Getting rid of weeds in your garden can be a total pain, but these 8 homemade weed killing solutions may just help you eliminate weeds once and for all! These homemade weed killing solutions are cheap to make and you'll usually be able to make them with stuff you already have around your house!
8 Homemade Weed Killing Solutions
#1. Epsom Salts, Vinegar, & Dish Soap
- 1 gallon vinegar
- 2 cups Epsom salts
- 1/4 cup Dawn dish soap
- Spray bottle
Combine all the ingredients in the spray bottle and spray directly onto the weeds.
#2. Newspaper
Newspaper makes a great and inexpensive ground cover that can actually kill weeds! Simply lay newspaper around the soil where weeds grow and watch them disappear!
#3. Cornmeal
Cornmeal works amazingly at killing weeds and keeping weeds at bay, especially when sprinkled in the cracks of driveways and sidewalks.
#4. White Vinegar
White vinegar is quite powerful when it comes to killing weeds. Simply fill a spray bottle with white vinegar and spray onto suspecting weeds.
#5. Boiling Water
You can also boil some water and pour it directly onto the weeds. Be careful not to burn your actual plants though!
#6. Essential Oils
Choose from cinnamon, clove, or red thyme essential oils and add a few drops to a spray bottle filled with water. Spray directly onto weeds.
#7. Bleach
Bleach is a great weed killer for areas where you don't want anything to grow again such as driveways and walkways. Spray bleach directly onto weeds.
#8. Borax
Mix a cup of Borax with a gallon of water to make a weed killing concoction. Spray directly onto weeds. Looking for more DIY solutions? Check out this homemade ant killer and get rid of ants once and for all!
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Question, this kills only weeds? Not grass
It should not kill grass, but we still recommend you try to spray only onto the weeds!
Will the these solutions work on weeds and not hurt the grass ?
Yes, these solutions DO work, but just be careful when using some of the stronger ones (bleach, boiling water, Borax). Make sure to just spray directly onto the weeds and avoid the grass if possible!
Are all these recipes safe for both vegetable and flower plants?
Hi Marc,
Some yes, some no! For example, the bleach recipe, boiling water, or borax, would not be ideal to spray onto your vegetables and/or flowers. Essential oils, white vinegar, cornmeal, and newspapers would be much gentler to use around those plants.
Do you have any suggestions to eradicate a weed known as “Horsetail”?
Thanks
Hi Ruth,
From our research, we’ve found that the best way to get rid of horsetail is to raise the nutritional content of your soil by adding large amounts of composted materials. It may sound like a lot of work, and it does take some time, but it truly is the best way to completely eradicate it.
You could also try Roundup, as well as spraying white vinegar directly onto the weeds.
Hope this helps š
Thanks so much! I’m going to try this in the puncture weed that is trying to take over.
Hi Lesa, I used the Epsom salt, vinegar and dish soap to get rid of puncture weed. You might have to use it a couple years in a row but eventually you’ll stop it.
Does the vinegar recipe or any other recipe suggested will kill other plants in the plant bed?
Hi Mary,
Normally, no, but we still suggest you be careful and only spray directly onto weeds, trying to avoid regular plants.
the thing is I have weeds grown all over my flowers. so it will be hard to separate them. These are strong weeds!! You almost have to dig them up. they won’t pull up.
Hi Gayle,
It sounds like you may have some very stubborn weeds that probably need to be digged up. If your flowers are too close to the weeds, then I wouldn’t recommend spraying them.
I would never use the vinegar, salt and detergent anywhere but on weeds on concrete. Iām very pleased with this non- roundup mixture on the weeds that crop up around my pool.
So glad to hear that it worked for you!
Lesson learned, vinegar, salt, dawn soap also kills grass. But does the job with a good treatment.
What would be used on Aspen tree sprouts in a lawn?
White vinegar alone never works for me. š