Weed Control

Lawn and garden chemicals include some of the most hazardous products in the
home. Products that you use to kill insects, weeds, and fungal diseases may
also be toxic to children, pets, birds, fish, and beneficial insects such as
bees and ladybugs.

An environmental rating system for commercial lawn and products.
Grow Smart, Grow Safe rates 350 lawn and garden products—including 93
commercially available weed killers—according to environmental concerns such
as short and long-term health hazards, hazards to aquatic life, birds, bees,
or pets, its half-life in the soil, and if it is a water pollution hazard.
Hands-on prevention, control options, and weeding tools.
Mulches, hoes, cultivators, weed barriers, and a some tolerance for weeds are
all viable alternatives to frequent use of weed killers, and all are discussed in Grow Smart, Grow Safe.

Read more: Nature, Lawns & Gardens

Excerpted from Grow Smart, Grow Safe, A Consumer Guide to Lawn and Garden Products, by Philip Dickey, Washington Toxics Coalition. Copyright (c) by Philip Dickey. Reprinted by permission of Washington Toxics Coalition.
Excerpted from Grow Smart, Grow Safe, A Consumer Guide to Lawn and Garden Products, by Philip Dickey, Washington Toxics Coalition

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Emily D.

2:00PM PDT on Jun 29, 2011

"Weeds are flowers too, once you get to know them." ~Eeyore from winnie the poo

send a green star

KS G.

5:15AM PDT on Apr 5, 2011

Thanks for the article.

Robert O.

10:34AM PST on Feb 6, 2011

Thank you!

Jarrod P.

6:36AM PST on Jan 11, 2011

I thought we were talking about a different weed. Legalize!

Gordon R.

2:46AM PDT on Aug 19, 2010

My interactive website www.ilda.com.au, features lots of free info on lawns, lawn alternatives (for Australia) and weeds.
On the Home page, click on 'Plants', and on the drop-down menu click on 'Lawns' and 'Weeds'.

Ann E.

9:46AM PDT on Jul 23, 2010

Monica D.'s comment seemed very on-target. "Living" mulches also help conserve water and provide food/cover for wild-life.

Monica D.

8:03PM PDT on Jul 22, 2010

There is an article on Care2 about edible weeds. Many plants should probably not be labelled "weeds".

Janak S.

9:59PM PDT on May 28, 2010

Weeds are good. It prevents soil errosion. It retains moisture in soil and is a habitat to freindly pests and bugs and some of them has medicinal value.

Pete C.

11:15PM PDT on May 26, 2010

thanks

Aletta K.

11:26AM PDT on Mar 18, 2010

Weeds are green and a lot of them are edible , just pull the pesky weeds out !