Homemade Weed Killer (And 6 Extra Ways On How To Get Rid Of Weeds Naturally)

Homemade weed killer is all the rage these days.  And it should be!  

A few years ago, my parents moved into a new house, their little dog moved in right along with them.  When they hired someone to do some yard work, my mom specifically told the yard care company not to apply any Roundup or other chemical herbicides to their yard.  Despite this, the yard care company did.  And my parents little dog ingested some of it and got very sick.  When they took their dog to the vet, their vet explained that chemical weed killer (like Roundup) is toxic to dogs.  Their dog started to go into liver failure, but thankfully got better!

I currently live in Arizona (but not for long!) and we get weeds in our yard all the time (we lovingly call them "Winter Weeds" and "Summer Weeds").  My husband and I have never used any Roundup in our yards...especially because we have littler children and don't want them to get exposed to it.  Plus, yard chemicals end up in sewage drains and in groundwater.  AND our weed killer is much, much cheaper than Roundup's or any other company's weed killer - an extra bonus.

Watch this video to learn how to make your own Homemade Weed Killer:

How To Use:

• Avoid spraying on flowers, grass or any other stuff you don't want to kill.  
• Make sure you do this on a sunny day, when there's little to no chance of rain the following day.
• If you are spraying HUGE weeds, you might need to apply this to them a second time.
• Try to spray this on weeds when they're smaller and haven't seeded yet...this will help to keep future weeds out of your yard.
• If you can, make your children or grandchildren do this.  ;-)  My kids LOVE to do this and it's (usually) less work for me haha!

Other Methods of Getting Rid Of Weeds:

In addition to or instead of applying this homemade weed killer, there are other ways you can get rid of weeds.  

1. Use old newspapers.  This method will help you to grow rich soil. Lay down newspapers on top of weeds.  Wet the newspaper and then put mulch on top of it.  Do a few layers of this.  Eventually the newspaper will decompose and leave you with some awesome soil to use for gardening or flower beds.  You can also use cardboard for this.
2. Pour boiling water on top of weeds.  The heat will burn them and help to kill them.
3. Pull them out.  Wait until the soil is damp, so that weeds come out more easily.  Use an old screwdriver to get roots out (this helps with dandelion tap roots).
4. Corn meal.  After existing plants and seeds have gotten established in your garden, sprinkling corn meal around your plants will help to keep weed seeds from germinating.  
5. Shower curtains.  When landscaping, place old (or new) shower curtains under rocks and/or mulch to keep weeds from sprouting.
6. Black plastic trash bags.  You can place black plastic trash bags on top of weeds to smother them.  The black absorbs heat, which helps to put an end to pesky weeds.  Use rocks, stakes or bricks to keep the plastic bags intact.  Check after 2 weeks or so and leave on longer if weeds aren't yet dead.

What tips and tricks do you have for naturally keeping weeds out of your yard?