Gardening: how to make an effective homemade weed killer?

By wikinus 19 Aug, 2020 Post a Comment

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Do you have a little patch of green to maintain? The weeding stage is inevitable.

There are several effective natural techniques to avoid the use of chemical weed killers that are harmful to your health and the balance of your garden.

We show you several tips to make your own natural home weed killer.

Chemical weed killers or pesticides, such as glyphosate, have been on the upswing since their introduction in the 1970s.

Fast and effective, they were long believed to be the miracle solution to avoid the drudgery of weeding and to maintain your garden easily.

Today we realize that these solutions could have a negative impact on the environment because they unbalance biodiversity by poisoning insects and indirectly birds.

Serious doubts have also been raised about their impact on the health of living beings directly exposed to them.

In 2015, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified glyphosate as a "probable carcinogen".

Products containing this controversial herbicide are now banned or restricted for use in 17 countries around the world.

Fortunately, there are natural and equally effective alternatives for weeding your garden healthily without toxic risks to you or biodiversity.

Misconceptions about weeds

Before revealing how to make a powerful and natural weed killer, let's get rid of a few preconceived ideas about "weeds", also known as undesirable or weeds.

It is important to know that these so-called "weeds" are not so bad.

They are indeed a precious indicator of the quality of your soil.

Before eliminating them, use them to make an initial diagnosis of your garden.

The daisy, for example, is an indicator plant of clay and acidic soil, more or less depleted in calcium.

As for the quackgrass, it colonizes tired soils.

It is a sign of soil that is too often overturned. With these precious indications, it will be easier for you to choose the plants that will acclimatize best in your home or to apply fertilizers to rebalance the nature of your soil.

Other undesirables are also precious allies in encouraging insects to come. Dandelion flowers, poppies or blueberries will attract bees and foraging insects.

Their presence in a garden is extremely beneficial since it allows it to blossom and prevents diseases.

With this information in hand, however, you will need to contain the development of weeds because they are too invasive and end up competing with the remains of plants and shrubs that will have difficulty developing.

Wild weeds can also damage the slabs of your patio or driveway.

Here are a few solutions to get rid of them naturally

Manual Weeding

It may be the most tedious weed control, but it is certainly the most effective, at least when the weeds are already well developed.

To do manual weeding, you first need the right equipment.

Gloves and a hoe will be your best allies.

You can also equip yourself with a weeding knife, depending on the plant you want to remove.

The best time to weed manually will be in the middle of a sunny day, ideally a rainy day afterwards so that the soil is wet and makes it easier to remove the plants with their whole roots.

For even more efficiency, several days of sunshine in a row would be required.

This would allow stubborn residues to dry out and prevent the regrowth of roots that have become stuck in the soil.

Weeding with hot water

This tip is ideal for weeding your terrace or driveway.

It will dry small weeds and plants that get in between the tiles.

To do this, simply pour hot water directly on top, or even better, boiling cooking water for pasta, potatoes (preferably organic) or rice.

They have the particularity of being rich in starch, which is harmful to plants, and in salt, which will dry out their roots.

However, be careful not to overuse them because too much salt in the water can have a harmful effect on your soil by also impoverishing the micro biodiversity.

Weeding with white vinegar

In the same way as for hot water, the white vinegar weeding technique is perfect to preserve terraces and paving from rebellious small weeds.

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White vinegar contains acetic acid, a powerful herbicide.

It will burn the grass on the surface. Also be careful not to abuse it to avoid damaging the micro biodiversity of the soil.

Use a 50/50 diluted mixture, i.e. one volume of white vinegar for one volume of water.

Dilution in water will prevent the vinegar from affecting the fertility of your soil.

A little tip for a more precise spraying, use a sprayer and add a drop of dishwashing liquid that will encourage contact with the leaves! To be done in the morning of a sunny day for even more efficiency.

You can also make your own vinegar by macerating ordinary wine stock in a bottle for a month.

Two litres will be enough to obtain enough acetic acid.

Weeding with baking soda

Baking soda has the same effect as salt because it dries out plants.

It will be very effective in preventing the growth of undesirables between the slabs of your terrace.

To do this, simply sprinkle the areas to be treated with baking soda, ideally once or twice a year, in the spring and/or autumn.

Leave it on, the sun and dew will do the rest. You can double its effectiveness by combining it with boiling water.

With white vinegar, baking soda is the essential product to have in your cupboards.

You can use it for many other things in the kitchen or for home maintenance.

Weeding with nettle manure

This plant has the particularity of being a very good ecological weed killer.

Transformed in the form of liquid manure (very fragrant), it will be perfect to weed your flowerbeds or your vegetable garden.

The recipe for good nettle manure is simple.

You will need 2 kg of nettle for 10 litres of water. Favour rainwater collected in basins.

Cut the nettle leaves into thin strips and leave them to macerate in water for 3 to 7 days. Mix regularly, at least once a day.

The liquid manure is ready when no more bubbles form. Filter the mixture and pour this precious liquid over the area to be weeded.

Keep the nettle residues aside, they will make a very good ecological fertilizer mixed with your compost.

Tarpaulin

If you want to weed a large area for the preparation of a vegetable garden or flowerbed for example, start by covering the area with a large black plastic sheet.

This technique will have the same effect as thermal weeding as it will burn the weeds by the action of the heat.

All you will have to do is hoe and prepare your soil for sowing.