Natural weed killer

I have a small dog and do not want to use harsh chemicals, I have been using Boiling water... this is the result but the weeds still re appear- a lot less but they do come back. any tips?

Thank you.

vinegar.. best use white distilled vinegar.

Thank you. Zwolle...I have also used vinegar, and dish soap. I guess the trick is to just keep it up.

you can also use cleaning alcohol ( the cheap undrinkable one ) containing 80 to 90 % alcohol. there is also garden equipment where you burn the plants you should google it. burning the plants also work well - its fast and cheap.

another way is to use salt , however if you use large quantites of salt it will leech into the soil and render the soil on that spot unusable for many years ( plants won't grow there )

This message was edited Aug 13, 2014 10:23 AM

thank you.

Use whichever method you like, but then dig up the remnants, because most of these methods do not kill the roots.

Thank you Diana I do, But I must not be getting the root (cant reach with shovel or hands) they are in cracks of cement and against brick of house. Thank you for the reply's.

moms - instead of using vinegar, alcohol or salt (which can affect surrounding soil), my fave tool for weeds growing in concrete/cement/pavers is a Bernzomatic. It's a propane torch with a long reach designed especially for gardening. It's fairly inexpensive and uses a little camping propane tank. You may have to repeat the burning a couple of times to kill off the weeds but it's very therapeutic. Just make sure there are no combustibles in close proximity.

My best tool for trying to remove weeds small or larger, from between pavers, Cracks in steps etc is a good old screw driver with a good handle, you stick the metal end down between the Pavers and grip the weed as you try to loosen the roots while tugging the weed. sometimes soft growth gets broken BUT, most are pulled out freely WITH THE ROOTS INTACK,
Tried vinegar, salt, boiling water BUT hand weeding is very therapeutic to me anyway. and the salt, vinegar etc needs redoing every few weeks.

There is NO method chemical, home made or otherwise that will give you a weed free area. weeds grow where there is space, light and other competition, so whenever you get rid of some weeds, the space will be taken up by the seeds of some other weed.

What you need to do is make sure when your trying to remove these weeds, you don't WIDEN the narrow gap they are growing in or you will make a nice home for ants, other larger weeds, maybe other insects etc. IF you manage to remove the weeds from narrow cracks, always try to fill the crack in with concrete or sand or other stuff, this prevents the weeds blowing into the gap again.

Good luck and best Regards.
WeeNel.

Thank you!
WeeNel...

I will try using a screw driver and filling in with sand.

I am also trying the newspaper method for bigger areas. wish me luck!