We have eliminated 90% of chemicals within our home. We no longer use harmful soaps, detergents, makeup, toothpaste, cleaners, air fresheners, dryers sheets or fabric softener, and more. We are continuing to make better food choices too, filled with nutrition and foods that offer fuel versus fake ingredients that can wreak havoc on our bodies. Now it’s time to start eliminating those nasty, sneaky toxic products in our outside world too.

I was SOOO excited to have discovered Sunday. A natural way to grow a beautiful lawn…you can have pretty yard and still be able to breathe without choking on the fumes of dangerous yard sprays. I share more about the Sunday Smart Lawn Plan on this post. (Click here)

So, if you watch my Instagram Stories at all, you may have seen that we recently, completely, totally, re did our front yard. The story is: a few years ago we had to have a few Ash trees removed from our yard because they were being destroyed by the Emerald Ash Borer. The trees were removed, the stumps ground down to just below the grass level, and that was that. The yard was left with a couple large divets where the trees once were. Beyond that, the grass not so very nice. A nice lawn has never really been top priority. So, whatever was grass and whatever was weeds would get mowed and that was about the extent of the care our lawn got. The story continues: a few months ago, my husband, Jason, says he wanted to level out the front yard. I thought that meant throw some dirt in the divets, toss some grass seed on top, and walaa’. NOPE. That’s not what it meant. It meant he was going to take a few inches of dirt off our entire yard (the piles of dirt can now currently be found in our backyard). It also meant he was going to dig down and pull out the rest of the tree stumps and roots. Holy Moly! was that a project. Those were stumps were beasts! As matter of fact I think we provided entertainment for the whole neighborhood as they curiously wondered “What the heck are the Yusten’s” doing?” We had a HUGE hole in our yard, probably 8-10 feet wide and 5-6 feet deep. The kids loved it. The dogs thought it was pretty fun too. At one point, prior to the massive hole, Ethan had created a dirt bike course in our front yard with dirt ramps and everything. Tons of people walked by and were either baffled by the giant hole or by the massive 6’+ stump that had been dragged onto the the driveway. Someone even pulled up and took a picture. Funny.

Okay, so fast forward to now – we actually have replanted seed and have grass!! So, cool. I think it is funny how exciting it is to me. But I am loving the project and am determined to now have a nice lawn without all the hazardous effects many are okay with using on their lawns. I am not. My family’s health is more important to me and the future of the environment is too important. We call all do this. Baby steps; as we learn to do things better we can do them better.

I mentioned Sunday’s Smart Lawn Plan (customized for your lawn – learn more here (affiliate link) and we have, just last week, sprayed the lawn with its first round of natural fertilizer. I honestly, can tell it is already fuller and stronger. We do however, still have to conquer some weeds. Still on a mission to do this chemical free here are a handful of things I have been testing out.

One thing I probably should have done a little differently is pull the crab grass weeds as I started to see them grow in the new grass. I was trying to avoid walking on it and, honestly, the crab grass along the driveway and curb actually acted as a barrier from the dirt to wash away – so I left them till more grass was securely in. I’m not sure that was the right call or not because now….there is a entire row of weeds in those two locations. (Ru-roh Scooby)

So here we go, 5 NATURAL, not harmful, safe for your family, ways to kill weeds.

1. Hand Weeding

Let’s just throw this one into the mix right away; this is probably the best, safest way, but man it can take awhile. Depending on who you ask , some people find weeding very therapeutic. My suggestion: find those people and offer them free therapy in your front yard. I don’t love pulling weeds. The dirt under my fingernails, might suggest other wise but…. I am getting used to pulling weeds. I often feel like when I pull weeds that I don’t get the whole thing, more of weed tearing versus a weed pulling.

Three ways to made pulling weeds easier – significantly easier.

  1. Get the weeds wet. Either early morning when the ground is damp or grab your watering can or hose and soak down the dirt a bit and they’ll let loose easier.
  2. Grab a tool. Use a spaded shovel or garden trowel and get under those green blades of weediness. (Making up word is a fun hobby.) Then you can pick them up, shake off extra dirt, and toss them in your yard waste bin.
  3. Find a friend. Hopefully, a friend that will sit there and help you pull weeds too (encouragement and help) – but if not, at least one that will sit and keep you company. Complaining, griping kids may work, but not always the most effective or fun. A friend is better.

2. Boiling Water

Bonus that it is cheap and pretty easy. I found it started to breakdown the weed the quite quickly, but then didn’t seen a whole lot of progress after that. Might be worth trying more boiling water in a concentrated spot.

Sunday Weed Warrior

3. Sunday Weed Warrior

Okay, hold up! This will kill all weeds, grasses, and flowers, it is sprayed on. So just be aware of where you start spritzing. I found this to be really helpful on our bricks and driveway, where it destroys your fingers to attempt to pull those small weeds. You can order this separelty from Sunday or add it on to your Smart Lawn Care Plan. You do need to fully saturate the weed. At first we didn’t do enough Weed Warrior, but when I went back out, I made sure those pesky weeds were covered…..dead. Most of the weeds on the bricks and driveway, I just left after sprayed. They dried up quickly and started to flake away. You could probably make the disappearing process a bit faster by using a shovel to scrape over them.

4. Sunday Dandelion Doom

By the time I was spraying this, this year, dandelions were pretty much gone. Bonus though: it works on any broad leaf weed. Learning lesson…..crab grass is not a broad leaf weed. Hmmph, wasted some of that bottle. We did have some taller weeds that it worked really slick on. The Dandelion Doom just started to eat holes in the leaves and then seemed to disappear. The neat thing about Dandelion Doom is you CAN spray it around other grasses and will not effect them. I noticed not much of scent at all with either Weed Warrior or Dandelion Doom and even felt comfortable enough letting my 10 year help me. No way would I want my kids to be touching other harmful chemical weed killing products.

5. Vinegar

I am not a fan of the smell o’ vinegar. I know a lot people like to clean with it, but besides adding it to my dishwasher, I’ll stick with my Thieves Cleaner for cleaning everything else. So, when I poured it on the front yard….yep, we smelled like vinegar for a bit. I didn’t notice anyone holding their nose while they walked by, but the they may have wondered. Then it rained and all was good. I am pretty impressed with how well vinegar worked on the crab grass. I did use quite a bit to make sure they were fully covered, but it took ’em down. I do see that also took down the few actual blades of grass that were mixed in…so I’d be a bit caution as to where I added vinegar too. It looks like I will either need to wait some time for them to decompose or pull them yet, but at least they won’t continue to spread til I get to them.

It may take the full season or even into next year for our yard to be top notch, but we’re working on it. I’m looking forward to this project. Then maybe we can work on the backyard, which is currently almost all Creeping Charlie. PS – don’t forget so apply some Young Living’s Insect Repellent before you head out to conquer those weeds. Good luck! and I’d love to hear how you’re projects are going.

If you’d like to learn more about about Sunday’s Lawn Care Products – CHECK the LINK HERE (affiliate link). They have entire yard systems, weed control, and both mosquito and tick repellent for your yard.

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