Do you have pesky weeds in your yard? Learn how to make weed killer naturally. Homemade weed killer works great without any harsh chemicals.
How to make weed killer
We have been having some serious weed issues at our house. With all of the little kids running around, it make me nervous to use the harsh weed killers sold in the big box home stores. However, pulling weeds is definitely not a fun job.
I thought I would try making my own weed killer this season. Have you ever attempted to make homemade weed killer?
I have made a lot of things on my own before, but honestly, I did not know how to make homemade weed killer myself. I am now happy to report that I have tried it and it is not as difficult as I thought.
There are loads of different concoctions available, so I thought I would compile a list of homemade weed killers here. Let us know which of these you use (or try) and which works best for you.
How to kill weeds naturally
1. Boiling Water
Believe it or not, boiling water works great on killing weeds (and most plant life). Pour directly on the offending growth and allow time to do the trick.
Be careful not to pour on items you would like to keep. Also, be extremely careful to not burn yourself while carrying the boiling water outside.
2. Popular Organic Weed Spray
Mix together 1 gallon vinegar, 2 cups salt (Epsom or table salt) and ¼ cup Dawn dish in a large pump sprayer. Be very careful to limit the exposure of this vinegar and salt weed spray to your other plants.
This concoction will kill any plant life it comes into contact with. Due to this, I do not recommend repeated exposure. Adding too much salt to your soil will cause long term issues with your plants.
3. Equal Parts Vinegar and Castile Soap
Mix together equal parts castile soap and vinegar in a spray bottle. This is fairly weak as far as homemade weed killers go, but it does seem to be effective on new weeds.
However, this vinegar weed killer does not work so well on weeds that are established. So, just keep that in mind.
4. Pure Vinegar
You can pour vinegar directly on any offending weeds, but be careful! This is best used in flower beds instead of grass as vinegar will kill any plant life it comes into contact with.
If you have a planter or flower bed with a few weeds popping up here and there, this may be a viable option for you.
5. Peanut Shells
Crush natural peanut shells and sprinkle them around the base of flowers or plants in your beds. I have not tried this one before, but I am very curious if someone has. I would love to know how well this works.
6. Natural Weed Killer
Mix ½ gallon white vinegar with the juice of 1 lemon and 1 tablespoon liquid dish soap. Mix together and and spray diy weed killer directly on offending weeds.
Be careful to avoid overspray. This works best if sprayed on a hot sunny day as the sun will do its part to kill the sprayed weeds.
7. Sugar
Some people claim that using sugar (powdered or granulated) helps root out weed problems. This is especially effective on grass as it can help the grass flourish while draining the weed of the nutrients it needs to survive.
Sprinkle a light amount of sugar on your lawn and lightly water it. Do not oversaturate or forget to water it.
Keep in mind that if you leave sugar on the blades of the grass, this could attract unwanted pests. I have not tried this method before so I might suggest starting with a small area to see how this works for you.
Tips and tricks for homemade weed killer recipe:
- If you have been looking for how to make homemade weed killer, you’ve probably come across suggestions for using only salt or only baking soda.
- I have been advised (by a knowledgeable person) that using salt or baking soda is not that great.
- Keep in mind that both of these will kill the offending weeds and surrounding vegetation. They can also seep into the soil and spread to surrounding areas. Areas where you (or your neighbors) may be trying to grow plants or grass.
- Too much salt and/or baking soda can be quite harmful to the soil, for a long period of time. If you decide to go one of those two routes for killing your weeds, please use an abundance of caution.
Give these homemade weed killer ideas a try.
There are a handful of homemade weed killer ideas for you. Once you find the weed control that works best for you, you will be on your way to getting rid of weeds.
Leave a comment and let us know which homemade weed killer you like to use. Which have you had the most success with? All of these are great ideas to try.
If it is not something from this list, please share it by leaving a comment. I’m sure other readers would love to try it too.
More Garden Tips:
- How to start a Container Garden
- Gardening for Beginners
- When to Plant a garden
- How to make natural pesticide
where have you been all my life ? I cannot wait to try these Thanks so much, Patti
Thanks Patti!
I have been making the weed-killer “brew” for years; however instead of the 2 cups of salt as suggested in the article, I use one cup of salt to one gallon of vinegar, I boil them together, then add about a shot-glass (approx. 3 tbs) of dish soap pouring the mixture into a heat-proof watering-can. Pour over the cracks in your walkway or directly on the weeds/grasses that you want to kill. I agree that a warm/hot sunny day is best. Works great at killing the weed/grasses, but the dead weeds will still have to be pulled out.
Thanks for sharing Diane!
Used the peanut shell method on plants a few tears ago. Worst mistake, as I attracted every squirrel in the neighbourhood and they did a number on my plants as they were digging looking for the peanut. LOL….wife thought that it was funny!!!
Thanks for sharing Martin!