7 Killer Ways to Get Rid of Weeds

By: Lisa Kaplan Gordon

Published: March 14, 2012

Here are 7 ways to murder weeds with household items. You’ll save money and show no mercy to your garden’s uninvited guests.

1. Newspaper: A carpet of newspaper, which blocks sunlight and oxygen from reaching the soil, will smother weeds already sprouted and prevent new ones from growing. Throw down newspaper in 10-sheet layers, wet to hold it down, and cover with an inch or two of mulch. If weeds begin to grow in the mulch, add more layers, making a mulch-newspaper lasagna, which eventually will decompose and nourish the soil.

2. Old shower curtains and carpet samples: Spreading these useless items in garden paths or between rows will keeps weeds from ever showing their unwanted heads. Cover with mulch.

3. Corn gluten meal: This corn by-product stops seeds from growing into weeds. Since the meal will prevent germination, spread it around established plants, and after seedlings and transplants have taken hold in the soil. After harvest, spread the meal to prevent late-season weeds.

4. Vinegar: The acetic acid in 5% vinegar is a desiccant that sucks the life out of plant leaves. It’s most destructive to young plants with immature roots, though it just rolls off weeds with waxy leaves, like pennywort or thistle.

Make sure you cover desirables before spraying, because vinegar is an equal opportunity killer. Keep your spray on-target by removing the bottom from a 2-liter plastic soda bottle, and placing it over the weed. Spray vinegar into the mouth of the bottle, which will keep it from splattering on your vegetables.

5. Vodka: Don’t know if vodka makes weeds fall down dead or drunk, but 1 ounce mixed with 2 cups of water and a couple of drops of dish soap will dry out weeds that live in the sun. Doesn’t work that well on shade-loving weeds. Protect desirables, because vodka will dry them out, too.

6. Soap: The oil in soap can break down waxy or hairy weed surfaces, making them vulnerable to desiccants. So add a few drops of liquid dish detergent to vinegar or vodka sprays to keep the solution on leaves. The soap also makes leaves shiny, which will help you keep track of what you’ve sprayed.

7. Boiling water: After you’ve made yourself a cup of tea, take the kettle outside and pour the boiling water on weeds, which will burn up. This is a particularly good way to whack driveway and walkway weeds, because the boiling water can run off impervious surfaces and cool before it reaches border plants.

March real estate closings for the McCall area improved over last month with a total of 16 transactions and a total dollar volume of $1,881,331. The least expensive property sold was a lot in Fox Ridge subdivision for $20,000 and the most expensive property sold in March was a home in Forest Trails Subdivision for $425,000. Of the sixteen properties sold in the area, eight of them were single family homes, four were townhomes/condos and four were vacant lots.

What surprised me when pulling these numbers together was the number of real estate owned (REO) or banked owned properties sold this month. Nine of the sixteen were listed as REOs, a fairly high percentage of our closings this month. It really should come as no surprise considering these properties are priced so low that often we find that there are multiple offers within days of these properties hitting the market.

If you have any questions or would like to learn more about McCall real estate please don’t hesitate to call or email us. We would love to hear from you and help you find that perfect second home in McCall.

This information was collected from our local Multiple Listing Service.