I’m really excited to be guest posting for Nap Time is My Time today! Emily asked that I share one of my favorite eco-conscious living tips, so with the summer gardening season in full swing, I figured I’d share our attack plan for weeds!
Now I know that the first thing you want to do when you see weeds in your garden is to run to the home improvement store and pick up a giant bottle of weed killer. Don’t do it! The chemicals in those bottles are so incredibly bad for you and your crops!!! With a little bit of patience, diligence, and two ingredients that you’re bound to have in your kitchen, you can make your own all-natural, effective weed killer!
In a large spray bottle, add a cup of blue Dawn and a cup of vinegar (white is best, but any kind will work) and fill the rest with water. Mix well. We actually found that making this mixture in one of the Roundup pump and spray thing-a-ma-jiggers was super easy and efficient!
Spray the mixture onto the weeds’ leaves. No – not the roots. The way this works is the dish soap will cause the mixture to stick to the leaves. Then the vinegar will clog the pores on the leaves, keeping the sunlight from penetrating – thus, they won’t be able to photosynthesize, and the plant will die. This is especially effective on hot, sunny days. Make sure you’re careful not to spray this on your crops (I know – duh!), as it will kill those as well.
So, the next time you need to get rid of some weeds, mix up your own batch of all-natural weed killer instead of using those dreaded chemicals!
Leah blogs at Crunchy Farm Baby, where she writes about all things having to do with a crunchy lifestyle – natural/attachment parenting, vegetarian/vegan cooking, breastfeeding, babywearing, gardening, raising chickens, chemical-free cleaning, natural pet care, toddler activities, and fun stories about life on a small farm in Pennsylvania!
I am so going to be doing this next summer! Thanks for the great tip!
Love it! We recently moved into a new house and discovered a stone patio behind the garage – but it’s covered in grass/weeds!! We had to dig a little to see it was there! Totally going to try this – thanks so much!
Don’t know if this is technically “all natural” but bleach works wonder on killing Poison Ivy. Great tips in this post 🙂
I LOVE this idea! We have so many weeds but I’m afraid to use traditional mixes around the kids. This would make me feel much better and my flower beds much prettier! Do you have to mix it up right before you use it or can you mix it and then use it later?
Thank you! I am making this TODAY! I’ll let you know how it goes!
What a great idea! I’ve been dealing since spring with pesky weed that just keeps coming back! I want to keep my veggies and herbs chem free! Do you have suggestions for beetle or bug problems that is safe or DIY?
This is great! I hate weed killers and while we don’t use Dawn, I’ll be sure to get some for this!
This is great! We have tons of weeds. I haven’t had time to do some research on a non-toxic alternative and was afraid my husband would gt some sort of weed killer before I could figure something out. I have these ingredients! Yeah. Thanks!!
I could so use this in my yard right now. We have a ridiculous amount of weeds because it’s been to hot to go out and pull them!
TOO hot. I always type faster than my brain thinks. 🙂
Awesome…. my garden bed is a haven for weeds. Good to have a natural & cheaper solution (no pun intended!)
I have tried this before on our patio and walk way. . .and I was surprised it works as well as Roundup!
I’m looking forward to trying it myself!
I’m not sure I’d call this “all natural” as Dawn has some pretty nasty ingredients. Quite a few in fact, and they are going right into the ground and to the water supply when you do this. You can just use boiling water, then you don’t have any concerns about the chemicals.
I have personally used vinegar to kill weeds, though it takes several applications. Thanks for the tip on boiling water, I’ve never heard of that. I haven’t tried this particular “recipe” from my guest blogger.
Thanks for stopping by!
I have tons of weed in my garden and I always use natural weed killers. usually acv, white vinegar or salt.These natural products do wonders!