In addition to our awesome backyard, we also have a really big front yard. We started getting rid of some of the grass last summer, putting down weed blocking fabric and using a wheelbarrow to spread out existing areas of gravel (happily, the former owners had ordered more than they needed when they put in gravel, and it was 18 inches deep in some areas). This year, we planted a bunch of tiny trees out front, and we’re babying them along right now. Hopefully one day we’ll just have a little forest out there, which will provide shade, wind protection, and minimize the amount of watering and mowing that needs to be done.
There is a vast amount of gravel in front of our house (don’t get me wrong, I’d rather have the gravel than grass, since it doesn’t need to be watered or mowed). It doesn’t seem as vast until you start trying to pull all the weeds out of it. Over the years, dust has blown into the gravel and made it a great spot for weeds to sprout, and the former owners were pretty much oblivious to them. We have been pulling weeds all summer out there (our son knows that whenever we go out to get them mail, we have to pull 20 weeds first, and he says “weeds, first” whenever we go out front). I spent two hours doing nothing but weeding a couple days ago, and I made it through about 1/10 of the gravel.
So I went searching for another solution. I refuse to buy any sort of commercial herbicide – our property is strictly organic and staying that way. But I found several articles about vinegar working as an herbicide. I use vinegar to clean our whole house, so I buy it in gallon jugs at Costco and always have several on hand. It’s inexpensive, but most importantly, I don’t have to worry about harmful effects – to us or the environment – from using it. Our son went out with me to help me spray it, which definitely wouldn’t have been possible if we’d been using something created in a lab at Monsanto.
We started with a small patch to see how well it would work. That was yesterday morning, and when I checked this morning, all the weeds in that area are completely dead. The weather here has been really hot (nearly 100), sunny, and dry, which is supposed to be the best weather for using vinegar to kill weeds. Obviously I’m very happy with the results, and will be spraying all the gravel with vinegar over the next few days. I’ll pull out the bigger weeds that are easy to grab, and spray the small ones. Hopefully my vinegar herbicide will continue to be successful!
FrugalBabe says
Dalia,
The articles I read about using vinegar as an herbicide cautioned against using it for weeds in the lawn, The problem is that vinegar will kill the grass too, so you have to be really careful to apply it only to the weeds, which may be difficult to do. I had great success getting rid of dandelions by digging them out earlier this spring. We have a little tool that is basically a metal stick with a pointed end and a place to put your foot to push it into the ground. I used that to dig out all the dandelions a couple months ago, and not a single one has regrown since I did it. There are other weeds in our lawn, but they don’t show unless you really look for them. The vinegar works great in the rocks because we want all the vegetation out there to be gone other than the bushes and trees we’ve planted – so I just stay far away from them with the vinegar and weed by hand there instead. Good luck!
Dalia Kinsey says
I tried using vinegar on my weeds (with limited success) a while back but the weather was much more mild in the spring. I didn’t know that summer was ideal for using vinegar on the lawn. I’m going to give it another go.
Thanks for the tip
Mrs. Money says
I tried it a couple of weeks ago and it didn’t work for me :( I have resorted to pulling weeds by hand and have spent hours each night this week weeding. I am tired of weeds! ;(
FrugalBabe says
Mrs. Money – what a bummer! I did some more this morning, and it looks like some of them died and some didn’t – I think it depends on what sort of weeds they are. Some of mine are croaking right away, but it looks like I will still be doing lots of weeding :( I am tired of weeds too!
Erin says
Oh wow, going to have to give this a try here too. We have gravel in the front yard too and the weeds are too irritating for words. Keeping fingers crossed that vinegar and 108 degree days will finally do them in :)
Sara A says
Rubbing alcohol will also work. For areas where nothing should grow (like cracks in concrete) I’ll salt it too.
Jolyn@Budgets are the New Black says
I had heard of this before, but have never tried it: I don’t have gravel, but get lots of weeds in our beds. They like to cuddle up with the bushes and succulents, though, so I wouldn’t want to harm them as well.
What kind of vinegar? Are you using full-strength concentration or diluting it at all?
Sam says
Our house was the same – prev owners over looked a lot of little things . Eventually the weeds will be gone – although it ‘s tedious in the interim.
My dust bowl era Grandma used salt where she didn’t want plants/weeds to grow andit seems ed to work pretty good if I remember correctly. I remeber her shaking it directly into the the cracks between the paving stones. I don’t know if you could just spray salt water in the gravel????
I don’t have any gravel to try it on but I have heard that city people used to salt neighbors yards to get revenge on things…
Bob says
A large outdoor museum near us uses a solution of clove oil and water for weeds. Smells great!
Victoria - Ozarks Crescent Mural says
What a great thing to learn about vinegar. I like Bob’s suggestion too about the solution of clove oil and water and that it smells good.
Benjamin Bankruptcy says
The best thing i’ve found is a mixture of 1 cup of salt to 10 cups of water and then paint in on the weeds. Be careful with it, it’ll freaking kill everything! Just get a paint brush and have some fun.
I just finished weeding my lawn it was horribly daunting looking at this big space, i do a little and get disheartend. So i pegged it out like an archialogical site into squares. I could think about the whole lawn but I could do a little square everyday.
kim says
Why water your lawn? Grass goes dormant in the hottest months and goes green again when the rains come back in september. The only h20 my lawn gets in the summer is rain and when the kids are playing in the sprinkler. When you water it it grows and then needs to be cut again.
Any ideas on getting rid of clover without chemicals? My lawn looks like a sanctuary for honeybees and bunny rabbits. I don’t mind it at all. The clover gives my children an endless supply of flowers to pick for me, however I don’t think the neighbors care for it.
FrugalBabe says
I’m planning to try the salt solution this weekend too, and see how that works. We have a pea-gravel driveway that leads into our backyard, and it’s a pain in the butt to keep weeding it, but it’s also a huge area to spray by hand. I’m thinking about just sprinkling some salt water out there and seeing what happens.
Benjamin Bankruptcy says
Sorry FrugalBabe I promise to proof read my comments next time. The other strategy you can use to kill of everything is black plastic sheeting. If you peg black plastic down over the surface your trying to weed it will heat up during the day and literally cook everything underneath it. This is great for gravel paths and concrete driveways. In summer it’ll get above 50degCelcius which will even cook seeds.
Meg says
Speaking of cooking, Benjamin…
FrugalBabe, I’ve been doing this for years… to keep my brick pathway clear of weeds, I pour boiling water over it. I don’t deliberately boil water (because I’m frugal!), but when I’ve cooked pasta or something similar, instead of pouring it down the sink, I immediately take the drained water out and throw it over the paths.
Works great!
FrugalBabe says
I love the boiling water idea. There’s no chance of it harming tree roots farther beneath the surface, and it makes much more sense than pouring the water down the drain. I love to reuse water… when I rinse sprouts, the water goes into our strawberry planters. When I wash greens, I use the water for my flower pots out front. I will now be using water from boiling pasta to dump on the weeds.