7 Ways to Kill Yard Weeds, Naturally

Here are 7 ways to kill weeds with household items. You’ll save money while showing no mercy to these uninvited guests.

Newspapers on a flower bed to combat weeds
Image: Liz Foreman for HouseLogic

Nothing ruins your garden or yard like weeds, those uninvited guests that rob your plants of space and nutrients. So murder those foul weeds, but without the harmful chemicals that can harm you, too.

Who says you need standard weeding tools to kill weeds? Here are seven weed-killing weapons you may already have around your house.

1. Newspaper

A carpet of newspaper, which blocks sunlight and oxygen from reaching the soil, will smother weeds already sprouted and prevent new ones from growing. Throw down newspaper in 10-sheet layers, wet to hold them down, and cover them with an inch or two of mulch. If weeds begin to grow in the mulch, add more layers, making a mulch-newspaper lasagna, which eventually will decompose and nourish the soil.

2. Old Shower Curtains and Carpet Samples

Spreading these useless items in garden paths or between rows will keeps weeds from ever showing their unwanted heads. Cover with mulch.

3. Corn Gluten Meal

This corn by-product stops seeds from growing into weeds. Since the meal will prevent germination, spread it around established plants, and after seedlings and transplants have taken hold in the soil. After harvest, spread the meal to prevent late-season weeds.

4. Vinegar

The acetic acid in 5% vinegar is a desiccant that sucks the life out of plant leaves. It’s most destructive to young plants with immature roots, though it just rolls off weeds with waxy leaves, like pennywort or thistle.

Make sure you cover desirables before spraying, because vinegar is an equal opportunity killer. Keep your spray on-target by removing the bottom from a two-liter plastic soda bottle, and placing it over the weed. Spray vinegar into the mouth of the bottle, which will keep it from splattering on your vegetables.

5. Vodka

I don’t know if vodka makes weeds fall down dead or drunk, but one ounce mixed with 2 cups of water and a couple of drops of dish soap will dry out weeds that live in the sun. It doesn’t work that well on shade-loving weeds. Protect desirables, because vodka will dry them out, too.

6. Soap

The oil in soap can break down waxy or hairy weed surfaces, making them vulnerable to desiccants. So add a few drops of liquid dish detergent to vinegar or vodka sprays to keep the solution on leaves. The soap also makes leaves shiny, which will help you keep track of what you’ve sprayed.

7. Boiling Water

After you’ve made yourself a cup of tea, take the kettle outside and pour the boiling water on weeds, which will burn up. This is a particularly good way to whack driveway and walkway weeds, because the boiling water can run off impervious surfaces and cool before it reaches border plants.

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Housing And Real Estate Expert Lisa Kaplan-Gordon
Lisa Kaplan Gordon

Lisa Kaplan Gordon is an award-winning, Pulitzer Prize-nominated writer who contributes to real estate and home improvement sites. In her spare time (yeah, right!), she gardens, manages three dogs, and plots to get her 21-year-old out of her basement.