Chemical-free Alternatives For Weeding Your Lawn and Garden

Mowing Weeds

• Though only temporary, mowing your lawn is one of the most efficient ways to get rid of weeds. Plants reproduce with their flowers (think dandelions or buttercups.) A plant that can't bloom won't set seed.
• Even if mowing doesn't affect thistle-like weeds from reproducing, it will give your grass an even look.

Mulch Weeds to Death

• To clear out your garden area, you might want to lay down a layer of weed-suppressing mulch. Unwanted plant friends won't be able to penetrate the layer of wood chips or other mulch material. Tests have shown that about 80 percent of an ivy stand will be killed within three months by an 8- to 12-inch smother mulch of coarse bark chips.
• If you have time, try sheet mulching. Put a mixture of green grass clippings and shredded dry leaves or straw on top of the area you want to garden. A layer 2 feet thick is not too much.
• After up to two years, this material gradually rots into compost, ready to be planted. In the meantime, almost anything already growing there will be smothered by such a heavy blanket and no new weeds will grow through it.

Chop and Up-root Weeds

• Tall weeds like nettles and blackberries may need firmer treatment. Here, the solution is to first cut back their prickly top growth (wear serious gloves when you do this) and then dig out as much root as possible.

All-out Attack on Weeds

• Combine all the attacks. Mow down all your growth. Dig out the bigger stuff, getting as much roots as you can. Then cover the remnants with deep mulch.