Kill Weeds Growing Between Pavers With A Boozy Beverage From Your Liquor Cabinet

Pavers make for excellent backyard features because they combine both style and practicality in everything from neat garden paths to patios and seating areas. But their aesthetic is often disrupted when pesky weeds crop up between them, ruining their appearance and sometimes even making it difficult to walk across them without ending up with barbs in your feet and ankles. They can be time-consuming and difficult to remove, given their location underneath and between the pavers, so many people turn to store-bought herbicides as a solution.

However, while there are plenty of weed killers for your lawn available in stores, using harsh chemicals in the garden is not everyone's first choice due to harmful components such as glyphosate, which may adversely affect family members, pets, and even local wildlife. But what if, in order to get rid of these annoying plants in a safer way, you need to look no further than your own liquor cabinet? Well, Colorado State University Pueblo's agriculture program actually recommends, among others, a vodka-based solution as an easy, toxin-free way to kill stubborn weeds.

To create the blend, simply mix together 1 ounce of vodka with 2 cups of water, then add in 2 drops of dish soap. You can then pour the mixture into a spray bottle and squirt it directly onto the weeds that have grown up between your pavers. Keep in mind that the solution may affect any plant it touches, not just weeds, so for denser areas of your garden such as lawns or flowerbeds, you may want to look into common lawn weeds and how to control them.

The vodka solution works by stripping the plant of its waxy outer layer which helps it retain moisture, thus forcing it to dry out in the heat of the sun and eventually wither away. It is worth noting, then, that the mixture does not work in shady areas or on cloudy days as it relies on the sun to dry out the weed. Additionally, as the liquid is sprayed onto the outside of the plant, any rain or watering will quickly wash it away and more of the spray will need to be added in order for it to be effective. This mixture works best on broadleaf plants such as dandelions and clover as there is more surface area available, so you may need to conduct some trial and error to see which of your garden's weeds are most affected by it. And, in order to stop weeds popping up between your pavers in the future, you may also want to consider some preventative methods such as using mulch for weed control.