Last year, our brick paver patio was covered in weeds by the time July rolled around. The hubby and I do not like to use Round-Up or Weed-B-Gone, so he took a stab at the weeds by pulling them one night. He quickly realized that it would take forever to get each weed out from between the bricks. We experimented with a few different non-toxic ways of getting rid of weeds.
The first method we discovered was simply to pour boiling water on the weeds. This method is effective if you have a few weeds but it becomes costly because of heating the water (use of electric or gas) or pricey if you live in a state with high water rates. We quickly discovered that it is no fun to walk outside with a tub of boiling water. We tried boiling the water using our microwave and a large glass measuring bowl from the Pampered Chef. It took too many minutes to make a large amount of water hit the boiling point. Not to mention the danger if the water should spill on our toes. If you decide to go the boiling water route, a tea kettle is the safest way to disperse the boiling water.
This summer, I discovered the power of vinegar. Using a three-dollar jug of white, distilled vinegar, I learned that it was amazingly easy to annihlate an entire patio of weeds in a matter of minutes simply by pouring the vinegar full strength on each weed. To make this task easier, you can use a spray tank and simply saturate your entire patio. You can also fill an old shampoo bottle with vinegar and use that for smaller areas of weeds.
Do this on a hot, sunny day and the weeds will turn brown a few hours later. By the very next day, the weeds will be dry and crumbly and can be swept up and tossed in the compost pile. You can also do this with lemon juice, but I find that the vinegar is far cheaper.
The best part of this method is that it is completely non-toxic and safe to use around children and pets!
Here are some other organic methods of controlling weeds:
Make a salt and water mixture and spray on the weeds. To prevent weeds from sprouting in the spring, you can also fill the cracks with salt. Table salt will work, but rock salt has a more powerful effect.
Fill the cracks with crushed lime.
Fill the cracks with corn gluten meal.
Bleach and flaming weeds with a propane torch are two other methods that can be used, but I don’t recommend either of these. Bleach is toxic to children and pets and propane increases air pollution.
Here’s a final tip–never let weeds flower and set seed. There’s an old saying, “One year’s seeding makes seven years weeding.
