While gardeners will be happy that spring is here, it also mean the return of the dreaded garden weeds. Unsightly weeds only grow once they receive enough sunlight, which is why hundreds seem to appear at the same time in spring, and they thrive in warm areas like gravel driveways or between patio slabs. Experienced gardeners will know they can be a pain to get rid of, as their roots tend to bury themselves deep into cracks or compact soil, meaning that, even if you manage kill off the surface plant, it tends to grow back in a few weeks.
While there are several different kinds of weed killer available to buy from garden centres and supermarkets, many might not realise that there’s a natural way to get rid of these weeds for good, and it’s something that many of us will use on a daily basis. While some garden experts use homemade solutions, such as white vinegar and salt, these still cost money, and often aren’t great for the environment – but luckily, there’s another way to do it.
How to kill garden weeds naturally
Taking to TikTok, one woman named Caroline Walker shared how the social media video app had taught her that simply pouring boiling hot water from the kettle onto the garden weeds will help kill them off for good. “To the TikTok that taught me to pour boiling water on weeds to kill them – thank you so much,” she wrote on the overlay text of the video, as she was seen pouring water from her kettle onto a patch of weeds that had appeared between her patio slabs.
She went on to explain that this simple method had helped her remove weeds from her driveway last year without having to spend hours on her knees, digging them up by hand. While this might not be a great solution if weeds are growing amid other plants that you want to keep, as the hot water will most likely kill those plants as well, it’s a great option if you find weeds growing in odd places, such as on your patio or driveway.
It works by sending the plant into thermal shock and rupturing its cell walls. The weed will become immedietly dehydrated, leading it to wilt rapidly, and eventually die.
However, if the weeds are strongly established, you might have to do it a few times, as the roots will most likely have travelled so far underground, it can keep reappearing. The comments section of Caroline’s video soon filled with thousands of people sharing their amazement over the simple hack, while others shared other natural ways to get rid of weeds.
“I’ve been doing that for years,” one user said. Another said: “So much easier, no chemicals and CHEAP.”
“Salt water,” another person suggested. “Salt stops things growing. Thats why the romans salted the plains of Carthage.
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