Good old vinegar
The first one, as you might imagine, uses vinegar…white vinegar specifically.
Here’s the recipe.
- ⬥ 1 gallon white vinegar
- ⬥ 1 cup salt
- ⬥ 1 tbsp liquid dish soap
Simply combine all of the ingredients, put them in a spray bottle and at the sunniest time of the day spray those annoying, pesky weeds and wait for them to shrivel up and die!
This recipe works because both the acid in the vinegar and the salt remove moisture from weed. And the dish soap acts as what what’s called a surfactant.
The surfactant prevents the vinegar and salt solution from simply beading up on top of the leaves and allows it to be absorbed by the plant, ultimately causing it to die.
The results of using this formula will vary depending on the weed it’s used on. Unlike many chemicals, this mixture doesn’t kill the plant at the root but rather on the surface of the plant
Be careful when using this because it can kill plants you don’t want it to kill use it in areas that I removed from plants you want to keep
Tip: It’s important to let sunshine help you because the 5% acetic acid in the vinegar needs a little help to destroy hardier weeds.
2. Corn gluten
Another way to kill weeds naturally is to use corn gluten.
This product is available in pellet form, as a fine powder or as granules.
Note that this type of weed killer is preventative. You won’t be able to kill that annoying dandelion but it can keep weeds from germinating and poking their nasty little heads above the soil.
3. Water and salt
Another good weed killer option that works well on concrete and driveway weeds is to use the following.:
- ⬥ 2 quarts boiling tap water
- ⬥ 1 teaspoon to one tablespoon salt
Simply boil this mixture in a tea kettle and poor it on every weed you see in your driveway or concrete walkway.
4. Borax
- ⬥ 1 cup powdered Borax
- ⬥ 2 gallons water
Combine borax with water, add to a spray bottle and go to town on every weed you see!
Be careful, however, as with other natural weed killer options this can destroy plants you don’t want killed.
Note: this works for killing ants as well
5. Rubbing alcohol
- ⬥ 2 tablespoons rubbing alcohol
- ⬥ 1 quart of water
Another interesting and effective weed killer is a combination of rubbing alcohol with water.
Mix in a spray bottle and spray on the leaves of the weeds to kill the weeds from the top down.
Other methods of weed eradication
Finally, there are other ways to eliminate weeds.
Torch
Use a torch to kill the weeds in areas such as pathways or your driveway. Use with care and only in locations of low fire danger.
Pull them
A labor-intensive but very effective way to destroy weeds is to simply pull them. To make it easier there are tools available that will let you remove weeds, pulling them up from the roots, without the need to bend over.
Spread mulch
Yes, this isn’t technically a weed killer recipe, but mulching can do a lot to prevent weeds from coming up in the first place.
Spread out plastic where you want to keep weeds from coming up, then top it with at least 2 to 3 inches of mulch.
Ground cover
Ground cover works well if you have a lot of space. It will crowd out weeds, helping your plants grow stronger and healthier by keeping weeds from reaching the sunlight.
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