Organic weed control?

RobertSmalls · 05-13-11, 05:40 PM

My efforts at green lawn care in 2010 had mixed results. Nitrogen application caused my grass to handily outcompete the clover, and the non-clover weeds in the front lawn were eventually taken care of with intelligent manual weeding. The grass was kept healthy by regularly mowing high and never watering.

However, the back lawn is still a disaster.

Let's call it 20% grass, 80% weeds. The landlord is getting uppity, and wants to apply chemical herbicide. I have no doubt that would be easy and effective, but I'd prefer not to have those products near my house, my garden, and in local groundwater. Sure, local groundwater flows through the city and into Lake Erie, where a few more lbs of herbicide would be a drop in the pail, but still, I'd like to prove that organic methods can be effective. Little success so far. Google recommends manual weeding, but I'd be pulling out 80% of the plants in the back yard. No thanks.

Anyway, I isolated the following organisms, in addition to dandelions and grape hyacinth. Can you help me identify and eradicate them? Except, of course, the third one in, which is grass.

05-13-11, 05:40 PM	#1
RobertSmalls Journeyman EcoRenovator Join Date: May 2009 Location: Buffalo, NY Posts: 344 Thanks: 3 Thanked 17 Times in 15 Posts	Organic weed control? My efforts at green lawn care in 2010 had mixed results. Nitrogen application caused my grass to handily outcompete the clover, and the non-clover weeds in the front lawn were eventually taken care of with intelligent manual weeding. The grass was kept healthy by regularly mowing high and never watering. However, the back lawn is still a disaster. Let's call it 20% grass, 80% weeds. The landlord is getting uppity, and wants to apply chemical herbicide. I have no doubt that would be easy and effective, but I'd prefer not to have those products near my house, my garden, and in local groundwater. Sure, local groundwater flows through the city and into Lake Erie, where a few more lbs of herbicide would be a drop in the pail, but still, I'd like to prove that organic methods can be effective. Little success so far. Google recommends manual weeding, but I'd be pulling out 80% of the plants in the back yard. No thanks. Anyway, I isolated the following organisms, in addition to dandelions and grape hyacinth. Can you help me identify and eradicate them? Except, of course, the third one in, which is grass.