How to get rid of weeds without pesticides?

Question

Hi my lawn is more weeds then grass. After buying a riding lawn mower and keeping the grass short, I hoped to prevent weeds from spreading. Bought a roofing blowtorch and fried some of the weeds, only to see them come back within a week. How about extra firtilizer, dethatching the lawn and even seeding grass seeds in the fall. What helps best other than plowing it under and using poison.

Answer 1

I would prefer you to be more specific. What types of weeds are you talking about? Most people don't realize that almost all grass types are THEMSELVES considered weeds, just weeds we like looking at.

I used to be a landscaper here in Arizona, where there are two main types of grass (by main, I mean most popular for the conditions here): Rye grass for winter and Bermuda grass for summer months.

Most NOXIOUS weeds (dandelions, clover and such) or types of grass you DON'T want (Johnson grass or Nutt's Edge grass) will just get a better foothold if you dethatch your lawn. Dethatching basically rips the grass you DO want into smaller sections, sometimes damaging the roots. Dethatching is more to knock back overthatched (or thickly grown) lawn grasses such as Bermuda.

While dandelions will grow most anywhere and in any conditions, clover will only take hold in barren spots, like what you have after dethatching. I would recommend a "Weed and Feed" type fertilizer, which gives nutrients to specific grasses but will kill weeds.

For Nutt's Edge grass we tried an experiment. Once Nutts Edge gets into an area, (typically an area which floods fairly often) it's almost impossible to get rid of and spreads quickly. We had a small area of Nutt's Edge. We pounded some short wooden stakes (like grading stakes) into the ground around the infected area and attached clear polyetheline across the tops of the stakes so that the plastic isn't lying right on the grass area. After about a week of intense sunshine (remember, I'm in Arizona) the Nutt's Edge was dead (well, EVERYTHING was dead- we pretty much baked, well, sterilized, the ground). We then went in , dug the ground up and replaced it with sod. Never had THAT weed there again. But I would need a lot more detail on what your particular cicumstances are to give you good advice.

Answer 2

No portion of a weed may remain when you are weeding by hand, otherwise the plant grows back.

What we call weeds are well adapted plants that thrive in conditions that are unfavorable to the grasses we prefer. Weeds will take the easiest path, hence they do better if the ground contains rocks or perhaps old tree roots.

Make sure that you mantain conditions that favor the grass. Water only when needed and avoid runoff or erosion. You must develop a schedule for plug-pulling and dethatching to ensure that the ground is not compressed, an anti-grass condition.

Mow grass at the highest length allowed. Learn what grasses you have and what conditions they like. Learn how to sharpen the blades on you mower and do it several times each season; dull blades tear the tops of the grasses. You can tell if you blades are dull by looking at the grass two days after mowing. If the blades are dull the tops will be ragged and brown.

There is a tool that helps you remove weeds by softening the ground around the weed. It does this by injecting water around the root. I have it and it works well. It's sold by Lee Valley Tools and called a "Water-Powered Weeder"; about $40.

Good luck.

Answer 3

The best offense you can offer against weeds is a good healthy lawn. Make sure that you have the best recommended grass for your area and conditions. Water deeply when needed, this encourages deeper root growth and fertilize on a scheduled basis. Call this year a wash, but keep working on the health of your grass, and it will crowd out most of the weeds next year.

Answer 4

Good old fasioned getting on your knees and pulling them by hand. Preferably after a good watering, either by rain, or you so the ground is softened up slightly. But you have to get the entire root out as well, preferably before they flower.

If you have so many that doing the labor isnt what you wanna do, just get a WEED killer, something that only kills weeds, not grass.

Good luck.

Answer 5

Try using boiling water. I've done this with stubborn weeds in the past. It's time consuming to pour the water on each weed, but it kills them right down to the root. However, there are some weeds that simply will not respond to anything other than a good chemical.

Answer 6

Keep pulling them out, never allow them to go to seed. A lot of weeds re-seed themselves. You can also pour boiling water on them or gasoline. If all of this fails use weed and feed!

Answer 7

I have used salt sprinkled around weeds

also hot boiling water[ be careful]but this is for poison ivy not weeds in the whole yard

Answer 8

Pesticides kill insects. Herbicides kill weeds. Try weed-B-Gone or Bayer Chemical's weed and crab grass killer.

Answer 9

Chemicals.

Answer 10

Pesticides won't help anyway, that's to get rid of bugs, not weeds.