Roast weed?

[John Rumm]

I was contemplating how to deal with grass and weeds etc that tend to grow up on the drive. Its covered in pea shingle and under that, is compacted stony ground. Weed killers sort of work, although since its adjacent to lawn and there are pets about, I am less keen on that this time.

I have seen suggestions in the past that one can blowtorch the things and that will kill em, so thought I would give it a try. Got out the big roofing blowtorch and put into practice a scorched earth policy.

Certainly got shot of the visible bit. But the interesting thing will be how effective it is longer term. Has any one tried this? How does it work out. (obviously I could find out by waiting, but I thought it would be handy to short circuit the process!)

[Brian Gaff]

Usually fast germinating plants come back within weeks, as there are probably seedsjust under the surface waiting for the competition to clear.

Brian

[harry]

Gravel is a cheap option for driveways but otherwise it pretty useless. You can get weedkillers that last for a few months but they are not as good as they used to be. But blowtorches aren't even as good as that. They won't even kill the roots of perennial weeds.

The only permanent cure is a hard surface.

[AnthonyL]

I guess one only has to look at how quickly land revegetates after a bush fire in Australia or how fertile the area around a volcano becomes not long after an eruption to answer your question.

[fred]

There is a certain satisfaction in roasting the bastards but it doesn't kee p them away for long.

We spray Roundup and used to follow it up with Simazine and found this regi me effective for up to 12 months. (Roundup kills the growing weed. Simazine lies on the surface and prevents further weed growth.)

And then the bastards banned Simazine.

This year for the first time I have found what claims to be its equivalent. Premazor. It can be mixed 50/50 with Roundup for a single application. Hav en't seen the full results yet but it sounds promising. If I can use it ins tead of Simazine around shrubs it will be a great time saver.

Anyone tried Kerb Granules ?