Todd wrote:
Hi All,

In my little garden, after the compost and all, the
local grasses have found nirvana. I am getting tired
of picking their spouts out and am loosing the battle.

Is there an organic method for killing grass, besides
manual labor?

Many thanks,
-T


It all depends on your definition. To a chemist Glyphosate is an organic
compund but the vibes I get are that probably isn't what you mean. If you
mean living or once living material then coal tar is organic and that will
kill grass. Perhaps that is idealogically unsound.

Is a flame thrower organic? What about a steam wand? Neither of these
involve spraying toxic or synthetic substances. What could be more natural
than steam? It's just water after all.

A different approach is to forget about "organic" and to do what is least
harmful to people and the environment, and has the fewest unwanted
consequences in the given situation. This may lead you to some solutions
that are not "organic" but then even if it was "organic" that doesn't mean
harmless either.

One way is exclude what grass needs to grow; light, water, minerals or air.
Light is the easiest to deal with, ie apply mulch. This isn't perfect, some
grasses laugh at mulch but mulching will reduce the weeding effort required.
It has some unwanted consequences depending on your situation but maybe you
can deal with them. TANSTAAFL.

David