The 20-Minute Environmentalist: Weed Control and Yard Care

Okay, we all know that weed prevention, landscaping and yard care take more than 20 minutes. But, these natural weed prevention and gardening tips won't take any more time than conventional methods and can save you time in the long run. Considering the harmful effects of harsh chemicals on the planet and your family's health, spending 20 minutes ordering a natural weed prevention product online (or at your local home and garden store) is well worth the effort!

Anyone who has a yard - or even a tiny patch of grass - knows what a pain it is to constantly battle weeds and care for your landscaping. Sure, there are a ton of chemical weed killers and fertilizers on the market, but before you burn your plants, damage your lawn or expose your animals and children to toxic herbicides, consider going with a healthier and more eco-friendly method of weed control and yard care.

Natural weed prevention is easy and inexpensive, and is much less damaging to the environment than commercial weed killers and chemical weed prevention products. Follow these tips to prevent weed growth in your lawn and flowerbeds with these natural, non-toxic, eco-friendlier methods of weed control and get healthy, nutrient-rich soil without chemical fertilizers.

1. Prevent Weeds Naturally with Vinegar - Regular household vinegar will generally work just fine, but if it isn't doing the trick, head to your local home or hardware store and get the 10% dilution, which is significantly stronger. Spray the vinegar directly on weeds for non-toxic, chemical-free, natural weed control. It might take you 20 minutes to pick up the vinegar and the sprayer, but it won't take you any longer than spraying weeds with harmful chemical weed killers.
2. Use Natural or Recycled Ground Covers - Take on this task 20 minutes at a time and you will limit your impact on the environment while saving a lot of time in the long run. Natural ground covers like mulch, stones, pine needles or low growing plants help to control erosion and limit weed growth (which means less work for you!). Alternatively, you can cover the soil with old newspapers or even old carpet to limit weed growth and find new purposes for things that could have ended up in the landfill.
3. Switch to Natural Weed Control Products - If vinegar and ground covers aren't quite doing the job, spend 20 minutes ordering once of these natural weed killers online (or stop by your local home and garden store to pick some up).
   1. Corn Gluten Meal available at extremelygreen.com.
   2. Premerge Natural Weed Control available at extremelygreen.com.
   3. Concern Necessary Organics Weed Prevention Plus 100% Natural Corn Gluten Pre-emergent Herbicide from Woodstream available at yardlover.com.
   4. WorryFree Organic Weed and Grass Killer made from citrus oil available from planetnatural.com.
   5. Agralawn Organic Crabgrass Killer made from cinnamon bark, available at planetnatural.com.
   6. Weed-a-Tak Organic Herbicide made with citric acid, clove leaf oil and cinnamon oil available at planetnatural.com.
4. Hire a Green Gardener or Landscape Company - 20 minutes is all it will take to look up the website and phone number for a local eco-friendly, green landscaping company. This one might not save you money, but it will definitely save you time since you will be handing your gardening tasks off to a green professional. And, you can rest assured that your yard won't be adding to the chemicals that end up in our soil, waterways and air from fertilizers, weed killers and other nasty landscaping products - all without having to take the time to research and find eco-friendly products, since your green gardener will do that for you.
5. Leave the leaves - Stop raking. Seriously. Save the time (and the backache) and allow your leaves to return to the soil as organic mulch. Letting the leaves lie in your flowerbeds and planters won't take any extra time at all - in fact it saves you time. As for your lawn - let your mower chew up the leaves and spit them out. It might take you a couple of minutes to remove the bag if you have a power mower, but it won't take you any extra time while you are mowing and, if you used to rake before you mowed, you will save even more time. The leaves will quickly degrade and will improve your lawn and the soil.