Flame weeding–a great replacement for herbicides!

Have pesky weeds in your patio or sidewalk cracks? Want to control weeds in mulched beds without herbicides? Try flame weeding, for an effective, chemical-free approach to weed control!

Before skipping to the great video below, read these few tidbits about flame weeding.

–Flame weeding is most effective on annual plants, but repeat treatment may be needed on perennial weeds that could resprout from deep roots.

–Flame weeding can be done in the rain, or right before, or after a rain–when herbicides cannot be used! If you are a landscaping company, this will extend the services you can provide to customers on rainy days. Flame weeding is safest when the ground is moist, but also can be more effective on perennial weeds, but hot steam can travel deeper into weeds with tap roots.

–Wear leather gloves, leather shoes, and long pants.

–Never burn poison ivy.

–Don’t catch plants on fire! The goal is to do this quickly, so the plants wilt, to burst the cell walls, but burning them to a crisp is just a waste of propane and time.

–Keep a shovel, bucket of water, or fire extinguisher handy, in case dry material catches fire. You can tamp it out with the shovel or stop any fire spreading with the water. Never flame weed on windy days.

–If you plan to start flame weeding, watch this excellent video of how-to’s. It’s well worth 7 minutes of your day! (BTW, there are other flame weeders like the Green Dragon, Mini Dragon, or Flame King that use less propane than the one in the video)