Neighbor told me to pour boiling water on weeds and it worked way too well

Honestly, I was skeptical when my older neighbor Linda said to just dump my leftover pasta water on the dandelions. I tried it last summer on a patch near my fence in Phoenix. Within two days the weeds were totally dead but also the grass around them was toast. Now I'm more careful about where I pour it. Anyone else have a cheap weed killer that doesnt kill your lawn?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_betty13d ago

My neighbor used salt water and now nothing grows in that spot two years later.

julia_jones7213d ago

Salt water actually breaks down pretty fast in soil if you get rain or just water it a bunch. The real issue is probably that your neighbor killed off the soil's natural microbes and then nothing could regrow because there's no organic matter left. Soil can come back from a lot if you give it time and add some compost. Maybe the spot just needs a good soak to flush out anything still hanging around. Plenty of coastal gardeners use diluted salt water on purpose for certain weeds and their soil seems fine after a year. I bet you could plant something there again if you worked up the top layer and added fresh dirt.