I spent yesterday at a family member’s house, so I decided to give him a hand and get some of the weeds out of the brick walkway that leads to his home. The walkway is covered with crabgrass and clover – so much so that the weeds look like they will soon take over the space.
The problem is that this family member doesn’t want to use chemicals or a commercial weed killer on the weeds, so getting the weeds – which are quite large – out from between the bricks is very tough. I thought about spraying on some weed killer on and not telling him about it, but because he has pets who might inject the poison, I put on some gloves yesterday and did some old-fashioned weed pulling. After about 30 minutes of pulling weeds in the hot summer sun, however, I was hot and tired and still had a lot of weeds to tackle.
So I did some research, and found these other natural ways of getting rid of weeds. I hope to go back to his house and try at least one of these methods on his front yard’s pesky weeds.
- Scald the Weeds: Weeds will die if soaked in boiling hot water, so boil water until it’s piping hot and pour it over the weeds.
- Give Them Vinegar: Vinegar burns weeds, so fill a spray bottle with straight vinegar and spritz it on the weeds. Those pesky intruders should die out within a few days.
- “Solarize” the Weeds: This method takes a few weeks, but it is effective. Spread clear plastic over the weeds and leave the area covered for a few weeks to give time for the sun to work its magic and burn out the weeds.
The below video includes many helpful tips for getting rid of weeds, plus info on ways to keep the weeds from sprouting in the first place.
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Lauren, I’ve used vinegar and it works well. You can come back in a few days a pull out the dead weeds which are so much easier to get out than ones with roots still in tact. But, be prepared to have the whole area smelling like a deli! 😉 I’ve never tried the boiling water, but am willing to give it a try. Someone also recommended bleach, although there is an unnatural chemical component to that which might not appeal to the homeowner (and it might stain the walkway). Good luck!
Thanks, Meredith! Now that I know someone who’s actually tried the vinegar method, I’ll give it a try! Thanks for stopping by! Hope you are enjoying your summer.