Natural weed killers: which home remedies are suitable and why you should avoid vinegar, salt, etc

Natural weed killers are the best solution against annoying weeds. They do not harm your plants or the environment and are also very effective. But not all seemingly natural remedies are equally suitable for combating weeds. Read on to learn which home remedies you can safely use and why you should avoid others like salt and vinegar.

Every gardener dreams of a simple solution to all of their weed problems. Weeds always find ideal places to reproduce and multiply, but these places are usually in the middle of our flower beds, vegetable gardens or lawns. It also becomes particularly annoying when they...between stone slabs, terrace jointsand garden paths are sprouting. Not only do weeds disrupt our well-planned design, but they also compete with desired plants for nutrients and water, affecting the plants' ability to thrive.

Kill weeds with home remedies

Although it can sometimes be tempting to use various weed killers from the garden center, using poison is not a good solution to weeds. For the sake of the environment and health, you should look for alternative methods of removing weeds from your garden and patio.

Although weeding is the most effective method of controlling weeds, it is not the only one at all. If you don't want to remove the wild plants mechanically or by hand, you can also try some proven home remedies to win the war with the weeds.

A well-known weed killer, which is often falsely advertised as organic, can be made yourself from vinegar, salt and dishwashing liquid in the following mixing ratio: 3.5 liters of white vinegar, 250 grams of salt and a tablespoon of dishwashing liquid. The resulting solution is sprayed on the weeds from a short distance, thereby killing the plant and its roots. The whole thing becomes even more effective if you do the weeding during the midday heat, as hot weather and sun promote the effectiveness of the vinegar solution.

Legally speaking, this solution does not pose a problem, but it is extremely controversial. The home remedy cannot distinguish between weeds and other plants and will attack anything growing in close proximity. This weed killer is also not well suited for weeds between joints, as it can get into the groundwater during cleaning or when it rains and deteriorate its quality. The same applies to other home remedies such as baking soda/baking powder and citric acid.

Natural weed killers are the better solution

If you want to use natural weed killers, you should choose products that destroy the unwanted plant and its roots without harming other plants and the environment.

When fertilizer helps against weeds

Can you really get rid of annoying weeds by fertilizing? Yes, if it grows in the lawn. This method works wonderfully if youstruggling with clover in the lawnhave. A nitrogen-rich lawn fertilizer suppresses clover and other weeds in the lawn so that they no longer sprout.

Mulch and ground cover are natural weed killers

Who thatWeeds in bedsIf you want to kill them naturally, you can lay a layer of mulch and thus smother the unwanted wild plants. To prevent weeds from growing through the mulch, this layer should be at least 10 cm thick. Before mulching, you should not forget to fertilize the beds.

Ground cover plants are anothergood method for natural weed control. A dense plant cover prevents weeds from establishing themselves, meaning that existing wild plants no longer receive light to grow and also die over time.

The best natural remedy for weeds is heat!

Whether with a thermal device or hot water, heat is probably the most effective way to remove weeds from joints and more. Weed burners are available both electrically and with gas and they heat the weeds to more than 1,000 degrees Celsius. The plant dies due to the heat shock. However, with deep-rooted weeds, the heat cannot always reach the roots and they can sprout again in a few weeks.

Boiling water is slightly more likely to kill the plant's roots because the water penetrates deeper into the soil than the heat from the weed burner.

For this method you need boiling water (pasta water or potato water also works well), which you simply pour over the weeds you want to remove. This destroys the cell structure of the plant and after regular use it dies.

If your pressure washer uses hot water, you can do that tooTargeted destruction of weeds.