Want An Environmentally Safe Way To Kill Weeds? – Try This!

I grow LOTS of herbs, and I cook with most of them. (Head on to Facebook and join my Facebook group called Fresh Herb Foodies.) Herbs add so much flavor to dishes. And garlic chives are a favorite of mine…except for one thing. Garlic chives spread like weeds. And they spread quickly! 

Want proof? THIS is now what is left of my once-beautiful herb garden in our backyard. UGH!

You see, several years ago I pretty much ignored my small plot of garlic chives all summer and they took on a life of their own. They became so invasive I had to move most of my herbs to a totally different place! I have refused to use RoundUp or any other weed killer in that plot of dirt since I would still like the option to grow edible plants and hers in that spot. I have been stumped as to what to do. Even my sign hasn’t yielded any results!

But recently one of my Facebook friends posted a “recipe” for killing weeds without damaging the environment and without polluting the earth for growing other plants, so I couldn’t wait to give it a try. 

The ingredients are simple to find, and they’re also inexpensive. In fact, my friend C. J. told me to head to the Dollar Tree store to buy everything I would need.

Here is the simple “recipe”…

4 Quarts White Vinegar

2 Cups Epsom Salts

1/4 Cup Dawn Dish Soap. (The original blue kind.)

1 Spray Bottle (quart size)

I dumped the Dawn into a bucket. Then I added the epsom salts and the four bottles of vinegar. I stirred to combine. Then I used a funnel to pour the mixture back into the vinegar bottles. I took the spray nozzle off of the bottle I bought and I simply screwed that nozzle onto one of the vinegar bottles. It fit perfectly. (Thanks for that tip C. J.!)

I waited until about 11a.m until the dew had dried off the chives and the other weeds in that herb bed. Then I sprayed every blade of those darn garlic chives and all the other weeds. C.J. said to make sure to wet all surfaces of the plants you want to kill. The Dawn keeps the liquid from sliding off of the plants. He said to spray it on liberally and just walk away until evening.

You know me. I am an impatient person. So I headed back outside about three hours later to take a look. Those chives and their sister weeds were beginning to look a little worse for wear! I decided to give them another dose of the mixture…just because. 

About 7 o’clock I walked back outside for a final check for tonight. And I do believe it’s working!

I must say I’m pretty optimistic right about now. So check back on this post over the next few days and I will add a few more photos of how well this actually works.

I do bet our neighbors wonder why our yard smells like pickles!  🙂

UPDATE-MORNING-DAY 2

The broadleaf weeds are already shriveling and obviously dying, and the garlic chives are beginning to turn yellow. I sprayed again this morning and we’ll see what happens today. One issue that may be a factor is the amount of shade all day in that corner of our yard. The weeds in the sun appear to be dying much faster than those that have lots of shade. That makes sense to me. Stay tuned!