Spring buds starting to pop...and so are weeds

[ua_guy]

Spring is here and I find myself in constant battle with weeds coming up in planted beds. Are there any cheap and effective weed killers preferred by frugalists?

This year was my first experience with Casaron. I laid it down pretty heavy in the front yard and it did a very good job in preventing weeds and other unwanted growth, however at $34/bag, it's nasty-expensive. I'd be almost $200 into just Casaron if I also did the back yard.

I was too late with the back yard. Lots of stuff coming up already, too late for Casaron until I get everything beaten back again. Normally I'd use Roundup to kill it all before raking and pulling all the dead stuff up, but that stuff has gotten outrageously expensive as well.

I have some paver walkways and some areas of crushed gravel, and I use a non-selective seasonal killer on there like Noxall, which is also outrageously expensive.

I love having a yard that looks well taken-care of, and showing the beauty of the landscaping that was done to the place, I just wish weed control was cheaper in general. Ideas?

[lorraineb]

Vinegar! I found that it works really well.

[JoeP]

Find a liquid concentrate containing Trimec, and invest in a small backpack sprayer. Mine holds 5 gallons, and you spray only the weeds. This reduces waste and targets the weeds. I spray about 4 times a year. It is easy to spot treat with a backpack sprayer, and it is far less expensive. If you have a tractor supply company outlet near you, they have an excellent product that I use.

[ua_guy]

Trimec? I'll have to check it out. Shopping Tractor Supply would be great, if we had anything like it around here. Maybe I can find another place that sells in bulk.

Vinegar...I've tried that before. It makes a better salad dressing ingredient than it does a weed killer in my area. The surroundings are heavily forested, and the type (and size) of weeds we get here are the type that will live through a dousing of RoundUp if it's mixed too light.

[Weird Tolkienish Figure]

Spring is here and I find myself in constant battle with weeds coming up in planted beds. Are there any cheap and effective weed killers preferred by frugalists?

This year was my first experience with Casaron. I laid it down pretty heavy in the front yard and it did a very good job in preventing weeds and other unwanted growth, however at $34/bag, it's nasty-expensive. I'd be almost $200 into just Casaron if I also did the back yard.

I was too late with the back yard. Lots of stuff coming up already, too late for Casaron until I get everything beaten back again. Normally I'd use Roundup to kill it all before raking and pulling all the dead stuff up, but that stuff has gotten outrageously expensive as well.

I have some paver walkways and some areas of crushed gravel, and I use a non-selective seasonal killer on there like Noxall, which is also outrageously expensive.

I love having a yard that looks well taken-care of, and showing the beauty of the landscaping that was done to the place, I just wish weed control was cheaper in general. Ideas?

Ground cover and lots of it. Starve the bastards out.

[snafu]

Depending on location we use garden fabric, a black, lightweight, easily manipulated fabric for flower gardens and cut 'X' for annuals and gently manipulate perennials their first few days. Top with smalles size bark chips and mulch. Back part of patio gets planter pots so rake back ground cover and layer with double spread newspaper, cover with large bark chops and will add two bag of bark chips this year as it's an alternate year task/expense. I don't like to use chemical weed killer as children & dogs play on our patio. Vinegar, salt and boiling water work for me.

[HappySaver]

I also use white vinegar in a spray bottle. Works well enough, without the use of harsher chemicals.

[Brad03]

i live in sweden and im just happy to see anything now after the snow even weeds