In article
,
gardengal wrote:

You can also go with the herbicide approach if you wish. It is fast
and efficient but may take several applications. Plants generally need
to be in active growth for most herbicides to be effective.
Horticultural vinegar is a 'natural' choice but has its own drawbacks.
Glyphosate (RoundUp) is commonly used for this purpose and works as
well but with less of a long term environmental impact. It breaks down
in the soil quite rapidly and is far less of a pollutant than most
commercial fertilizers are.

This is what is known as "damning with faint praise".

If you have any consideration for the planet, you will refrain from
using chemical fertilizers as they kill microorganisms in the soil and
reduce top soil, thus making the user more dependent on them, in ever
increasing quantities to maintain the same level of crop production,
until the system crashes from lack of topsoil.

Both are broad spectrum herbicides,
meaning they can damage anything they are sprayed on. Follow label
directions explicitly and avoid using if any kind of breeze.

http://www.ehponline.org/members/2005/7728/7728.html

Our studies show that glyphosate acts as a disruptor of mammalian
cytochrome P450 aromatase activity from concentrations 100 times lower
than the recommended use in agriculture; this is noticeable on human
placental cells after only 18 hr, and it can also affect aromatase gene
expression. It also partially disrupts the ubiquitous reductase activity
but at higher concentrations. Its effects are allowed and amplified by
at least 0.02% of the adjuvants present in Roundup, known to facilitate
cell penetration, and this should be carefully taken into account in
pesticide evaluation. The dilution of glyphosate in Roundup formulation
may multiply its endocrine effect. Roundup may be thus considered as a
potential endocrine disruptor. Moreover, at higher doses still below the
classical agricultural dilutions, its toxicity on placental cells could
induce some reproduction problems.
--

- Billy
"For the first time in the history of the world, every human being is
now subjected to contact with dangerous chemicals, from the moment of
conception until death." - Rachel Carson

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WI29wVQN8Go

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1072040.html