Weeds

Earth Friendly Weed Control

Some popular natural methods are the hot water steam machine, weed whacking, burning, solarization, hand weeding, heavy mulching, and goats.

Only when the above have been exhausted should organic control be considered for emergencies only.

We recommend organic chemical controls that biodegrade, if necessary at all. Organic products from the Organic Material Research Institute, OMRI, the National Organic Program, or similar organic programs could be options. OMRI listing requires transparency and listing of ALL ingredients on the label or MSDS listings. The products go through an examination process before they will be accepted on the OMRI list.

Click here to go to our section on organic land management.

Here is a link for homemade weed control.

Natural Armor Weed & Grass Killer

Many people want to get rid of weeds and grass in unwanted areas. Still, they want something that is safe, and Natural Armor has it. This product is organic, so it doesn’t contain glyphosate.

Plus, it is chemical- and poison-free. The concentrated formula is all-natural and designed to kill over 250 types of grasses and weeds. It’s biodegradable, non-toxic, and eco-friendly, as well.

You are going to like that this product is safe for pets and humans. Plus, it is ready to use, so all you have to do is start spraying it. Because you don’t have to mix or dilute, it’s easy to use and not messy.

The beauty here is that you can use it anywhere that has unwanted grass and weeds. This includes around your flower beds, trees, and shrubs.

You can also use it along the edging, foundation, and fence lines. If that weren’t enough, it can be used around barns, gravel, driveways, mulch beds, pool areas, wells, and so much more.

Of course, the goal of any weed killer is to work quickly. You can start seeing results hours after applying it. The best part is that you aren’t going to contaminate the groundwater or affect the birds.

Doctor Kirchner Natural Weed & Grass Killer

Many people dislike harsh chemicals being sprayed all over their yard. If that is the case for you, then the Doctor Kirchner brand of natural weed killer might be ideal. It is made from soap, food-grade vinegar, and ocean saltwater.

All of these things are safe for your pets, children, and the surrounding vegetation. It is designed only to kill the grass and weeds you do not want in your yard. Of course, you must use it as directed.

When you do, it is safe for the environment, kids, and pets. Plus, it doesn’t require any mixing. You can start spraying right from the container with an appropriate sprayer head (which is not included).

Though it is not considered organic, it is natural. Therefore, it doesn’t contain hormone-disrupting chemicals and glyphosate.

You’re going to like that it is fast-acting, too. Many weeds are going to turn brown in just 12 to 24 hours of application. While the goal is to use it immediately, it can sit for four years and still work correctly, which means it has a long shelf

Green Gobbler Vinegar Weed & Grass Killer

Those who are interested in something a little safer are going to like the Green Gobbler brand. It features vinegar as one of the main ingredients. This is safe for your children and pets and still does the job.

You can eliminate all of the weeds on your property in just hours. The weeds are fully killed in about 24 hours. It is ideal for getting rid of white clover, clover weeds, moss, crabgrass, and dandelions.

Because it uses vinegar as a primary ingredient, you can use it in residential, industrial, agricultural, and commercial uses. Consider using it in parking lots, flower beds, mulch beds, and on sidewalks.

This product works a bit differently because it is not concentrated. It comes with a sprayer and is ready to use out of the container. Plus, you are going to like that it is certified as organic.

That means it has no cancer-causing chemicals and doesn’t contain glyphosate. Still, the formula is up to four times stronger than regular vinegar. Also, it is made from ethanol, which is distilled from corn grains.

You’re going to be impressed at how well this product works. It also comes in a variety of sizes, from one gallon up to 275 gallons.

Ortho GroundClear Weed and Grass Killer

While many people prefer to work with products they know, a newer brand has become quite popular. Ortho isn’t as well-known as others, but it has a GroundClear weed killer that starts working immediately. If that weren’t enough, it is ready to use and comes with a sprayer.

It sits to the side of the container, so it is a complete system. Plus, you aren’t going to lose the spray head when it’s not being used.

The product works on all types of grasses and weeds, so you can spray it anywhere. Plus, it’s designed to be sprayed on your landscape beds, hardscapes, and around the vegetable garden. Just make sure that you apply it directly to the things you want to kill.

You can start seeing results in just 15 minutes because the product is absorbed by the grass or weed on contact. Plus, it can dry onto the leaves in just two hours. This also makes it rainproof.

If that weren’t enough, this weed killer is OMRI listed, which means it is organic. It doesn’t contain toxic chemicals or glyphosate.

Phydura Weed Killer – Natural Herbicide Concentrate

Phydura weed killer is a non-synthetic, non-selective herbicide made from clove oil and other natural ingredients. When you spray Phydura on weeds and grass, it works fast (within 24 hours) to destroy the foliage through a burn down process. Use Phydura for weed control on driveways, patios, sidewalks and along fence rows. Phydura is 100% biodegradable and safe for the environment. Mix 3 parts water with one part Phydura (one qt. makes one gal. of spray.) OMRI Listed for organic use.

How to Remove Tree Stumps and Roots without Pesticides

Here are two references on how to remove tree stumps with epsom salts.

Stump Grinding

Sherman Oaks Tree Service. Example of a Tree Service company that grinds up the stump – “The machine reduces a stump to nothing but roots, ensuring the ground beneath is safe, contained and well-collected. Re-growth isn’t possible.“
Wikipedia article on Stump Grinding

Steam Weeding

The hot steam machine has a secret ingredient – hot water! Please see the reviews below concerning the water steam machine. This machine has been proven to be cost effective compared with time-consuming hand weeding. There are a lot more references on the web concerning the success of this product.

These two Australian companies sell the machines – Weed Technics and Optima Steamer

University of Colorado changed to the steam method. Hand weeding was not cost effective due to the large area that needed control.

Here is an example of one company among several others supplying a smaller steam machines for convenience.

Here is a video of steam weeding on a hop farm in Vermont:

Goats

Keeping goats is an environmentally conscious brush abatement technique providing fire breaks and defensible space. Goats can be used effectively in almost any location or terrain type, especially in terrain too rocky or steep for human or machine clearing. Goat cleared areas are more fire resistant, and significantly more attractive appearances result.
In Los Angeles area, contact Ventura Brush Goats.
In San Diego, see ELM.

Invasive Species

Here are 3 articles from the Beyond Pesticides magazine on pesticide use for invasive species.

1) Pesticide use harming species ripples through the Ecosystem.

2) Meeting the invasive species challenge!

3) Ecological Management of Problem Vegetation

The biology of invasive species overview by Jack Gescheidt, environmental artist and photographer, and Founder of the Tree Spirit Project.

Invasive Biology!

Andrew Cockburn in Harper's Magazine, 2015 -

Weed Whackers

Monsanto, glyphosate, and the war on invasive species

Got Glyphosate/RoundUp?

Here is satire on poison-reliant lawn care.

The Center for Biological Diversity reports – EPA Finds Glyphosate Is Likely to Injure or Kill 93% of Endangered Species.

The California Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986 requires that the Governor revise and republish at least once per year the list of chemicals known to the State to cause cancer or reproductive toxicity (Proposition 65). Glyphosate was included on July 7, 2017.

Please view the following testimony of two UC Irvine professors concerning some of the problems with pesticides – YouTube video. These are health experts that have no connection with the pesticide industry.

Los Angeles County announced – “On March 12, 2019, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors passed a motion directing County agencies to stop the use of the herbicide Glyphosate.”

Many cities in the US, Europe, and Canada have banned it because of its health implications. This is a highly toxic poison that has been declared a cancer-causing agent by the World Health Organization International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in March 2015.

Here is an extensive worldwide list indicating where steps have been taken to either restrict or ban glyphosate.

“It’s the herbicide on our dinner plates, a chemical so pervasive it’s in the air we breathe, our water, our soil, and even found increasingly in our own bodies. Known as Monsanto’s Roundup by consumers, and as glyphosate by scientists, the world’s most popular weed killer is used everywhere from backyard gardens to golf courses to millions of acres of farmland. For decades it’s been touted as safe enough to drink, but a growing body of evidence indicates just the opposite, with research tying the chemical to cancers and a host of other health threats.” — from the book Whitewash, the story of a weed killer, cancer, and the corruption of science.

Here are references on glyphosate health hazards, and here are some more.

Our local pathobiologist, Dr. Stephen Frantz, has written an excellent summary article – Glyphosate … Misery in a Bottle!

Here is a Brief by Dr. Frantz on the huge amount of glyphosate in use per year in California – GLY Brief 1X RED FINAL Frantz v.4.2.

The catastrophic decline of Monarch butterflies has been driven in large part by the widespread planting of genetically engineered crops in the Midwest, where most monarchs hatch. The vast majority of genetically engineered crops are made to be resistant to Monsanto’s RoundUp, a potent killer of milkweed, the monarch caterpillar’s only food source. The dramatic surge in Roundup/glyphosate use and “Roundup Ready” crops has virtually wiped out milkweed plants in midwestern corn and soybean fields. It is estimated that in the past 20 years these once-common butterflies may have lost more than 165 million acres of habitat — an area about the size of Texas — due to pesticides and loss of breeding grounds.

It also is hurting other pollinators, including bumblebees.
Here is a report on a recent study – Undisclosed Inert Ingredients in Some Popular Roundup Products Found to Be Highly Toxic to Bumblebees

Here is an article about how Roundup has contributed to monarch butterfly decline.

This website is about human exposure to glyphosate – EcoWatch – Human Exposure to Glyphosate. Glyphosate usage has skyrocketed 500% since the introduction of GMO crops.

Here is a study which finds that Glyphosate is in 13 out of 14 samples of – Ben and Jerry’s ice cream

RoundUp found in 100% of California wines tested.

A good site to review that has excellent recommendations is a list from Beyond Pesticides.

NEWS: August 10, 2018: “Monsanto was ordered to pay $289m (£226m) damages to a man who claimed the products caused his cancer.
A Californian jury said Monsanto should have warned users about the dangers of its Roundup and RangerPro weedkillers.”
BBC article jury decision against RoundUp

RoundUp for Breakfast
Weed-killing chemical linked to cancer found in some children’s breakfast foods.
New Tests: Weed Killer Found in All Kids’ Cereals Tested
Glyphosate/Roundup Chemical Found In Children’s Foods

Glyphosate is an infamous chemical pesticide, with an EPA approved secret ingredient list. Please see the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) attached on this product.
Note that the second ingredient on the label is inert ingredients. The document states:
“The specific chemical identity is being withheld because it is trade secret information of Monsanto”. We believe in transparency and the right to know what we are spraying in our environment that affects our children, pets, wildlife and our ecosystem. This secret ingredient list can be more dangerous than the pesticide itself!

Read about pesticide-induced diseases here – Pesticide Induced Diseases Overview and Database.

The following was an “Action of the Week” from Beyond Pesticides:

Dear Activists,

At Beyond Pesticides we fight for meaningful policy change. When the federal government fails to take action to protect communities from toxic chemicals, it is critical to make movement at the grassroots level. To this end, we are testing out an action targeting mayors across the nation.

Our direct action system has some limitations at this time. You will need to click the appropriate link for your region. If your address does not match up to a municipality with mayor and a population of over 10,000, your letter may not be delivered and you’ll receive a message to that effect. In that case, we encourage you to copy/paste the form letter in an email to the lead local official, which could be a county supervisor or county executive. Please let us know if you would like help with this.

With thanks,

The Beyond Pesticides Team

It is time for all local governments and school districts to stop the use of glyphosate/Roundup and other toxic pesticides in our communities. The last month has seen a level of activity that supports immediate action. Two more juries came in with verdicts that the herbicide caused plaintiffs’ non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) —this time handing the manufacturer, Monsanto/Bayer, a bill for $80 million ($5 million in compensatory damages and $75 million in punitive damages), and then a judgment for $2 billion, including $55 million in damages for a married couple.

Tell your local government to act now to stop the use of glyphosate/Roundup and adopt organic land management practices. Please click the appropriate action link for your region.

WEST

Mountain West: Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming
Pacific West: Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon, and Washington

MIDWEST

East North Central: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin
West North Central: Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota

SOUTH

South Atlantic: Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, District of Columbia, and West Virginia
East South Central: Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Tennessee
West South Central: Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas

NORTH EAST

North East: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania

Insurance companies are now backing away from Roundup. Harrell’s is a company that sells chemical pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, and “adjuvants and colorants,” among other products, primarily to golf courses, and to the horticulture-nursery, turf, and landscape sectors. The company announced on March 11 that it stopped selling products containing glyphosate as of March 1, 2019 because neither its current insurance company nor others the company consulted would underwrite coverage for the company for any glyphosate-related claims.

Harrell’s CEO stated: “During our annual insurance renewal last month, we were surprised to learn that our insurance company was no longer willing to provide coverage for claims related to glyphosate due to the recent high-profile lawsuit and the many thousands of lawsuits since. We sought coverage from other companies but could not buy adequate coverage for the risk we would be incurring. So we had no choice other than to notify our Harrell’s Team and customers that we would no longer offer products containing glyphosate.”

The announcement stands in contrast to a Fox Business story shortly after the verdict in the Johnson v. Monsanto case. That article reported that, “Top U.S. retailers such as Home Depot, Target, Walmart and Amazon are sticking by Monsanto’s controversial weedkiller Roundup one week after a California jury awarded a school groundskeeper $289 million for proving the spray caused him to develop non-Hodgkin lymphoma.” Indeed, insurer (and perhaps re-insurer) concern may well increase in light of the deluge of lawsuits glyphosate use has triggered.

Meanwhile scientific studies linking glyphosate to serious adverse effects still keep coming in. A recent study by Fabiana Manservisi, Corina Lesseur, et al., published in Environmental Health on March 12, shows glyphosate-based herbicides are associated with endocrine and reproductive effects. This is on top of the scientific findings by the World Health Organization that the chemical probably causes cancer. A meta-study in February 2018 concluded that there is a “compelling link between exposures to GBH [glyphosate-based herbicides] and increased risk of NHL.” Still, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency fails to act.

On March 1, the City of Miami established a ban, which went into immediate effect, on the use of any glyphosate-based herbicides (including Roundup compounds) by the city and any of its contractors.

It is time to stop glyphosate use or risk continued exposure to the state’s populations and adverse health effects, along with the financial exposure that the threat of litigation brings.

Beyond Pesticides and other organizations that have worked for many years to educate stakeholders and policy makers about the dangers of pesticides, stand ready to assist communities in transforming pest management by eliminating a reliance on toxic pesticides and adopting organic management practices.

>> Tell your local government to act now to stop the use of glyphosate/Roundup and adopt organic land management practices.