A NEATNIK'S TIP

I’m one of those people who takes pride in a nice looking lawn.  In early April, I visited a local hardware store and stocked up on several varieties of grass seed as well as a new nozzle for my garden hose.  Most of the grass has come in pretty well, although as I mowed the lawn on Tuesday of this week, I noticed I still have a few bare patches, so I’ll have some planting to do in early September.  (For you novices, June and July are NOT good months to plant grass seed.)

I may write further about lawn care in a future posting, but today I actually want to deal with a simple solution to the problem of grass, crabgrass,  and various weeds growing where you don’t want them to grow, especially in cracks in your driveway, cracks in the sidewalk in front of your home, and most particularly along the edge of the curb between the sidewalk and roadway.  Many people buy expensive (and potentially dangerous) weed killers to spray in these problem places.  Until 2001, I used to do that, but I got a great tip from a guy I know named Dave Connell.

The solution is simple: vinegar.  Some diehard gardeners insist on using cider vinegar, and sometimes I’ve done that, but I find that white vinegar works just fine.  At your supermarket look for the gallon jugs of white vinegar in the salad dressing aisle.  If you’ve got quite a lot of growth in your driveway or curb area, you’ll want to buy two or three or even four gallons.  At home just pour it on all your unwanted growth.  (Note: be very careful about pouring it on your lawn because it will kill grass- I recommend only using it on asphalt, concrete, and granite surfaces.)  Within three days, and usually much sooner, your problem growth will be DEAD!  Over the Summer, just get in the habit of doing this three or four times to maintain the “neat pavement/neat curb” look.  I’ve also taken to doing this around our church’s old asphalt parking lot which is loaded with cracks.  

If you’re a neatnik, you’ll love how things will look and how well this works!
Back in the 1960s, my father used to pour gasoline on such unwanted growth.  This is so much safer and cheaper, and the vinegar won’t harm asphalt surfaces.  I’ve found that even if it rains a day or two after you apply the vinegar, the results are still great, and the rain doesn't seem to be much of a problem.

“When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, hesaid, It is finished...” (from John 19:30)  Well, when you use the vinegar on your pavement the unwanted growth will be finished.

If you try this, I’d love to hear of the results.  E-mail me at RevRBaril@aol.com  or write me at P.O. Box 4704, Framingham, MA 01704