Killing weeds

[CJ1]

Murdering weeds is not only a fantasy of any gardener. But it's also the bane of their existence.

Well if you are using pregrown plants there is a very easy way to make sure they never sprout.

Cornmeal.
Cornmeal is basically gluten. Which is a pre-emergent seed aborting machine. It stops them from germinating. No it won't kill any weeds that have already taken root and popped up to see the sun. But if you spread it around your garden (and yard) in early spring it will stop seeds from last year's weeds from germinating but doesn't harm most grasses. And worms LOVE IT!

BUT it is an indiscriminate killer of seeds. It will stop your corn beans and any other little thing you put in the garden. So use it sparingly in parts of your garden where you plan on planting things from seed. I only use it where I plant from started plants.

Then once my crop is growing and weeds have been murdered I will continue to sprinkle it over the garden and yard say Once a month. More during rainy periods.

The rest of the garden? I don't weed. This is why we have straw newspaper and vinegar. I'll explain this later.

 

[Mini Horses]

Majority of vinegar available for OTC purchase is not strong enough to do a REAL GOOD job of killing weeds well & quickly. But, newpaper and cardboard does a good job, as well as hold moisture. A good layer of cardboard below a new raised bed also helps to deter some of the underground burrowers. Of course, print, glue, etc. is a consideration but usually not enough of it to cause issues.

 

[CJ1]

Normal white vinegar kills very well if applied properly. But you have to protect your growing plants. Use the same method you would use if you were to spray herbicides to protect against overspray. But unlike herbicides used on a warm day it is not persistent. Toss a plastic bag over your plants then liberally spray the weeds when the top layer of soil is dry. Within a couple hours pull the plastic from your plants and the weeds will die.

Used in conjunction with other methods and it's almost magical.

I don't have a lot of experience with raised beds. What underground diggers do you want to keep out and for what plants?

 

[MoonShadows]

I have a brick front walkway, and each Spring when grass and weeds begin growing between the bricks I buy 3-4 gallons of white vinegar and use an old watering can to "water" the bricks. You can see the weeds and grass dying within an hour, and they turn completely brown and crumble up within a week. A second treatment is usually required by late summer.

 

[sumi]

This is very interesting information, thanks for sharing!

 

[baymule]

I have another weed killer. Sheep. The only downside is that they eat/kill everything! We have them in an area right now that is infested with poison oak/ivy. I break out something terrible from that stuff, so the sheep eating it is a win/win!

 

[sumi]

Sheep and goats? I love anything that eats nettles! Those things are my poison ivy lol