No matter how particular you are about your lawn care activities, it is inexorable that a few uninvited guests, i.e. weeds, will start turning up on your lawn. These unwanted guests cause a number of lawn diseases and hinder the growth of other plants in your garden. If left unchecked, the weeds pull all the nutrients from the soil, making your lawn dull and sick. Weeds not only battle with other young plants and grass for food but also for space and water, suffocating them, and interfering in their healthy growth. Additionally, they also block your drainage system and hamper the overall health of your lawn. 

Using chemicals to kill weeds might harm other plants on your lawn as well. The application of herbicides needs expertise and thus, must always be done under the supervision of professionals. However, no worries! There are plenty of environment-friendly, natural ways too to deal with weeds. When treated in the nascent stage, these natural remedies can restrict the growth of weeds and impede their reproduction process. So, if you want to avoid the usage of harsh chemical weed killers in your lawn, try out these effective natural remedies to keep weeds at bay. 

• Hand Weeding

If you spot weeds sprouting in your grass bed, pull them out from the roots. This is a very effective technique if your garden is infected with just a few weeks. To pull out the roots, you can make use of a dandelion weeder or any other sharp tool that digs deep into the soil. Remember, if weeds’ roots remain underneath, they will regrow and again infect your lawn. 

• Mulching

Mulching is not only a wonderful way to conserve moisture but also an effective way to restrict the growth of weeds. You can always make use of organic, biodegradable products in mulching to control weeds. Also, these organic mulches like newspapers and cardboards are known for making your lawn soil more fertile. You can also make use of other organic products from your garden such as grass clippings, straw, pine bark, etc. to create a 2-4 inch mulch layer around young plants and stop the growth of weeds. However, try to avoid wood mulches as they pull the nutrients from the soil and obstruct plant growth. 

• Solarizing 

During summer, you can make use of solar heat to kill the weeds in your garden. Take a thin, clear plastic and place it over an area infested by weeds. Leave the plastic in that area for at least 4 weeks. The intense sunlight will heat up the ground and kill weeds gradually. However, you have to be very cautious with this technique as excess heat can even kill good organisms from the soil. 

• Burning 

Another effective way to get rid of weeds is flaming. Here, you can make use of a propane torch to burn weeds. However, this technique needs expertise as it might also burn the nearby plants and grass of your lawn. Thus, if you are an amateur, use this technique to kill weeds in areas without plants. Also, you can pluck weeds from roots and burn them in a concrete area or an area without plants. 

The above-mentioned techniques are organic and will not hamper the growth of other plants in your garden. Killing weeds right as they start sprouting, saves you both money and effort. Removing huge weed bunches is more expensive and tricky. So, if you are unsure about how to treat them, call a professional to check them out.