War on Weeds Part I

I was recently recruited to do a science fair project for my best friend, Toyshika.  She wants to kill the weeds in her lawn and in her garden.  I am now experimenting with different household products and organic methods of killing weeds.  So I did some research and found several solutions for killing weeds:

• Organic Substances:  Vinegar, boiling water and a substance called corn gluten are three organic ways to kills weeds.  Please keep in mind that I am not endorsing any of these methods.  The purpose of this experiment is to see which one works.  Also, please keep in mind that the boiling water solution is the purest way to kill weeds.  The other products may change the PH balance in your soil and can kill other vegetation in the effected area. My prediction for this method is that these products are good for killing weeds immediately, but as the rain washes them away, more weeds will grow back soon after.
• Coverage:  In addition to using food or liquid substances, you can also use ground cover to choke weeds. Mulch, newspaper and cardboard choke out weeds and prevent them from coming back. These are very safe and organic ways to kill weeds without any chemicals.  The ground cover will eventually become compost which also enriches the soil.  My prediction for this method is that these products are good for killing weeds over time (maybe a few weeks), but are good for keeping weeds at bay for a long time after.
• Household Products:  So, my friend Toy laughed and said that pine sol is not an organic solution, so of course we have to put this in its own section.  There are probably a lot of household products that will kill weeds.  For this experiment, pine sol and dish washing soap will be used.  My prediction for this method is that it will do the same as the organic substances, kill the weeds immediately, but wash away and weeds will grow back.

So my experiment is going to be broken up into 3 sections: organics, ground cover and household products.  I have a few areas of my backyard that I haven’t started working on that are loaded with weeds so this will be a perfect place to start.  I’m sectioning off the areas and I am going to follow the progress of each of them to find out which ones kill weeds immediately, in a few days and within 1 week.  Later on in the summer, we will see which method kept the weeds from growing the whole summer.

Before doing the experiment though, I want to touch on some other ways of killing weeds that are not part of my experiment.

• Pull Them:  The best way and fastest way to get rid of weeds is to pull them up with root intact.  This may be an overwhelming task if you are trying to get rid of a vast area of weeds or the weeds are large and deep rooted.  I have a really neat tool that I use that gets the weeds up from the root.  You really don’t want to just chop the weeds at the top only because they will continue to grow back.
• Weed Fabric:  If you don’t mind digging up your existing soil or if you are planting a new garden, weed fabric can kill weeds as well as keep them from growing back.  You should make sure you rip up the current layer of soil, lay the weed fabric and then cover with mulch or dirt.  Cut holes in the areas you plan to plant flowers or plants.
• Chemicals:  If you don’t mind the use of chemicals, I’ve heard that Round up, Preen and Quick Kill will kill weeds (as well as grass).  Make sure you compare products and make sure you get the correct product.  If you only want to kill the weeds and not the grass, some of these solutions will kill all vegetation around the area.  You can also use a yard spray to kill weeds over a large area.

Other things that deter weeds include keeping your grass cut and keeping your lawn fertilized.  Haven’t gotten to my lawn project yet, but I think it would be good for me to test my theories out before I till my yard and seed it.