Canadian Contractor Kills Weeds with Heat, Not Herbicides

For the past 12 years, Louie Murgg of Forevergreen Landscaping and Maintenance, Langley, British Columbia, has been importing from Switzerland a propane-powered device that kills weeds, seeds, and even molds and fungus, with heat, not herbicides.

Murgg saw the Eco Weeder originally at a trade show, and bought it for his own business, in order to keep his own services as environmentally friendly as possible. Forevergreen has curtailed not only herbicide chemicals, but also its use of chemical fertilizers.

The Eco Weeder is a small hand-held device, similar in appearance to a sponge mop, with a clip on the handle for a small propane tank, like those used by plumbers
for soldering, or a small camp-stove sized propane tank. Without the tank, the device weights just about three pounds.

The ceramic-tile base heats up to 1,800 degrees F, and directs heat straight down into the weeds. One model has a spike-like apparatus which, when forced down over tap-root weeds like dandelion, penetrates into the root, for more effective eradication.

The intense heat bursts the protein cells of the plant, rendering it unable to photosynthesize, and killing it. It is 80 percent more efficient than an open flame, said Murgg. With the small propane tank, it can run for seven to 14 hours.

There is no necessity to burn the plant black, about one and one-half seconds should kill most plants.

The operator can let it sit, or move it slowly across the surface of a flower bed, an interlocking brick walk, driveway or lawn weeds.

For best results, Murgg suggests attacking the weeds in early spring, just about the time they are germinating. It may take a few applications to kill the plant if the operator waits until later in the summer when plants are more mature, he said.

The Eco Weeders are simple to use. There is no open flame. The radiant heat from the ceramic base is directed straight down, so there is little danger of injuring flowers or other adjacent plants in the flower bed.

They are also safe to use, although Murgg recommends that in summer conditions, when the grass or other materials are very dry, the operator should use the Eco Weeder early in the morning, when the dew is on the grass. Or, if a sprinkler system is available, first dampen the area to be treated.

They can be used in the rain, but must not be used in puddles, or pools.

“It is not for aquatic weeds,” says Murgg.

While Murgg orginally purchased the Eco Weeder for his own use, people began asking how they could buy one.

He obtained the exclusive North American rights to the product, and has a distributor in Ontario, another in Oregon. But about 95 percent of the Eco Weeders are ordered over the Internet, and shipped coast to coast in the United States, from Forevergreen's depot in Blaine, Wash. A few are also sold in Australia and New Zealand, he said.

He says that the Eco Weeder is effective not only in killing plants, but also fungus, moulds and bacteria, and can be used to disinfect areas around hospitals, swimming pools, tennis courts, and other sports facilities, greenhouses and animal housing.

It is silent, so can be used at night without disturbing neighbours, and because it has no moving parts, it is virtually trouble free.

He has never yet had to replace any, although he knows of one that is “almost worn out.”

The customer has had it for almost 10 years, and it is used regularly, Murgg said. That customer wants to buy a couple more, he said.

In recent years, the growth in demand for the Eco Weeder has grown dramatically.

“People are getting more and more conscientious about the environment,” said Murgg.

But because of the different growing seasons throughout North America, the demand is not overwhelming, and is more or less consistent year round. He says a large number of orders come to him in winter, especially from Southern California.

And despite the North America-wide market, he considers the sale of Eco Weeder a sideline to his Forevergreen landscaping business.

“I love landscaping and landscape maintenance. This just developed because we didn't want to use chemicals.”