Using Organic Weed Killer

In running a landscaping business, I've seen how important something like organic weed killer is. In some regions of the United States, rain only comes during a 3 month window out of the year. That means that weed killers like Roundup are building up in the yard for 9 months out of the year waiting for the next rain to wash them all away into the storm drains and out into the ocean, causing hazardous conditions for swimmers and beach goers. That's sad. That's why I always try and use organic weed killer instead of the more commercial chemical brands. There are a few organic household chemicals that are easy and cheap to buy that work pretty decently as organic weed killers. Definitely give them a try before writing them off.

The basic principle around why organic weed killers work is because they're almost always some sort of acid. Weeds hate acid as do regular plants, but the interesting thing is that not all plants hate acidic soil. Some plants grow very well in an acidic environment, though most weeds don't. So there's a little trick for you. If you want to plant a garden but don't want a host of weeds growing up, plant a few acid loving plants and keep your soil more on the acidic side with things like coffee grounds and garden sulfur. Acidic soil is why you hardly ever see anything growing beneath those varieties of pine trees that drop their needles. Pine needles cause the soil to become acidic, and when you pair that with the overshadowing tree taking up most of the sunlight, you have a very good barrier against weeds.

So what kinds of plants like acidic soil? Here are some common garden plants that are especially acid loving:

Azaleas
Camellias
Blueberries
Gardenias
Hibiscus
Hydrangea
Magnolia

There are many more. The plants are not only beautiful, they also prefer the type of soil that weeds don't generally like. That's the reason that if you're thinking about giving organic weed killer a try, plant some plants that are acid loving as well so that they can benefit from the vinegar spray and not be harmed by the raise in the soil pH. It's a win win situation. If you want to try an organic weed killer but you don't have acid loving plants in your garden, you'll have to be especially cautious that you don't use too much of the spray because if enough of the vinegar is washed into the soil, it can temporarily change the pH and harm the regular plants. This changing of the pH is only temporary though with most organic weed killers, and definitely in the one we'll discuss next.

Now that you know the pros and cons of organic weed killer and the best environment to use it in, here's a quick explanation of what to use. The best natural herbicide I've discovered so far has been acetic acid. What's acetic acid you ask? Vinegar. Household white vinegar that you buy in the store is 5% acetic acid. It's still effective as a weed killer, but for best results, you'll need something a bit more powerful. If you come across distilled white vinegar that's 15% or even 30% strength, it will do a much better job as an herbicide. You can generally find stronger distilled vinegar at places that sell lots of horticulture supplies.

To use vinegar correctly as an herbicide spray, just spray it right onto the leaves of the weed. Do not spray vinegar on your other plants, even the acid loving ones. Acid loving plants only love slightly acidic soil, not acid on their leaves. The vinegar will kill whatever leaves it touches. Vinegar spray raises the acidity of the soil temporarily, and will keep it raised for about a week or so. Extra strength distilled vinegar really does work wonders and is very biodegradable. It's accepted in most forms by the organic community as a great herbicide. I say "most forms" because some processes of making and distilling vinegar require the use of harmful chemicals and so these forms wouldn't be considered truly organic.

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<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC '-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN' 'http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd'><html><head><title>Articles Back Link | Using Organic Weed Killer</title></head><body><h3>Using Organic Weed Killer</h3><br><br> By: Ben Mester<br><br><p><p>In running a landscaping business, I've seen how important something like organic weed killer is. In some regions of the United States, rain only comes during a 3 month window out of the year. That means that weed killers like Roundup are building up in the yard for 9 months out of the year waiting for the next rain to wash them all away into the storm drains and out into the ocean, causing hazardous conditions for swimmers and beach goers. That's sad. That's why I always try and use organic weed killer instead of the more commercial chemical brands. There are a few organic household chemicals that are easy and cheap to buy that work pretty decently as organic weed killers. Definitely give them a try before writing them off.</P><p>The basic principle around why organic weed killers work is because they're almost always some sort of acid. Weeds hate acid as do regular plants, but the interesting thing is that not all plants hate acidic soil. Some plants grow very well in an acidic environment, though most weeds don't. So there's a little trick for you. If you want to plant a garden but don't want a host of weeds growing up, plant a few acid loving plants and keep your soil more on the acidic side with things like coffee grounds and garden sulfur. Acidic soil is why you hardly ever see anything growing beneath those varieties of pine trees that drop their needles. Pine needles cause the soil to become acidic, and when you pair that with the overshadowing tree taking up most of the sunlight, you have a very good barrier against weeds.</P><p>So what kinds of plants like acidic soil? Here are some common garden plants that are especially acid loving:</P><p>Azaleas<br>Camellias<br>Blueberries<br>Gardenias<br>Hibiscus<br>Hydrangea<br>Magnolia</P><p>There are many more. The plants are not only beautiful, they also prefer the type of soil that weeds don't generally like. That's the reason that if you're thinking about giving organic weed killer a try, plant some plants that are acid loving as well so that they can benefit from the vinegar spray and not be harmed by the raise in the soil pH. It's a win win situation. If you want to try an organic weed killer but you don't have acid loving plants in your garden, you'll have to be especially cautious that you don't use too much of the spray because if enough of the vinegar is washed into the soil, it can temporarily change the pH and harm the regular plants. This changing of the pH is only temporary though with most organic weed killers, and definitely in the one we'll discuss next.</P><p>Now that you know the pros and cons of organic weed killer and the best environment to use it in, here's a quick explanation of what to use. The best natural herbicide I've discovered so far has been acetic acid. What's acetic acid you ask? Vinegar. Household white vinegar that you buy in the store is 5% acetic acid. It's still effective as a weed killer, but for best results, you'll need something a bit more powerful. If you come across distilled white vinegar that's 15% or even 30% strength, it will do a much better job as an herbicide. You can generally find stronger distilled vinegar at places that sell lots of horticulture supplies.</P><p>To use vinegar correctly as an herbicide spray, just spray it right onto the leaves of the weed. Do not spray vinegar on your other plants, even the acid loving ones. Acid loving plants only love slightly acidic soil, not acid on their leaves. The vinegar will kill whatever leaves it touches. Vinegar spray raises the acidity of the soil temporarily, and will keep it raised for about a week or so. Extra strength distilled vinegar really does work wonders and is very biodegradable. It's accepted in most forms by the organic community as a great herbicide. I say "most forms" because some processes of making and distilling vinegar require the use of harmful chemicals and so these forms wouldn't be considered truly organic.<br></P></p> <br><br> <b>Author Resource:-></b>  <br><br><b>Article From</b> <a href='http://www.articlesbacklink.com/'>Articles Back Link</a><br></body></html>