You may want to ask this on the Organic Lawn Care forum but I'll take a stab at it from what I know.

There are a couple of ways to kill weeds without chemicals. If you want to completely kill everything in an area, you can water the area well, then cover it with clear plastic on a fairly hot sunny day. I think the sunlight is more important than the temperature. Basically, this acts sort of like a magnifying glass and bakes everything under the plastic.

You can also spot spray with vinegar. I think it works best if you buy horticultural vinegar, but I'm not sure whether it's readily available. Regular vinegar can work, also, but not as well. Be careful with it, because it's like an organic version of Round Up and kills everything. The stronger stuff can also burn your skin.

For weeds with a taproot, you can use a Weed Hound (available at most big box stores).

Once you get the grass growing, cultural practices can usually keep the weeds mostly at bay.

• Let the grass grow long. I set my mower at its highest setting except when I'm scalping in preparation for overseeding.

• Water deeply and infrequently. The goal is about an inch of water a week all in one watering. I usually end up watering twice a week, but I'm hoping I'll get enough native grass in the lawn to cut back to every other week.

• Mulch mow.

Mulch mowing won't really help keep the weeds out, but it's good for the lawn.

Letting the grass grow higher helps keep the ground shaded so the seeds can't sprout.

Seeds need frequent water, so letting the surface of the soil dry completely will stop them from germinating.

Frequent cultivation will kill weeds, Laurie. I'm not sure if I understand your situation, however. Are you saying that there's nothing BUT weeds (and the 2 dogs) in the backyard? Or, that there's a very large area with only weeds?

You may want to invest in a rototiller.

digitS'

Corn gluten meal can be used as a non-chemical pre emergent.

Karen