While it may be easy to prevent weeds by applying chemical herbicides, these often harm the other plants and may even contaminate your water supply. By using organic weed control, your lawn can become weed-free without the harsh effects of commercial herbicides.

First, keeping your lawn healthy prevents weed growth. Use proper watering techniques and apply a layer of mulch on your topsoil. Mulch covers the soil surface and prevents weeds from germinating. It also keeps moisture intact for your lawn plants to live on. Living mulch systems such as thyme and red clover do not only prevent weeds, but also prevent pests on your lawn. You can also apply corn gluten meal onto your soil to prevent the growth of most annual weeds such as dandelion and crabgrass.

After ensuring the health of your lawn, manually remove existing weeds. Pull them out one at a time by hand or with a small hoe. Remove the weed roots completely so that they will not grow back. You can throw the removed weeds into a compost pile for future use.

Alternatively, you can spray undiluted vinegar directly onto the leaves of small weeds. Do this during a hot day and watch the weeds slowly wilt. If you use this method, cover the grass and other plants to make sure that the vinegar won't affect them.

Next, use barriers to block weeds from entering your soil. Place rolls of black plastic around individual plants to block weeds from robbing them of nutrients. You can also use newspaper as a biodegradable substitute for the plastic. Layer the rolled up newspapers to about ¼ inch in thickness, wet them down, and cover them with a layer of straw.

Organic weed control may take more time and effort than spraying herbicides, but it's a healthier, safer alternative. Try it out for a year and compare the results. You'll see that it's just as effective as conventional methods.