How to Weed a Garden

Keeping weeds from crowding out your prized vegetable plants and flowers is essential to maintaining a healthy garden. There are numerous methods for exterminating these problem plants, including chemical-free techniques that have less of an environmental impact than chemical applications. For example, you can create weed killers from common household ingredients. Whatever remedy you choose, be sure to use it appropriately; applying them incorrectly can render a patch of soil infertile for long periods.

Photo guide of regional weeds

Stakes or other plant markers

Hoe

Boiling water

Vinegar

Rubbing alcohol

Spray bottle

Commercial weed killer

Mark your desirable garden plants with small, innocuous stakes or other means of identification. This is especially useful for young gardens, when the plants are in their early stages and harder to recognize than the fruiting or flowering adults.

Research weeds that are likely to show up in your garden. Different areas of the country are prone to different nuisance species. Purchase a plant photo guide from a bookstore or check one out from the library that lists common gardening and lawn weeds by regions of the country. Learn to identify them by site, particularly in their early stages when they are easier to control.

Identify which weeds are the most problematic and exterminate them first. For instance, a few stray blades of grass are not as much of a priority as a single dandelion, which can produce thousands of viable seeds.

Pulling weeds before they have a chance to produce seeds is the best way to weed a garden, states the website Earth Easy. You can also break them up with a shovel or hoe, as long as you chop the roots to bits and clear them from the area. Monitor your garden closely for signs of emerging nuisance plants.

Pour boiling water directly over a patch of weeds once a day for three consecutive days, being careful to avoid burning desirable plants. Pull the weeds by hand when they are wet, as the roots come up easier.

Pour or spray any household vinegar onto weeds, specifically targeting the roots. Vinegar kills all plants, however, so be sure to avoid the plants you wish to keep and to refrain from using this method if weeds are in close proximity to desirable plants. The vinegar concentration may effect nearby soil.

Mix 1 tsp. of rubbing alcohol with 1 L of water. Pour this solution over plants or spray them. Like vinegar, rubbing alcohol kills all plants, so follow the guidelines in step 2.

Identify which weeds are not responding to mechanical controls or the home remedies. Remember that weeding a garden is a continual process no matter what method you choose, so be sure other means are truly insufficient before going this route.

Visit the local gardening store with a list of your problem weeds. If unfamiliar with commercial weeding products, ask customer service to help identify the least environmentally damaging one to try on your weeds first. Natural formulas are often available.

Apply the commercial products to the garden weeds.

Applying mulches and other barriers can go a long way in preventing weeds from ever appearing. Be confident you are committed to weeding a garden before planting one; in a garden's peak season, it is often a daily task.

Be sure to keep weeding solutions away from pets and children, even the homemade versions, as they can be toxic.