Clearing vegetation on gravel driveway - anything more permanent than roundup?

[dean]

Is there a plant killer that will last for a whole year? Seems that round up only lasts a month or two and then I have to do it all over again!

[Dave Bugg]

There are soil sterilants available, usually near the round-up type products. They have a one year effectiveness.

[dean]

Dave - ok thanks! I didn't know that.

Do they tend to leak across very far?

[DAC]

There's a product called Preen that works well. It works by not allowing weeds to germinate...existing lawn or plants from sets will not be affected...only those trying to germinate from seed.

Good luck

[Red]

Agent Orange. Kept a neighbor's yard bare for 5 years. But then he got a might sickly shortly thereafter.

The point being that there are strong products available but many come with potential risks.

Red

[hallerb]

Rock salt! Its cheap and kills everything, doesnt tend to migrate

[Zephyr]

Yeah, there was a reason that people would salt the fields of their enemies in years gone by course, if you have any kind of slope on the driveway, every rainstorm will wash some of that salt further down the line where it will kill whatever else it lands on.

[Steve Barker]

Used motor oil or diesel fuel will last a good long while.

[Lawrence]

Yikes!! Do the weeds bother you that much that you have to poison the ground so often?? I just mow my weeds when they bother me. Do you have a mower?

Driveways these days are often built with road building fabric. It's like beefed up landscape fabric and seems to totally emlimate the weed problem. Give it a try if you can.

[gfretwell]

That is great unless you have salt tolerant weeds. There are lots of plants that grow just fine at the beach. If you in Kansas I doubt you will see them tho.

Roundup only kills what it hits and the next day you can plant new stuff on that spot. You can find "edgers" and other persistant weed killers that kill everything and won't let anything grow there until it migrates away. These are not particularly good for the environment but they work.

[scott21230]

You could try paving the driveway. If it's done right (with rebar and expansion joints, etc) and doesnt' crack much, then that should keep the weeds out for a long time.

[trader4]

There are products available at the home centers, garden center, etc, that last up to a year. Triox is one. You need to keep it out of the root zone of any trees, shrubs etc, which limits areas that it can be used in. But stone or similar driveways are exactly what they are made for.

[Norminn]

You can kill weeds with Roundup, then clean up the soil from where they grow. Fill gaps with caulk for mortar (grey color). Beats fighting weeds.

[trader4]

It's a gravel driveway.

[hallerb]

On my neighbor wanted a gravel driveway. He had it dug out extra deep, a thin layer of gravel, a layer of asphalt, then 6 inches of gravel.

Although he moved years ago his driveway still looks perfect, no weeds or mud. No maintence either unlike asphalt sealing and lower taxes too

[Norminn]

Oh, you did say that, didn't you :o) Pave it :o)

[aemeijers]

Gravel driveways are to have weeds. They keep the rocks from washing away. :^)

I'd rather run a mower over weeds than mess with poison or stoop labor. Rich people pay for 'invisible' driveways- interlocking open-square paver blocks with feet on a gravel/sand base, and the gaps are packed with soil and grass grown in and kept at golf course height. In late buggy/early auto era, driveways were often just 2 skinny tracks of concrete or pavers with grass inbetween- you can still see traces in some older urban neighborhoods, though the gap has usually been paved in, and outside stripes added, for larger modern cars.

aem sends....

[Red]

Evidently he didn't have any nutsedge (nut grass). That stuff will push right thru several inches of asphalt. And roundup won't phase it either. A nasty weed!

[Paulaner]

I live near a river that feeds into the Chesapeake bay. My kids swim in this river, but unfortunately the water quality advisories are becoming more frequent.

Anyway, I use a flat head shovel and a rake to clear weeds from my gravel driveway. The white stones are dirty when you turn them over, but they blend right back in after a good rain.

[Silver Turfer]

replying to dean, Silver Turfer wrote: Hi Dean, you have to apply a pre-emergence weedkiller. These are only available to professional licensed operatives. Its the sort of weed killer that is used on railway ballast.