Re: is it Borax or Boraxo>creeping charl

Hi Barb and all of you that are anxious to try the Borax treatment.
(BTW Barb, I'm not purposely ignoring you just a lot of things going 
on now .)
Twenty Mule Team Borax is actually a mineral called Sodium 
tetraborate decahydrate (try saying that 3 times fast <G>) . Boraxo 
is the same mixed with a fine powdered soap to suspend dirt once the 
STD has helped scrape it off (borax is also a water softener so it 
will help the soap work better too) . 
Borax is a trace mineral that is necessary for many plants to 
function well. The key word here is "trace" . I have heard it 
recommended use as a broad herbicide (it is nondisciminating) .but 
the source where I had read about it said to only use it once because 
the build up in the soil can prove very toxic to plants. I just 
thought I would add that word of caution.
Another thing to try is pure vinegar . I tried mixing a weak solution 
of vinegar to squirt on slugs one time and I must have mixed it a 
little too strong and been too enthusiastic with dousing the area 
around one of my favorite  Hostas (August Moon) because the August 
Moon started waning and finally died right after that :( . (it has 
since been replaced for sure and is now keeping company with It's 
sport "September Sun" )  I later found out that vinegar zaps the 
moisture right out of the plant and is good to pour in cracks of the 
driveway to get those unwanted volunteers out of there.  Vinegar has 
less residual affects too. No build up as the rain will wash it away 
and diluted it. 
Both these things are not plant specific so be careful what plants 
get hit with them. I don't think that it is a good idea to mix them 
either as they will probably cancel each other out (Borax being and 
alkaline and Vinegar being an acid). Both of these items should be 
used on a warm dry sunny day too for best effect.
 It seems that I battle that Creeping Charlie wherever I go . Most of 
the time I rip it out by the handful. especially in the fall when it 
is trying to store food in it roots and again in the early spring as 
it is expending the energy from that stored food. 
Hopefully this all will help. Good luck with the battle. 

TTYL,
Dale
Zone 5
Rock Island Ill. too

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