Organic Weed Control

Utilizing organic weed control methods can be challenging when trying to rid your yard of these invasive critters. Weeds must be dealt with in your vegetable garden, your perennial garden, your annual garden, your lawn, your patio, in between cracks in the driveway and growing up through the cracks and crevices in your deck. They like the sun, they like the shade, they grow in dry soil, they grow in moist soil, they are an ongoing, never-ending issue!

Of course, every area comes with it’s own unique set of opportunities and challenges. There are also your own personal feelings and preferences that you have to grapple with as you decide how to proceed. Personally, I would like to get myself to a point of gardening and landscaping in a completely organic way, including organic weed control. While for the most part I think I have been successful, controlling weeds without herbicides can be a challenge. (Unless you have an exorbitant amount of time to pull them by hand, of course, which I don’t.)

My most favorite form of keeping these nasty little suckers at bay is using a biodegradable landscaping fabric such as newspaper, and then layering it with 4-6 inches of organic mulch. This is a preventative form of organic weed control which is very effective! I've had lots of success controlling weeds in many areas of my yard using this preventative measure to eliminate the need for pesticides.

This isn’t a one time application, however, and the process needs to be repeated at least every 2 years to maintain the weed control in that area, depending on the type of landscaping plants you use in your design.

Utilizing plants that function as ground covers is another method of organic weed control that is extremely effective. Ground covers are those plants that do not grow very tall, and tend to "hug" the ground, forming thick, dense mats that prevent any weed growth from happening. Ground covers that I have found effective are Blue Rug Juniper (opens new window), Lamb's Ears, and Day Lilies. Be careful with the ground cover that you select as some are quite invasive. I have Lamb's Ears planted next to the road at the end of my driveway. They are one of the most resilient plants I've seen! I've driven over them numerous times, cut them off with a lawn mower, and planted them in the most awful, gravel-filled soil I've seen, and they continue to thrive. They are extremely invasive, however, and have tried to sprout up in the surrounding lawn.

Nice healthy ground covers cover an area very well which makes yearly maintenance a breeze!

Truly, the key to organic weed control in any yard is preventative maintenance. Once weeds are out of control, it often takes extra measures to get rid of them which may involve pesticides.

For organic weed control in your lawn, use a fertilizer such as Milorganite. This product can be purchased at any lawn and garden store, and is marked as Milorganite. It can be located near the lawn seed and fertilizer, however if you have trouble finding it, store employees should be able to assist you by simply asking for it by name.

This product is safe to use around children and dogs, and is gentle on the lawn, using only the nutrients that are needed at the time. This product will help encourage healthy growth of turf and other plants in the yard, which will help keep the bad stuff at bay.

More information on Milorganite can be obtained from the official Milorganite website (opens new window) if you'd like all the juicy details about this great product.

Lawn care maintenance isn’t only about routine fertilization, however, there are several steps that should be taken to maintain a healthy turf. Maintaining a healthy lawn will keep weeds at bay as the lawn functions as the ultimate ground cover. Where a healthy lawn grows, weeds cannot take hold!

When it comes to unwanted growth between pavers in your patio, or cracks in the cement, organic weed control can be challenging. I have used total vegetation killer, which wipes out any vegetation that it touches for up to a period of one year. I utilized the product early in the season, and all plant growth between the stone was prevented for a full year.

While the product did achieve the desired result, I can’t say that I felt good about using such a toxic product. I do have a dog and had to be extremely cautious to prevent her from walking on the area for a period of time. Also, now that I have two beautiful nieces, I would not use anything this toxic again.

If you do use this product, and end up using a watering can to spread the liquid, do not use that same watering can for any valuable plants again. Traces of the chemicals can remain in the container even once it is rinsed out and could cause damage or destruction to other plants. Such a toxic product can be dangerous to surrounding plants depending on the root system. If you were to pour this product in the ground, and it had contact with the root of a precious plant, tree or bush, the plant could die.

Sidebar: Sometimes it’s difficult to tell what is a weed and what is a precious plant. You may be new to your home and unfamiliar with what is growing, or you may have forgotten something that you’ve already planted. To check if what’s growing is a weed or a precious plant, pull on it. If comes out of the ground easily....it was a precious plant! :)

To maintain organic weed control in cracks and crevices, you'll need to stay on top of your weeds, pulling them as they emerge. When it comes to a patio made with landscaping stone or pavers, a low growing plant such as moss can be planted between the crevices. The growth of the moss will prevent any weeds from growing as with other ground covers already discussed. I’m planning to try this out in the next year or two, and will let you know how it works.

Organic weed control in the garden can be a little tricky due to the fact that you probably won’t be using a very heavy layer of mulch, if you use any at all. However, the garden is one area that you would DEFINITELY want to employ organic weed control techniques to preserve the integrity of your fruits and vegetables.

I would recommend putting down some type of light mulch such as chopped up leaves or grass to provide a walking surface amongst the plants, and to prevent weeds from growing within the rows. To help you to control weeds in the garden, you’ll probably need one of the following garden planting tools: a Garden Hoe (opens new window) to hack away at the young weeds on a regular basis, or a device such as the Garden Weasel to turn over the soil and any new growth as it emerges. Turning the weeds into the soil is OK to do as it adds organic material to the soil which improves it's overal condition. As long as you're getting rid of the weeds before they get too large, this process should be relatively painless.

I hope this gives you some helpful information on organic weed control in your own yard.

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