Not a fan of using a lot of chemicals on your lawn? You can skip the trip to the garden center and use common ingredients found at home to kill weeds. Making your own natural homemade herbicides is inexpensive, efficient, and safer for humans, animals, and the environment.

What You’ll Need to Kill Weeds Naturally

Using certain non-toxic ingredients eliminates weeds as effectively as some of the chemical products on the market. It’s time to raid your pantry. Try using these items below to wage a war on weeds.

  • Boiling water
  • Salt
  • Vinegar
  • Dish soap
  • Spray bottle or garden sprayer
  • Empty 2-liter plastic soda bottle

A Simple Solution: Water

Yes, that’s right, water can kill weeds. There is, however, one more step involved. It has to be boiling. If you’re making pasta, a cup of tea, or boiling potatoes, you are already halfway there. Carefully carry a big pot or kettle of boiling water from your stove and pour it on the offending weeds.

Well-Seasoned Weeds

Table salt or rock salt works well for eliminating unwanted plants, too. Use the ratio of three parts water to one part salt and let it dissolve to create a saline solution. Better yet, use boiling water. If this solution proves to be too weak, add more salt until you get the desired results. Salt is best used on areas where you wish to completely eradicate growth.

Vinegar

White distilled vinegar and apple cider vinegar help to destroy unwanted plants. Mix one part vinegar with four parts water in a large spray bottle and apply only to the weeds you wish to kill. You may have to reapply more than once.

If you want to avoid getting this solution on plants and grass that you want to keep, a plastic soda bottle can help. Cut the two-liter bottle in half and keep the top half. Place this dome-like structure over the weed you wish to destroy. Then take the spray bottle’s nozzle and point it directly in the top opening. This focuses the solution only on that spot.

Clean Them

Dish soap is a popular ally in the war on weeds. While vinegar is good for targeting young weeds, it sometimes needs help with older ones, and especially ones with waxier leaves. That’s when dish soap comes into play. Add a few drops of soap to any of the above ingredients and those solutions will stick better to the foliage.

For the ultimate weed killing formula, try using some of these ingredients together. Fill a garden sprayer with a mix of water, vinegar, salt, and dish soap for a solution that packs a powerful punch!

We Can Help You Ward off Weeds

Keep in mind that the solutions above can kill off plants and grass you wish to keep, so apply with care, or call in an expert. Contact Free Spray Lawn Care at 419-529-5296 and we’ll provide you with a year-round maintenance program to prevent weeds.