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I've been looking at this site for a pet friendly weed killer but so far no luck. I tried the boiling water suggestion I found somewhere else, but now I'm sitting here in pain after burning my leg and the weeds are still standing in the small space where I poured some hot water. My backyard and front porch have absolutely been taken over by all the weeds identified in this web site and there are others that look like small trees.
The boiling water solution won't help, the area is too large and my accident-pone disposition demand another solution. Can you help? I can't use chemicals because I have two mischievous Yorkie babies who will try anything and everything at least once (they eat the weeds too). My fear of poisoning my little ones is the reason that I let my yard and porch get out of control. Now I'm overwhelmed and lost. Please advice. Thanks so much.
How about just cutting the weeds down? A good pair of garden shears would make quick work of them and chopped down weeds look pretty close to grass!
I've read that spraying weeds with a solution of vinegar with salt dissolved in it, during the hottest part of the day works. You need to repeat it a few times until the weeds are dead though.
I've also read that Round-Up will not harm pets...I've used it in my driveway and my girls don't touch it.
Roundup works by monopolizing the bonding sites on a particular enzyme plants need for protein synthesis. Animals don't have that enzyme, which is why Roundup is essentially nontoxic to animals when used in the concentrations specified on the label.
Just cutting the weeds down, as someone suggested, is not always an effective method of control. It depends on the specific plant you are trying to manage. Some weeds, such as Canada thistle or Japanese knotweed, get worse when you cut them down, because they are stimulated to grow rapidly by the loss of their top growth. That doesn't mean that chemical control should be anyone's automatic first resort--on the contrary--but there are a variety of tools available for weed management and it's important to choose one that will be effective on the specific weed problem you're trying to deal with.
