Organic Controls
The upcoming table lists many sophisticated organic controls for weeds in turf. But here are a couple of very easy solutions you can use. Pour boiling water on your patio stones to rid yourself easily and quickly of any weed. Slowly pour the boiling water onto the weed and within a few minutes, it will wither and die. The key is to make sure the water is boiling, and to pour it quite slowly over the weed. It will take you a few tries to find out how much water it takes to kill each weed. In my garden it takes about a pint poured slowly over a full-grown dandelion to cook and kill it. This is a safe and effective control mechanism with no negative environmental side effects.
Another quick and easy solution is to use sulfur as a grass preventative. Sulfur is quite acidic. If you sprinkle it around in areas where you don't want grass (or anything else to grow), you'll create a very acidic soil that will not support vegetation. You'll have to experiment to get the correct amount to stop specific plants from growing, but it does work. The only caution here is that sulfur is yellow and can stain concrete and brick products.
USE, DON'T ABUSE
I've probably said this before but I'll say it again.
If you want to kill weeds using a chemical, then use the appropriate chemical to do the job and use it at the recommended rate. If you want to feed your lawn, then use the appropriate product and use it at the recommended rate.
Using a weed-and-feed compound as a matter of routine is simply an abuse of chemicals not to mention an abuse of your wallet or purse. Try all the things mentioned in this chapter to control weeds before you use sprays. Weed-and-feed (a mixture of fertilizer and herbicide) is an expensive product when compared to comparable compounds sold separately.
“Twofers” (two for the price of one) don't exist in the gardening world and you'll pay—one way or the other—for the overuse or abuse of feed or weed killers.
