Other physical methods that are available, but rarely used in landscape management include soil pasteurization, fire, and hot water. Chemical methods include the use of herbicides or fumigants.
Biological methods involve the use of insects or diseases to control weeds.
These methods are rarely used in landscape plantings now, but have some potential for the future. They have been used to control some invasive exotic weeds that grew out of control where introduced. Because of the tremendous variation in times and frequency of seed germination, reproductive and survival structures, growth habits, and growth rates of weeds, many of these methods will be needed at one time or another. Physical Methods of Controlling Weeds Hand pulling Hand-pulling of weeds is the most common method of weed control. It is a method that everyone involved in landscape management would like to see become obsolete, but it probably never will.