I would not characterize myself as an organic gardener, but I am very careful about using chemicals around my gardens. So, it shouldn’t surprise anyone that I once decided to take a non-chemical approach to removing weeds from the cracks of the brick walkway that divided my vegetable garden from the adjacent perennial bed.
It was a late Sunday afternoon in autumn, warm enough but a heavy overcast sky made it seem cooler. I casually asked my husband, Saint Jim, “Say, don’t you have a propane torch?” I got an affirmative answer, then asked him to show me how to use it. Decades of togetherness meant he was smart enough not to question the wheres or whys of such inquiries. But he did give me a short demonstration, then watched me burn weeds in the garden long enough to ensure that I wasn’t going to set myself afire before he returned to the comfort of the house.
In case you are considering the live flame approach to ridding your spring garden of weeds, let me share a few voice-of-experience recommendations.
You should reconsider the use of a propane torch if your beds are outlined with cedar posts or your brick pathways are defined by landscape timbers. Both are flammable. In this case “reconsider” may be defined as “don’t.”
Lush green weeds like pigweed, dandelion, and thistle refuse to turn black and crumble when confronted with a blowtorch. Only after concentrated attack do they succumb, somewhat reluctantly. Leaves and grass that was already dead, on the other hand, burn quite nicely. If you amend your vegetable garden with lots of soil conditioner, as I do, you know that soil conditioner is mostly pine bark. Translation: highly flammable. Given the right conditions (warm, overcast, dry) it is possible to set one’s garden soil on fire. Trust me on this one.
Do not lean directly over the torch as you cook your weeds. Bangs and long hair singe just as quickly as dead leaves.
Be certain that your garden hose is hooked up to a water supply, is turned on and at hand, should you need a rapid extinguish.
Finally (and probably should have been first), if your gardens are protected from deer damage by an electric fence, switch OFF the power BEFORE commencing the weed-cooking operation. Then, if you should need to lean over said electric fence to attach hose to water bib, you won’t find yourself a human experiment on the strength of bladder muscles when exposed to an electrical pulse strong enough to repel a hungry buck deer.
If you are going to rid your garden of weeds by using an herbicide (hey, no judgement here – just follow the label exactly when mixing concentrates with water), maybe use a narrow paint brush or cheap foam brush to apply thirty cents worth weedkiller to the nasties in your garden rather than using three dollar’s worth of propane to do a poor job of weed removal and worse job of hairstyling.
You’re welcome.
This image is AI generated. I did not capture the embarrassing reality of the fire in my own garden.