any organic grass control?
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 |
any organic grass control?
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 |
any organic grass control?
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? smother it with layers of cardboard and then put mulch on top of that. overlap the edges. newsprint also works fine or even landscaping fabric, old carpeting, etc. the cardboard and newsprint or pretty much anything organic will get broken down eventually and new weeds/grasses might try to come up, but if you pull them quickly enough they aren't too difficult to remove. as you say it is a little garden then that makes it easier than keeping up with a much larger space. however, none of this is accomplished without a little effort. songbird |
any organic grass control?
On 06/16/2012 09:33 PM, David Hare-Scott wrote:
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 Hi David, I just do not want poisons in my vegi's. I am growing cucumbers, zucchini, and purslane. Purslane presents a problem with mulch as it like to spread out flat across the ground. I am hoping eventually the purslane chokes out and grass. But purslane retains soil moisture, which grass likes too. Had a friend that throws a bail of his horse's hay over the bare parts, but that fights the purslane too. Thank you for the tips, -T |
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