Weeds Gone Wild

Remember to click on picture for larger.
 

Chickweed and nut sedge have taken over my gravel path.

There are so many I can never get them all pulled.  Thus, I am going to use 20% vinegar to wipe them out.
It has been a trial trying to find a store that sells this.
I finally asked my favorite nursery (Weston Gardens , Fort Worth) to order some for me. The product comes in gallons and is pretty pricey.
I have always tried to stay away from the poisons for weeds.
Even though I am not growing food crops, poison is poison.

As an aside, it may be necessary to use poison to get rid of fleas.  I am assuming I was bitten numerous times in my garden or yard.  It has been a very unpleasant experience.  Have several days yet before things calm down.  The itch is so intense, I cannot stand clothes touching the welts.

Back to weeds.  The plan is to use undiluted or 1/4 cup water to 1 cup vinegar. (should stretch the dollar a bit)
My first attempt to mark plants turned out not such a good idea.  Rather than leave the path area while taking pictures, I opted for cherry tomatoes to mark the treated plants.  The next day, the tomatoes were either gone or moved.  Evidence of a bit of savoring the juice from the tomatoes. Who knew critters liked tomatoes?

This is the same spot, just different time of day. This was sprayed

nut sedge with tomato marker 

Since this picture, both are completely brown.

Went after the juice I guess

This is a dead bit of Johnson grass.  Nasty stuff. Spreads worse than nut sedge as it gets so big.

Before. It is easy to control where vinegar goes in this setting

After

This has been a learning process for future blogs.  The big issue is to be able to identify the exact spot.
Even with the trials of critters, and not being able to locate before and afters, I am satisfied that the vinegar route is the one for me. One garden guru recommends vinegar, orange oil (which I do use outside and inside) and some liquid dish soap. This is probably fine (maybe cheaper as well) for spraying.

With the cooler weather and rain, the weeds are still a problem and hope to catch up on the vinegar treatment.

Update of weeds and vinegar trial.
All the weeds in earlier pictures are definitely dead.

This next group of four plants were treated when morning temperatures have been in the 50's and 60's. The day time temperatures have been in 80's and low 90's. Lots of direct sun.

This is another group of nut sedge 3 days after treating with straight 20% vinegar.  Not a lot, a few tablespoons is plenty.
What I have observed is that when I used spray, the whole plant had to be covered with spray. With disappointing results.
With this version, just 2 or 3 tablespoons directly in the center of the plant.  The theory being that the vinegar goes straight to the root.

4 oz measuring glass. Purchased at Walmart.  I use 1/2 oz for each plant. Maybe more for larger plant as roots will be larger

 The first three are 99+% brown.

This one has one greenish blade.

It may seem tedious to spot treat each individual plant.  I just do a few at a time and so far have had amazing dead coverage.  I am leaving most of the  dead plants in the ground to see if they will return with green when we get some rain.

The first trials from a month ago have not returned and are dry and brittle.

Nearly a month later. Another group of sedge

before. sprayed whole bunch with straight vinegar

after

before

one day after

blades are 5" or better

Over night and looks dead

another 5" blades

Over night and looks dead

I am satisfied with my trials.  Not too professional, but I can refer back if I do forget about vinegar.
(Joke) Will never forget this.

Plus, I have to thank my niece for her instructions on resizing and organizing pictures.  This used to be the most difficult part of each blog I did.
Thanks Barb