Drive Them from Cracks with Vinegar and Salt:
If weeds or grass sprout from cracks in your driveway, sidewalk, or any other outdoor paved surface, squirt them with a vinegar and salt solution. To make it, combine 2 cups vinegar, ¼ cup salt, and 2 drops liquid dish detergent in a jar, screw the cap on tightly, and shake well. A simpler alternative is pouring boiling salted water into the cracks. When applying either weed killer, make sure no runoff reaches your garden plants.
Make Your Own Weed Killer:Chemical-laden weed killers do the job, all right, but so do greener alternatives that are easy to make at home. Whatever your views of conventional vs. organic gardening, it's always wise to try weed killers with low toxicity before using harsher poisons. The acetic acid in vinegar kills the leaves of a weed, not the root — but if you apply this spray often enough it will deplete the weed's stored energy reserves and kill off the intruder.
- 2 cups water
- 1½ cups vinegar (white or cider)
- ½ cup dishwashing liquid
Using a funnel, pour all of the ingredients into a 1-litre spray bottle and shake well to mix. Spray the solution directly on weeds, taking care not to spray any surrounding grass or desirable plant
Mix a Poison Ivy Weed Killer
Poison ivy is one weed you don't want to mess around with. Kill it with a spray of vodka and water. Combine 2 tablespoons vodka with 2 cups water and pour the solution into a spray bottle. Vodka's dehydrating action will kill poison ivy soon after the leaves are saturated.
Newspaper and Plastic Smotherers:
If part of your garden seems a little too weed-friendly, try one of these mulches to keep undesirable plants from sprouting.
Newspapers: Wet several sheets of newspaper so that they cling together, and then set the mat over a
patch of weeds. Camouflage the mat by topping it with wood chips or other mulch. Remove it once the
weeds are kaput
Trash bags: Split the seams of black plastic trash bags to double their size and use them to blanket the
problem spot. Spiff the plastic up with wood chips or such and leave it in place 10-14 days
— by which time the weeds should be dead and gone.
