Plenty of gardeners are looking for alternatives to toxic and artificially manufactured weedkillers theses days. In some cases, people will simply allow weeds to grow in order to get around the fact that they have banned the use of chemicals in their gardens. Weedkillers still have their uses but, generally speaking, they have an impact on neighbouring plants you want to grow as well as on pollinating insects. What are the main alternatives that provide a natural solution?
Mulching
When you throw mulch down on your beds, you are putting a natural material in place that will cut out sunlight for weeds whilst providing a good source of food for your plants. A mulch delivery from your local supplier is preferable to picking it up in your car because the mulch can create a mess on the journey home. In fact, if you have a big garden, then a mulch delivery makes economic sense, too, because you will probably need a truckload to have enough to get rid of all your weeds. Apply mulch from your delivery liberally. About a five-centimetre layer is right — less than that and light will get through, allowing weeds to grow through the mulch.
Corn Gluten Meal
Ideal for getting rid of the sort of weeds you will find in a lawn, corn gluten meal has nutritional properties that will allow your grass to continue growing. It is also a herbicide that will prevent seeds from germinating. So long as you spread it around plants that have already become established, it will only affect the new growth. You shouldn't use it close to plants that you have deliberately allowed to go to seed since these seeds won't take hold.
Boiled Water
If you want to get rid of some specific weeds in your garden, then you can always pull them up with a trowel. However, not all weeds are easy to remove by simply digging them up because they break and they have roots which mean they'll pop up elsewhere. In order to get around this problem, a good idea is to pour recently boiled water from your kettle over them. This overheats the roots and destroys the weed. Put a funnel into the ground beside the stem of the plant and tip your hot water in. This directs the water in such a way that it will be more effective whilst protecting nearby plants you want to keep.
