One of the most common garden pests are weeds. Those who garden, weed. Even those without flower beds need to weed. Weeds can pop up through cracks in hardscaping, in lawns, and just about anywhere they please. For homeowners that take pride in their lawns and work non-stop to make their lawn look its best, weeds are the enemy. Landscaping and lawn care used to consist mainly of chemicals and toxins. Thankfully, times are changing. Many people and companies are giving much more thought to the lasting effects of these products on both people and the environment. Because so many more consumers want safer products, roundup alternative options are taking up more and more space in the lawn care industry.
Save Your Back with an Effective Weed Killer
The number one way to get rid of weeds is by manual removal. This might be fine for small areas like flower beds. However, for large areas, like lawns, hand picking weeds is not only painful, it can be an impossible task. Weeds are nothing if not persistent. This means even when manually pulling out these plant pests, your job will never be complete. The only way to save your back and avoid hand-pulling is with an effective weed killer. Even with the best weed killer and preventative, measures need to be taken continuously to keep them at bay. But, using a potent weed control product causes much less strain on your body even with repeated use. Using organic landscaping products doesn’t only save your back, it helps save the environment too.
Chemicals Work but at What Cost
It has been revealed that chemicals and toxins used in many lawncare products are detrimental and even dangerous to your health. Some have been linked to cancer meaning people are searching for safer alternatives. It makes complete sense that chemicals do a great job at killing weeds. The trouble is, they do a great job of killing and damaging other things too.
Toxic products strip good and bad things from the environment. Specifically, harsh ingredients can decrease beneficial microorganisms that exist in the soil. In order for soil, and therefore turf, to be healthy, microbes are necessary. Things like bacteria, fungi, and protozoa support life. Killing them also kills anything that attempts to grow in that soil. For burn-down situations where the intended effect is to kill off all crops in order to create a blank slate, this can be hard to avoid. However, organic roundup alternative products do exist.
Roundup Alternative Products are Available on Shelves Now
You can find many recipes online on how to make your own weed killer. Most contain a combination of household products like vinegar, dish soap, and salts. Vinegar is included in almost every do-it-yourself weed killer recipe. The acidic nature of vinegar means it burns through cell membranes effectively killing the plant. Salt does what salt does and dehydrates plants causing death. The addition of dish soap is usually done to make the mixture more potent by reducing surface tension on leaves allowing the product to be absorbed better. Some people love an at-home solution. Others, on the other hand, prefer to go the easier route and buy a pre-made product.
One glyphosate alternative, the active ingredient in products like Roundup, that is becoming increasingly popular is called Prizefighter. This mixture is a non-selective, contact-kill, certified organic herbicide. Just as vinegar and salt work by killing the plant from the inside out, Prizefighter breaks down cell walls destroying any plant it comes in contact with. It can safely be used in conjunction with other products labeled as safe for mixture boosting the effectiveness of both products. What Prizefighter doesn’t do is cause harm to people and animals. Once the application is complete, there is no harmful residue to be concerned with. You can buy this roundup alternative at online retailers like Tech Terra Environmental.
You Don’t Have to Do It Yourself When it Comes to a Roundup Alternative
The trend of making your own cleaning products, landscaping products, and self-care products is hard to avoid. When it comes to weed control, you don’t have to do it yourself because there are many controlled, safe, organic products available on the market. While you certainly can make your own solution, you can just as easily purchase an affordable roundup alternative from reliable suppliers. Not sure if you’ve chosen a safe product? Look for labels and certifications like OMRI and exemption from the EPAs FIFRA.