Well it is getting to be that time of the year. I had to break out the lawn mower over the weekend and make that first pass. I have quite a bit of landscaping that uses a lot of gravel. And if there is one thing that loves to pop up through that gravel, it’s weeds and more weeds.
I usually use something like Roundup concentrate that I can mix super strong and it usually does the job. However, my dog Ranger loves to stick his nose into every little smell, including recently sprayed weeds. Probably not the healthiest thing he could do. So I started doing some research on pooch-safe weed killers. Turns out there are some pre-mixed ones you can purchase but you will pay a pretty penny for them. After doing some more research, I found you can make your own weed killer from items most folks already have in their homes. Interested? Read on….
Earthfriends.com have some great home recipes for homemade weed killers. Check ’em out:
Salt And Vinegar
This is a natural weed killer with salt, vinegar and liquid dish soap (e.g. Dawn). Combine the following ingredients in a spray bottle:
1 gallon white vinegar
1 cup salt
1 Tablespoon liquid dish soap
Spray weeds with this vinegar weed killer during the sunniest time of day for optimum results.
If dandelions are covering your lawn, this is a good one to use. Pour some of the mixture into a spray bottle that has a “stream” setting that will give you a direct shot (not mist). Spray the mixture onto the dandelion heads. The spray will kill the dandelions without killing the grass, as long as you don’t get the mixture onto the lawn.
On that note, like other toxic weed killers this recipe will not only destroy your weeds, the acetic acid in the vinegar might also harm other plants and grass that come into contact with the spray. So no matter the type of weed, use with caution and squirt directly to the weed itself versus applying to the area around it more liberally.
Apple Cider Vinegar Epsom Salt Weed Killer
Another similar recipe uses apple cider instead of white vinegar and no dish soap.
2 cups of apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup of Epsom salt
Fill a spray bottle with the apple cider vinegar. Place a funnel into the mouth of the bottle and add salt. Shake the bottle well to mix the ingredients. Then, spray the weed and they should crumble away within a day.
The recipes above work well but can hurt your grass, so be careful when you apply them.
So if you are looking for something a bit safer (and way less expensive), give the above a try. I had awesome luck with the first one.
H/T: earthfriends.com