Comments on: Killing Weeds with Hot Water

By: Teresa

Teresa — Mon, 21 May 2012 17:20:42 +0000

I have a question about the boiling hot water and poison ivy? Will this trick work with poison ivy? What about poison ivy around a large tree? I’m afraid of using this method where I need to rid of the worst weed problem I have. Let me know and thank you very much.

By: Northern Shade

Northern Shade — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 00:22:23 +0000

John, you’re welcome, It’s great when a simple and environmentally safe weed removal method works so well.

By: John

John — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 17:08:21 +0000

Thanks for the advice, it works a treat!

By: Northern Shade

Northern Shade — Sun, 28 Nov 2010 22:20:05 +0000

Hi # 44, the boiling water does a good job, and is probably the safest. I wouldn’t want the salt leaching into the garden.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sun, 28 Nov 2010 22:13:40 +0000

Thank you! Have you ever tried to use rock salt as another pesticide?

By: Northern Shade

Northern Shade — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 14:25:10 +0000

The boiling water works quickly with annual weeds, and some perennial or established weeds might need a repeat application. Some of the weeds were pineapple weed, Centaurea (knapweed), Sonchus (sow thistle), Matricaria (scentless chamomile), and dandelion.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 04:00:14 +0000

I am doing this project in class where I have to study what are the most effective types of pesticides on different types. What types of weed were on your sidewalk/path if you don’t mind me asking.

By: Northern Shade

Northern Shade — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 16:24:15 +0000

Carrie, I don’t have a really good solution for it. Like you, I’ve decreased my lawn by adding more gardening beds, since there are always more plants to try. :)

To keep the lawn out of my garden, I keep a small trench about 5 to 8 cm (2 to 3 inch) deep and wide at the front edge. It is straight down on the lawn side, and sloped on the garden side. It makes a nice clean visual edge between the two, and sometimes I put mulch in it. About once a year, I go around and sharpen the front edge by cutting down. I use an ice breaker. [Can you tell I'm from Edmonton? :)] However there are other tools that would do the job too.

By: Carrie

Carrie — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 16:01:24 +0000

What would you suggest for evil quackgrass? We are removing our lawn next year and need to kill off the existing quackgrass in the lawn. Do you have any suggestions? I have cut my lawn size down to about half and made large sweeping garden beds against the foundation. I put down multiple layers of newspaper and then covered it with mulch in the flower beds. We had good success with this in our other front flower bed. The problem is the quack grass keeps creeping back in from the lawn and the lawn really needs to be replaced anyway as it is infested with other weeds and very compacted. Our clay soil in Edmonton helps with that. :) I have tried to find a chemical free way to replace the lawn but I may have to resort to Round-up and start fresh. I really don’t want to as my yard is chemical-free so far. Any ideas would be appreciated.

Thanks!

By: Northern Shade

Northern Shade — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 13:54:02 +0000

Edward, it gets rid of the annual weeds very well, and they rarely need another application. It seems to kill their seeds too, as I don’t get many germinating again that season. With some established perennial weeds, I need to do another boiling water treatment on those spots a few weeks later, then almost all are gone for the season. After a few years now, there are less to treat the next year. I have a short growing season, and the winter snow puts a stop to them for part of the year. It’s possible that in a longer season, it would need more applications.