Smart And Inexpensive Weed Control Solutions.

The average homeowner either uses a weed control service that comes by on a regular basis or waits until their weeds are three feet tall and totally out of control before taking action. By then it can cost hundreds of dollars and many hours of hard manual labor to fix the problem.

There is a much smarter way to permanently control the growth of weeds. The solution is very inexpensive and takes only a few moments of your time every week.

Why Weeds Are So Hard To Control.

The thing to remember about weed control is that weeds grow like weeds! It doesn't take long before a tiny plant that you can barely see is three feet tall and dispensing seeds. There's also a lot going on underground that you can't see on the surface. I'm sure you've pulled out weeds before and noticed that the roots go on forever. In fact sometimes it's impossible to pull out all of the roots. This is why in a week or two all the weeds come back.

Weed Control For Lawns

I'm not the right person to ask about weed control for lawns. I've always used a lawn mower to chop down the grass and the weeds. I know there's a way to eliminate the weeds without killing the grass but I've never been successful doing this. This article is about how I control the weeds in my yard which has desert landscaping.

The Solution.

The solution is to spend a few minutes every week treating weeds that are very small, instead of waiting until you have a major problem on your hands.

If you have a big problem now, hire a professional service or cut down the weeds to a manageable height of two inches or less. If you do it yourself, you'll need to be patient. It will take a few weeks or even a couple of months to eliminate all the weeds. Then it's just a matter of maintenance.

How To Keep Your Yard Free Of Weeds Forever.

Here's what you can do. Buy some weed and grass killer in concentrated form. I've tried many brands and they all have worked excellent. There is no need to spend a lot of money. Buy the brand that is the best value. If you shop around you can buy a quart for less than ten dollars. A quart of concentrate will make several gallons of ready to use weed killer.

Make sure you wear plastic gloves and protective clothing because you don't want to get the stuff on your skin. It also might be a good idea to wear plastic goggles over your eyes. You can buy them for as little as a dollar from a dollar store so it's a cheap way to protect your vision.

The Best Weed Sprayer To Use.

To apply the weed killer, buy an inexpensive plastic quart sprayer. Use a permanent felt marker and label the bottle 'weed killer'. You don't want to use this bottle for anything else! You can also use an old glass cleaner spray bottle as along as you label it properly. You can get these cheap spray bottles from any store that sells cleaning supplies. If you use a garden sprayer or a watering can you'll waste way too much chemical. If you use the small hand held quart sprayer, your chemicals will last a very long time and cover much more area. When you spray the weeds, do your best to get the chemicals on the weeds only. It doesn't do any good when you spray dirt and rocks.

Weed Spraying Tips.

Once a week go outside and spray weeds whether you see any or not. Do this at mid day. The hotter the temperature the better. Weeds will soak up the poison much better when it's hot and dry outside. Walk your yard in a three foot grid pattern, looking for even the smallest weeds. Having a system for walking your yard means that you won't miss any areas.

Some weeks you'll find quite a few small weeds. Other weeks they'll be hardly anything to spray. Apply a small amount of chemical to each weed, - just enough to cover the plant. More than that is a waste. If you don't want to bend over to spray the weeds adjust the tip of the sprayer so that you can stand up straight and apply the solution just to weeds and nothing else. Why waste expensive chemicals?

Sometimes weeds are hard to spot when they're small. Don't worry about this. Just walk your yard in a systematic manner and spray as many weeds as you can. If you do this every week and miss a few weeds this week, you'll catch them next week. The chemicals will not only kill the top of the plant. It will also damage the root systems to prevent new plants from sprouting.

How Much Will It Cost And How Much Time Will It Take To Keep My Yard Free Of Weeds?

I do this every week and here's what I've found. My costs are extremely low. I spend about $7. per year. I have a 10,000 square foot yard covered with gravel and desert landscaping. At any given time during the year there are no weeds in my yard except for very small ones that might be just starting to grow. No one would notice them unless they were looking specifically for weeds. It takes me no more than five minutes per week to control the weeds and I average about 8 ounces of ready to use solution. This means that a quart of concentrate costing $10., that makes four gallons of ready to use solution lasts me 80 weeks or approximately 1 1/2 years.

by Lisa Allen

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