LAWN CARE PUEBLO COLORADO

Today here in Lawn Care Pueblo Colorado, we will provide you a tip on how to create your own weed killer by using 3 ingredients that are mostly available, cheap does not contain any potential harsh chemicals.
 
Here are the ingredients
 
- 1 quart of vinegar
- 2 cups Epsom salt
- ¼ cup Dawn dish soap
- spray bottle or sprayer
 
Here’s how to do it.
 
1. Use a pan to heat up the vinegar.
2. Add the Epsom salt and stir with a whisk until it is all dissolved.
3. Add Dawn dish soap to the spray bottle. Once the vinegar mixture has cooled for a bit, slowly pour it in the spray bottle. Remember to pour it slowly so you don’t get a lot of suds.
 
To apply it properly:
Make sure that there is no rain forecast for at least 24 to 48 hours. Then spray it during the hottest part of the day. The reason is that the vinegar in the mixture draws out the moisture out of the plant thus killing it in the process and the sun will magnify this process.
 
Some of the weeds may need a second application later to completely kill them off, but most of them will be dead and gone after several days.

Call us or fill up our form for us to take care of your weed issues.

Today here in Lawn Care Pueblo Colorado, we will be talking about mulch. Mulch is basically any organic material that can decay which is spread around of over a plant to enrich or insulate the soil. Benefits of having mulch on your lawn or garden are the following
- it insulates the soil by providing a buffer from heat and cold temperatures
- it retains the water to keep the roots of your grass or plants moist
- it helps keep the weeds out thus making root competition between your grass or plants to be minimized
- it prevents soil compaction
- it reduces lawn mower damage
- plus, it makes your garden or lawn look nice and clean
 
But if mulch is installed incorrectly, it can also bring a lot of issues that can be avoided in the first place. Here are some mistakes that should be avoided when applying mulch to your lawn or garden.
 
1. Using the wrong mulch
Please avoid using free mulch as much as possible simply because you do not know where it came from or how was it processed. As an example, the free mulch given by many municipalities are mostly composed of ground up wood. Remember that mulch should have a balance of different organic materials. And since that you don’t know how the free mulch was processed, there could be a chance that it might contain weed seeds, pests and pesticide residue. On the other hand, processed mulch goes through aging period. This process creates high temperature which kills off insects and weeds seeds, which makes it safe and worry free to be used for gardens or lawns.
 
2. Not mulching  
We have listed the benefits of having a fresh layer of mulch on your lawn or garden above. Mulch should be applied annually. So, if you don’t mulch, your lawn or garden will obviously not get the benefits above plus it exposes your lawn or garden to a lot of problems. Below are the effects of not having a fresh layer of mulch on your garden or lawn
- Roots of grass or plants can be damaged by hot or cold temperatures because there is no layer of insulation to them
- Soil can be compacted due to absence of fresh organic matter
- Weeds can grow because there is no buffered layer on top of the soil to stop the weed seeds from growing into the soil
- Since weeds can grow without a fresh layer of mulch on your lawn or garden, plants and grass will have a competition from root growth and nutrients consumption, making them unhealthy
- it exposes your lawn or plants to be a haven for insects and diseases.
 
3. Making mulch volcanoes
We are talking about piling mulch up against the trunk of a tree or shrub, making it look like a volcano. Immense damage to trees and shrubs is being done every time this is done to them by trapping in the moisture thus making the mulch rot. Once it rots, this makes a gateway for insects and fungi to infect the plant. It is important to keep mulch an inch or two away from the trunks of trees and shrubs.
 
4. Using too much mulch
Just like a verse of a song “too much love will kill you”, this also applies to mulch as well. Having too much mulch chokes the air out of our plants or grass. This will also lead for the roots of your plants or grass to rot because there is too much water being retained from it. Always keep the thickness of your mulch to 2 inches and remove old layer of mulch.
 
5. Using little mulch
Having less mulch is almost the same as having no mulch. Weeds will still have a chance to grow and roots of your plants and grass will not be insulated properly. Once again, keep the layer of mulch up to 2 inches. And since that mulch is an organic matter, it will break down over time. Having less amount of mulch means there will be even less in a few months.

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We mostly use this on our kitchen. But today, you’ll find out that you can use it on your kitchen garden too. You may consider this as one of D.I.Y. solutions for some of your kitchen garden problems brought to you by Lawn Care Pueblo Colorado.
 

• Clay pot cleaner

This plant friendly item in our kitchen garden are very plant friendly because they keep the potted soil cool in hot days by keeping the water trapped inside them. Clay pots do get dirty overtime due to the minerals, water and fertilizer that they absorb. So, to clean the clay pots with vinegar, you’ll need

- 1 cup of vinegar for every
- 3 to 4 cups water
 
Mix this solution in a tub of water and soak your dirty pots on it for 20-30 minutes. Increase the amount of vinegar if its not working. After 30 minutes, run your pots on the dishwasher.
 

• A weed killer for your gardens, walls and walkways

This proves to be a natural, chemical free way of killing weeds. Just fill a spray bottle with pure white vinegar and spray it on the weeds. This will kill the weeds in just 2 to 3 days. But be careful not to spray this to your plants because it will kill them too.
 

• Keeping the ants away

Ants can be a big problem in our garden. Fill in 50% white vinegar or apple cider vinegar and 50% water on a spray bottle and spray this solution to ant hills or their entry points. The odor of vinegar will keep away the ants on your garden.
 

• Keeping unwanted animals away

Animals like your pets, rodents, moles among others can literally destroy a garden in one night. To keep them away, take a few pieces of old clothes and soak them in white vinegar for a few minutes. Then place them on stakes around your garden. The strong scent coming from the clothes will keep them away. Keep re-soaking the clothes once a week.
 

• Insect spray

Besides ants, vinegar can also keep insects away. Fill a spray bottle with 70% water, 30% white vinegar and 1 tablespoon dishwashing detergent then mix them. Spray this to your garden to keep the insects away.
 

• Keeping fruit flies away

If you have fruit bearing trees on your garden then you know how destructive fruit flies can be. Here’s the recipe on how to create a fruit fly spray from vinegar.
 
- 1 cup water
- Half cup apple cider vinegar
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon molasses
 
Mix all of the ingredients in a container. Then hang the container on a tree on where fruit flies usually attack. The mixture itself will attract the fruit flies and trap them inside the container.
 

• For keeping your acid loving plants

You can keep your acid loving plants healthy and happy by applying the mixture below
 
- A cup of white vinegar
- 3 to 3.5 liters of water
 
Mix well the ingredients above on a gallon then use it to water your acid loving plants. The effect of white vinegar is not long lasting but this will still give them a boost.
 

• Rust remover for your tools

Soaking you rusted tools in white vinegar for 24 hours will remove most of the rust. This also applies to your kitchen tools. You may use a sandpaper to remove the remaining rust.
 

• Killing slugs and snails

This is the most common use of vinegar among gardeners. You’ll need to put 50% white vinegar and 50% water on a spray bottle and spray this solution to the slugs and snails. If the solution is not working then increase the concentration of vinegar. But be careful not to spray this on your plants because it will kill them too.
 

• Removing fungus from your plants

Fungus usually comes from over watering your plants. Here’s the recipe for the solution
 
- 2 teaspoons vinegar
- brewed chamomile tea
 
Add 2 teaspoons of chamomile tea and spray this solution on the affected areas of the plant.

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