Safe weed killer?

It's that time of year when your grass gets beaten down, not only by the dogs but by the competing (and often winning) botanicals...weeds.

We aren't too overrun with weeds but a friend asked if there was a product I recommended. I did a bit of research to see if weed management had got with the times and created a dog and kid friendly weed-killer that can be used next to stuff you'd like to keep...like grass. Not so much as it turns out...

Typical man made weed-killers are contain cholorphenols and other semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs) that are toxic to human/animal health and environment. Apparently they are as bad as they sound..they are considered carcinogens which potentially cause cancers. According to a environmental engineer specializing in contaminant fate and transport that weighed in on a different post concerning this very subject, weed killer SVOCs seldom decade or break down in less than 10,000 years and exposure us usually through ingestion and inhalation. Yuck! Considering all of our kids( fur or no fur) are pretty close to the ground, some even enjoying a munch on grass (see why your dogs eats grass here), this is good to know! Unfortunately we don't live in one of the new progressive neighborhoods that has banned cosmetic herbicide use, which means are getting enough exposure whenever we head out for a walk. 

If you are spot treating weeds like those that pop up through concrete stone, never fear, you have options. According to the organic gardener and Dr. Quinn the Saskatoon Fruit Man, you can use lots of different stuff like steam, salt, weak organic acids and alcohol. Check out the Organic Gardener to see how to use these different solutions.

But if you're looking for a natural guaranteed harmless weed-killer that won't kill your neighboring plants, it seems your best bet is your hands in sturdy gardening gloves...or at least that's my research tells me. Honesty, I could use a good excuse to go hang out in my yard anyway.

Bonnie

Comments

[Charlene Roziere]

There is corn gluten meal - a pre-emergent herbicide used for turf and organic crop production, which kills newly germinating weed seeds. It's also a slow-release fertilizer containing about 10% Nitrogen by weight. For existing weeds that survive the winter you'll still have to remove manually, but those step-on weeders are great.. After a few seasons of this approach your lawn should be fairly weed-free. Because it's a pre-emergent, the timing of application of the CGM is crucial - in Wpg, it's around April 20th.

[Kim Burfoot]

Our weed was sprayed on Weds with whatever the landscaping company uses, I'm not sure. I tried to only let Cosmo out for a quick potty break here and there the next couple days, but I guess that was a mistake - he has spent the last 48 hours sick as, well.... sick as a dog! The poor guy.... I think I'll put up with the weeds from now on. He's had diarrhea and has been vomiting for about 24 hours now, but he's keeping down broth and seems in relatively good spirits. But these chemicals are obviously not pet-friendly.