Using Organic Weed Spray
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Posted by Jamie McIntosh Jun 2, 2009 |
I start off my spring gardening season with the best intentions for controlling weeds, but inevitably a week of rain combines with a week of vacation, and my perennial plants have a growth spurt that conceals an intruder in their midst. By the time I discover this established weed, it’s usually too well rooted to dig out. I need to use my organic weed spray to weaken or kill the plant, and my natural herbicide of choice is horticultural vinegar.
The challenge with using horticultural vinegar is that it is not a selective herbicide, so it can damage or kill neighboring landscape plants. Organic gardeners must take steps to protect desirable vegetation from herbicide overspray:
- For weeds on the edge of a plant border, pin the weed down with a u-pin, and then spray the weed. Remove the pin when the spray has dried.
- For weeds in the middle of a thick flower patch, use a small paintbrush to apply the weed killer.
- For large thorny weeds, such as thistle, cut the weed down to ground level and paint the stump with the herbicide.