The best way is just to let them grow. Stop wasting time, effort, and water on these relics of the pre-green era. Now just plant native plants and and allow "weeds" to be. And no chemicals either!

genghis_schmengis

"Just an FYI for those looking to kill weeds, in an environmentally friendly way - boiling water. Just pour 1/3 - 1/2 cup on each weed and it will be dead the next day. They're also much, much easier to pull out after the boiling."
@ross.m:
Umm...chemically environmentally friendly, but not carbon friendly. Unless you're using a green way of boiling water, it is not environmentally friendly.

Best way is still the hard way, unfortunately. :(

kftgr

@superbad: You made me spit coffee out my nose. Funny comment, thanks!

ideagirl

I agree with homerjay. I've used corn gluten meal to stop weeds with no noticeable results. Both corn meal and corn gluten meal make excellent organic fertilizers if you are interested in trying an organic program without spending a lot of money.

Oh, and if there is a food crisis in any country in the world, look first at the president of the country. Food crises are caused by politics, not the inability to produce adequate amounts of food.

I have had excellent results killing weeds in full sun with 20% vinegar, which happens to be a little dangerous to handle, but it works...in full sun.

dchall8

I own an organic landscaping company. I've purchased tens of thousands of pounds of corn gluten in my time. I've all but stopped using it. It does not work.
Oh, and its STUPID expensive now, too, unless you live in the corn belt.

Also, it was claimed to control 'weeds' but realistically the theory only works with annual weeds. The majority of your broadleaf weeds are perennial meaning they'll keep coming back year after year without the use of seed. Typically pre-emergents like this claims to be are designed to control crabgrass.

homerjay

DougGreen is right and people should be very careful about "corn gluten" vs. "cornmeal" because each serves a different purpose in the garden.

Corn Gluten Meal is a byproduct of corn processing. Corn gluten meal's proteins are able to inhibit seed germination, therefore it can be used as a pre-emergent weed killer. It works by stopping root formation. It also breaks down over time to become an organic nitrogen source.

Cornmeal is flour ground from dried corn. It's not a weed killer but can be used as a fungicide. Grocery stores' food grade cornmeal works fine but it's expensive and usually comes in small quantities. Horticultural cornmeal is generally used for animal feed. It's a good choice to use as fungicide because it's cheap and available in bulk. Cornmeal is also a source of nutrients for the soil.

Contrary to DougGreen, I will vouch for both salt and vinegar working to kill off plant life. If they haven't worked for some people, perhaps factors like plant type, soil condition and quantity used affect results.

cheesebubble

I don't know about vinegar on weeds but I've been using it for years to kill the moss that collects on the roof of our guest house. Easiest thing for weeds is to pull them out, most are shallow rooted so come out easy. If you kill them you still need to pull them as they become unsightly.

tomanjeri

Whatever happened to good old fashioned chemicals? They're cheap, they don't take food out the mouths of the world's children and they last a long time!

EASTKOY

I'm looking for a way to kill the damn trees that like to grow under my fence.

Duane

Just pull the weed out.

parkingticket

cure all 2 step procedure for weeds. bend over and pull weed. bonus step 3, send all corn meal in your house to a third world country to be the angelina of the day. make sure you get it there before the expiration date.

dontcareanymore

Just an FYI for those looking to kill weeds, in an environmentally friendly way - boiling water. Just pour 1/3 - 1/2 cup on each weed and it will be dead the next day. They're also much, much easier to pull out after the boiling.

ross.m

Yeah Mark, I heard the "global food crisis" was caused primarily by home gardeners dumping a few thousand pounds of corn meal into their gardens. We must stop this home gardening menace before it spreads and plunges the whole world into starvation and abject poverty...

superbad

Please check your data on this - corn gluten is NOT corn meal. They are two entirely separate materials. Corn gluten does indeed have a herbicidal - pre-emergent action - and it's 10% nitrogen as well. Nature's weed and feed. BUT it does not kill existing weeds - does not work if not applied at the appriate time (as most pre-emergent herbicides). Corn meal is a different material - is not used for this purpose.

And the article on This Garden is Illegal contains simply bad advice when it comes to being environmentally appropriate (using salt as a herbicide) and advice that doesn't work (vinegar at home strength) Just more examples of poor gardening advice passed along.

Sorry to rain on this parade.

DougGreen

... and how do you propose keeping birds from feasting on the corn meal???

ezaidins

Cool that you picked this up, Kevin. As a side note, my wife is the big gardener in the family. Ever since we discovered This Garden is Illegal, she's been raving about it. If other Lifehackers are into gardening at all, they should check it out. Posts are infrequent, but my wife says they're good.

J.D. Roth

Due to the global food crisis, there are millions of starving children around the world who are desperate for even a single spoonful of cornmeal mush. But here in the US, you are urging us to go dump it on our lawns so that we won't have to look at any ugly dandelions?

MarkDentatus

@kftgr: if you use the boiling water left over from cooking that would be closer to carbon friendly, no?

ross.m