Why Organic Weed Control

by Doug
(in my garden)

Why Organic Weed Control

OK - let’s deal with the most obvious first. The impact of herbicides on both the health of individuals and the environment from using herbicides has been dramatic. The scientific data on human health is clear and no amount of complaining by the chemical industry or those who use them is going to change this.

Let’s deal however with a more interesting question. Why we use them in the first place. And that, in my sense of things, is because they offer us a devil’s deal. You accept the premise that they are efficient at what they do - and you suffer the consequences (or others suffer as a result of your actions). So we have the promise of “no weeds” on our lawns but in order to get this, we’re going to increase the rate of childhood cancers (Ontario Medical Association research review)

Your killing dandelions has an impact.

But they work. And I don’t want dandelions. How else do I deal with this problem?

I hear this all the time and I confess I’m getting a little ragged around the edges with this kind of response because what people are really asking is, “What’s an equally easy way to get rid of weeds?” They’re not asking what can I do to have a healthy lawn without weed - they’re asking for a substitute silver bullet. What can I use to get rid of weeds on my lawn without having to do any work or learn anything?

Lawns are easy. And I’ve written about them ad nauseum right here. You can get almost everything you need over there including the ability to ask questions (but read those already asked first) :-)
If you want the summary ebook, then go here.


Here’s the real deal though.

If you want to have a clean, healthy environment, you’re going to have to learn how to garden.


Or, you’re going to reduce the size of the garden you deal with.

You’re going to learn the lesson that Kipling was talking about, “hat half a proper gardener's work is done upon his knees”.

You’re going to learn how to garden organically and use environmentally friendly tools to reduce individual noxious weeds. Or learn the gardening tricks that reduce weeds so hand-weeding is reduced.

Or you’re going to give up and pave the damn thing.

Because the latest data I saw showed that agricultural chemical exposure was four times greater in urban areas than in rural areas.

I had an upset person rant about “doesn’t the government trust us to measure chemicals accurately?” when talking about the restriction of concentrated herbicides such as Roundup in Ontario. And the answer to that is a resounding, “NO!”. Given the nature of the four times exposure level, the answer seems obvious.


I still get asked questions all the time about how to get rid of weeds in perennial gardens and vegetable gardens. And my answer is increasingly - use the “armstrong” method. Get down on your knees and use your strong arms to pull the darn things out.

But there’s too many of them!

Then make your garden smaller.

But I want a big garden.

Then learn to do the work properly - learn how to garden organically.

And here the conversation pretty much stops - except for the plaintive “How?”

Here’s the real deal folks. There’s over 4000 individual pages on my websites. You can use the left hand navigation bar to move between subjects and within websites (top is websites, bottom is subject).

Every article on those pages is aimed at teaching you to garden organically. Every one.

I don’t label my pages “organic” here and “chemical” there. They’re all organic.

Enjoy yourself.