OCD About Weeds With Yellow Flowers
by Belinda Walker, Edmonds REALTOR®
Edmonds WA Real Estate
As a real estate agent, you can imagine I drive around Edmonds quite a bit. I've been noticing SO many yards filled with those little yellow flowers better known as weeds.
http://dnr.metrokc.gov/wlr/LANDS/weeds/weedid.htm
I have a 20' x 20' patch of land to the left of my driveway where the dirt is so hard that the only thing that will grow there is weeds.
I woke up one morning and decided my mission was to rid this patch of dirt of every single weed. Ok, so after about 20 minutes, I realized that pulling these demons by hand was probably not the "easy" way to go about it, so I set myself on a different mission - how to kill these weeds without damaging the surrounding flower beds or the environment.
The internet is a wonderful place! I found several recipes for non-toxic, homemade weed killers. The best I found goes like this:
Simply mix three parts white vinegar to one part dishwashing liquid in a spray bottle. Spritz the mixture on garden weeds.
This solution affects anything it comes in contact with and not in a good way. To prevent this, cut the bottom off a two-liter bottle and place the bottle over the weed you want to kill. Position the spray nozzle inside the bottle and spritz. The bottle isolates the offensive weed so you'll only get the solution on it.
One thing to note is this solution works best on hot, sunny days and against tender, young weeds. It will work on young dandelions, but some broadleaf weeds are harder to kill as they mature.
I've found that the purpose of the dishwashing liquid is to keep the solution ON the weeds so that it doesn't leach into other areas. It takes 24-48 hours for the weeds to die, depending on size. Once they are dead, they are very easy to get out of the ground or just mow over the shriveled up little guys.
So, increase the curb appeal of your home without adding toxins to the environment in this simple way.
Comments(0)