Tips for getting rid of weeds

Your garden deserves to be as lush as can be. Don't let weeds stand in the way with this helpful removal guide.

Weeds that pop up between flagstones and in cracks of the sidewalk are hard to dig out of the small crevices. Kill weeds in your terrace or walkway by dousing them with this simple laundry-room solution.

• Household bleach
• Boiling water

1. Prepare a solution of five percent bleach and 95 per cent boiling water.

2. Douse weeds with the solution, wait a day and check for withering. If the weeds resist, increase the percentage of bleach and repeat.

• It's difficult to spot and treat weeds that sidle up to your favourite garden plants without killing the good plants.
• Here's how to keep the weed killer on the weed and off your prized peonies:
• Cut the bottom out of a two litre (two quart) clear plastic soft drink container and remove the cap.
• To isolate a weed for treatment, set the bottomless jug over it, stick the weed-killer spray applicator into the cap opening and spray.
• Be sure to label the bottomless bottle with the pesticide being used and to store it in a locked cabinet with other pesticide equipment.

In the old days gardeners had to outsmart weeds because there were no chemical weed killers. Take a few tips from the old-timers, save an expensive trip to the garden centre, and keep your garden weed- and chemical-free.

1. Weed early and often to keep weeds from taking hold. Hold the hoe blade horizontal to the ground and scrape weed seedlings from the vegetable garden and around ornamentals. Avoid tilling deeply — it can bring buried weed seeds to the soil's surface, where they will sprout. To save your back, use an ergonomic hoe with a gooseneck that allows you to stand up straight.

2. Burn weeds that pop up between pavers and in the driveway with a small propane torch or kill them with boiling water.

3. Spread an eight centimetre (three inch) deep layer of organic mulch, such as straw, wood chips or compost, at the base of plants to smother weeds and retain soil moisture.

4. Pull weeds from potted nursery plants before setting them into your garden.

5. Apply granulated lime according to package directions to lawns in the fall, using a fertilizer spreader. Most lawn weeds can't thrive in alkaline soil.