As many of you know, we are renting a small house. Instead of paying someone else to mow the lawn, which is quite large, our landlord offered to give us a $100 break on rent if we agreed to take care of the yard.Mr. Handsome cuts the grass, while I keep tabs on the weeds scattered all over our cobblestone driveway and walkway. We bought a container of Roundup, but it wasn’t long before we had emptied it…and the weeds were still growing.
Rather than spend $10 on another container, I decided to research homemade weed killer. Surprisingly, I found a simple recipe that worked wonders! Here it is:
Homemade Weed Killer
Ingredients:
4 cups white vinegar
1/4 cup salt
1/2 Tablespoon liquid dishwashing soap
Directions:
Mix ingredients together until salt dissolves, and transfer to spray bottle. One batch will fill a 32-oz spray bottle.
On a sunny day with no rain in the forecast, spray weed killer generously on weeds. Weeds should start to shrivel up within hours. Tougher weeks may require multiple treatments.*Be warned that this weed killer will kill everything in its path.
On a sunny day with no rain in the forecast, spray weed killer generously on weeds. Weeds should start to shrivel up within hours. Tougher weeks may require multiple treatments.*Be warned that this weed killer will kill everything in its path.
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HI Ellie,
Do you know offhand if this would hurt rabbits? We have a lot rabbits in our area but I don't want to hurt them because they are so cute! Can you recommend a good homemade one that is safe?
Thank you in advanced.
Hi Regina,
I did some research, and the ingredients are listed as safe for animals. (Dish soap in large quantities can be dangerous, but this is a very small quantity.)
Rabbits sure are adorable. Sadly, we don't have many in our area.
Ellie
Excellent question Regina. We have lots of rabbits here as well and I did not think of them when contemplating the use of weed killer! Shame on me. I am also happy to know about dish soap Ellie, as I have many roses and use a dish soap concoction to stop all the aphids. Have a great day you two. Eileen
How does this mixture tell the difference between a weed and grass? Or does it just kill everything it gets on? We spent Big Bucks getting the yard landscaped and sod put down. I don't think I'd want to spray any of that mixture on my sod. Vinegar would change the pH of the soil, and salt is never good to have in a lawn.
We're on an organic program with a lawn care company. If I see a weed between treatments, I call them and they come back out. Or I just get a small screwdriver out, find the weed root, and pull it myself, no spraying or substances needed.
I think her post answers your questions. They don't use on the lawn but between cobblestones, and they don't have a company do it to save on rent money.
I think this mixture is for stones and walkways and stuff I don’t really think it’s designed for sod
Kills EVERYTHING!!!
What a great idea, would be super handy for your cobblestone driveway. We have a paved courtyard that is always growing weeds and grass in the cracks too. It's almost impossible to get them out by the roots. I've tried spraying straight vinegar but your recipe sounds great, will have to try it. Sounds a lot safer than the toxic chemicals in round up too 🙂
Plain boiling hot water will kill weeds in cracks. Ants outdoors, too.
Are you planting flowers? Do you plant seeds or bedding pants for flowers? You should send a picture when they bloom.
Hi there,
We don't have any flowers, just a few tomato and pepper plants. What about you?
Ellie
In my country you're not allowed to use vinegar and salt to kill weeds, because it's considered bad for the environment.
How will
They know if you used vinegar????
Thanks for sharing this! We needed something safer than the chemicals.
We tried this and it didn't work for us at all. But I'm wondering if we didn't use the correct amount of portions called. Also the recipe we had called for epsom salt and not regular salt so I wonder if that made a difference.
I would recommend trying regular salt. The recipe works wonders for me. The weeds start to shrivel up almost immediately. If your weeds are especially tough, you may need a couple applications.
Ellie
I followed the recipe to a T and it didn't work. Will see what happens on the second application. Maybe California weeds are more resistant?
Some weeds do require multiple applications (sometimes even more than 2). Mine must be weak. Lol.
I'm glad you're not using Roundup. It's a proven carcinogen.
I have pulled weeds in my veggie beds. I would like to use it on my veggie beds to help clean up the new little weeds already coming up before planting. Then rotary till to further clean up those pesky weeds. Hopefully will not kill my veggies.
Will it hurt flowers ?
Hi Lucille,
There’s a good chance that it will kill your flowers.
Ellie
This vinegar, salt & liquid dish soap weed killer will definitely kill your grass, flowers & shrubs. Don’t ever spray on a windy day! It’s definitely best to only use it for killing weeds that pop up in the spaces and cracks on sidewalks, driveways and patios.