DIY Weed Killer That Really Works!

This summer has been hell on my garden and yard. Between lots of rain and hot sunny days, weeds are springing up everywhere! Big, angry weeds that are overtaking everything, like a power-mad dictator. And lots of weeds mean lots of bugs. I am not overly fond of bugs, especially Japanese beetles and the biting, stinging things that live in all my weeds. So the weeds gotta go, pronto!

Now, I am not the Food Babe, hell bent on removing all chemicals from our lives (you gotta check out SciBabe's takedown of the Food Babe here, she is awesome!), nor do I have anything against Monsanto, the makers of RoundUp (apparently, they're the most hated company in America and we all need to stick it to them). For the most part, I like chemicals. What I am, is cheap. Plus, I have a dog who does not have the sense to stay away from weeds that have been sprayed. So I looked for an alternative that was both cheap and relatively dog-friendly. 

I did a lot of searching and decided to try the vinegar-salt-blue Dawn combo. I must say, it worked great! All you need is one gallon of white vinegar, 1 cup of salt, a tablespoon of blue Dawn dish detergent (just plain blue Dawn, not the stuff with all the extras in it), and a spray bottle. You can heat the vinegar so the salt dissolves quicker, but I just mixed the salt and vinegar and let it sit overnight, shaking occasionally. I added the Dawn the next morning, poured it in the sprayer and went to town. 

These are my before pics:

Pretty scary, huh? This is our firepit/picnic area. You couldn't pay me to sit and eat here. This is my weapon of choice:

Just thoroughly douse those bad boys with this stuff. You may feel like you're in a pickle barrel once you get a whiff of all that vinegar. 

Here's the results just 3 hours later!

 

What a difference! If the weeds aren't dead, they are dying! Some of the bigger ones and the really thick ones needed an extra dousing. But I am so pleased with the results! And the fact that it's way cheaper than RoundUp. And Tazer can sniff and wallow through the weeds to his furry little heart's content. Which isn't too much, actually. He's not thrilled with the vinegar smell. 

Just to recap, here's before:

And here's the after:

Great stuff, right? If you're cheap like me, you gotta try this! And if you're looking for "chemical free" living, you gotta try this! Although, for all the posts touting this as a chemical free alternative to harsh chemical herbicides, salt is a chemical compound, so I guess it's not chemical free! 

Until the next project, 

Chris :)