How to Remove Weeds from Sidewalks

I was watching my neighbor dousing the weeds in his front walk with one of those jumbo jugs of weed killers. You know the ones I mean, where it's not just a little spray bottle, it's now a spray nozzle connected via a thin hose to a big ol' jug of chemicals? Yikes.

Anyway, I was watching him getting all weed-killer happy on the spotted spurge in the cracks of his sidewalk (incidentally, he was using enough weed killer to exterminate an entire football field of spurge) and I was thinking that for the amount of money he paid for that jug-o-chem, he could have bought himself a couple of vegetable starts instead. Weeds that grow in sidewalk cracks are really not all that hard to get rid of. Like most things related to gardening, it takes a little bit of elbow grease and a bit of staying on top of it before it becomes a bigger problem.

Here are a few chemical-free ideas for getting rid of sidewalk weeds:

• Use a flat-head screwdriver or a dandelion digger to scrape them out.
• Boil water and (carefully!) pour it on the weeds.
• Make a simple spray with 1 quart of vinegar, 1/4 cup of salt, and 2 tablespoons of dishwashing detergent. Stir it all together until the salt dissolves. Add it to a spray bottle and spray directly onto the weeds. This works best when there's no rain in the forecast for a couple of days!
• You could flame them.
• And, of course, you can pull them. Pulling is especially effective for roots with taproots, such as dandelions.

What do you think? What are your favorite tips for removing weeds from sidewalks and driveways?

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