The Best Weed Killer of 2021

Spectracide’s Weed Stop for Lawns is one of the most useful weed killers available because it’s selective—meaning it doesn’t kill most turfgrass plants that make up your lawn—so you can spray it on weeds and not damage your grass.

It features a wide variety of herbicides that target weeds, including 2,4-D, quinclorac, dicamba, and sulfentrazone. Those are all relatively non-toxic to bees, kids, and pets, though you’ll want to follow the label to the letter and try to apply to non-flowering plants and apply between sunset and midnight.

Like other selective weed killers, it may take multiple applications to work properly, and you’ll want to make sure it won’t harm your particular grass type, so be mindful of that. If you have a very large lawn, we’d opt for the concentrated version, though you’ll want to add a surfactant. And you’ll need a garden sprayer to mix it all in.

Bonide’s Burnout II Organic Weed Killer is a safe, effective weed killer that is great if you’re treating a sensitive area and you’re concerned about potentially leaving a residue for your pets or kids—it’s even considered safe for use in primary-school playgrounds in some states.

It uses clove oil and citric acid as the active ingredient, which at this concentration will wipe out most weeds and grass that it comes in contact with. Both of those ingredients are non-toxic to bees and most other animals, and it dries quickly enough that it shouldn’t pose any problems when applied using proper safety equipment and clothing and following the label exactly.

Ortho GroundClear Weed & Grass Killer is a non-selective weed killer that will harm both weeds and turfgrass (your lawn). But if you’ve got weeds in a patio, walkway, driveway, deck, or just a particularly bad area you want to wipe out and start over, it’s a great option.

GroundClear’s active ingredient is Ammonium Nononoate, which is considered relatively non-toxic to bees and local animals and should be perfectly safe for kids and pets when applied according to the label. It’s also effective, quickly causing plants to wither, though it may take time or multiple applications to wipe out mature weeds.

Tenacity is an herbicide you’ll see recommended in lots of places, especially for crabgrass control or for use as a “pre-emergent” that will prevent weeds from growing. What makes it unique is that it’s one of the few weed preventers that will not harm new grass seed, so you can spray it and seed right away.

The active ingredient mesotrione is also found in some other products, like some starter fertilizers that prevent weeds, though in this version it’s concentrated and ready to be mixed in a tank sprayer. In this form, you can also use it as a post-emergent weed killer, though it still works best on young, growing weeds.

It’s less effective at that than the other weed killers we’ve used, usually taking several weeks and multiple applications. But if you’re planning on seeding in the next few days or weeks, it’s your best bet for not harming your new grass—just follow the label exactly.

Roundup’s active ingredient glyphosate is certainly controversial, but it’s still widely used as an effective weed killer that will wipe out most hardy, mature weeds and turfgrass when used properly. You’ll absolutely need to follow the label to the letter and make sure you don’t use it near trees, flowering plants, or anywhere it may get into the local ecosystem where you don’t want it to be.

If used safely and properly, it’s an effective non-selective weed and grass killer that can quickly wipe out vegetation in an area and leave it ready to re-seed in just a couple of weeks. Just be aware that like other non-selective herbicides it can damage nearly any plant that you spray it on, so only use it where it's appropriate and follow the label exactly.

Bonide’s Chickweed, Clover, and Oxalis Weed Killer is—you’ll never guess—great at controlling chickweed, oxalis, and clover. It’s relatively non-toxic and safe to birds, bees, kids, pets, and local fauna, but it will put a dent in those three types of weeds as well as some other tricky buggers like wild violet.

In my experience it will work, but since it’s meant to target some of the most annoying, persistent weeds in your lawn you need to give it time and two applications. The active ingredient here is a mix of Dicamba, dimethylamine salt MCPA, dimethylamine salt Triclopyr, and triethylamine salt, which are all generally considered safe but not always in other weed killers. It’s a unique choice for unique situations—just use it carefully.