Our flower beds and slate patio have tree-like weeds and are utterly gross. We're looking for something that we can put down to kill the weeds for longer than four weeks, and hopefully prevent them from returning.
We've been using Roundup for years. It does kill the weeds, but they come back quickly.
Please, someone suggest something better than Roundup.
We're in the Rochester, NY area in the US.
When you spray roundup on the green tissue of plants that are mature, it travels to the roots and kills them. It leaves no residual chemicals and has no residual action. It doesn't kill anything besides what you spray.
You need to learn the merits of mulch. It is a material that you place on top of the ground to hold in moisture and prevent weeds from growing. When weeds do grow, they are very easy to pull out because the soil is moist. Mulch benefits the good plants and prevents the bad plants from growing.
Cornell University has a good article on mulches for landscaping:
Pull the weeds up by hand following a good soaking rain. Add the debris to your compost. You can use landscaping fabric to help prevent new weeds.
Try Spectracide TripleStrike grass and weed killer. It works quickly. First I use TS, then I apply salt between the stones on my patio and walk to kill any seeds that may sprout and try to grow. If you don't want to us salt then use a pre-emergent weed killer. This will keep any weed seeds from sprouting.
indeed. Glyphosate poisons will kill weeds totally so you are getting newly seeded weeds coming through. Even using a weed killer it will be an on going job. Using mulches will dramatically reduce what come through. It will cut down on your use of sprays nd make it easier to weed when you want to. Around your patio standard boiled water will do the trick. You will have to continue to kill the weeds whether you use poisons or hot water as you can't mulch.
rob
catcher wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:
flamethrower? salt? seriously, i have a flamer attachment (red dragon, i think) that runs on propane & it works great for weed removal on walkways & driveways. it's also good for starting a brushpile burn in the rain ;) salt has a contamination issue attached, but 20% vinegar (from a farm store) will do a number on weeds too. if your weeds are coming back quickly, you either aren't getting the seeds, or seeds are coming in from somewhere. you have to kill/pull the weeds *before* they go to seed. since you mention 'tree-like', is it possible they are coming up from a neighbor's tree's roots? do they look like any particular type of tree? lee
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A correct answer to your question(as some has implied), Use Roundup to kill the existing weeds. Then use "Preen"- -Sold at Walmart Garden Center as well as many other garden centers like Lowes. The active ingredient in Preen is Treflan, a pre-emergent herbicide used widely by commercial farmers. This is the third year I have used it with complete success. It stops seeds from sprouting, and last from 3 to
6 months, depending on what type soil you have.Have a good >Our flower beds and slate patio have tree-like weeds and are utterly
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