Roundup For Weeds, Or... ? (what's really safe ?)

I can't tell you what's safe to use around which plants. What I can tell you is that no such product is safe if humans come into contact with it or ingest it. There is no valid research on the issue, and probably never will be.

Totaly safe-pull the weeds. Roundup may affect close by plants througjh the roots if I remember their instructions. I just cover close by plants with a cloth or bucket and use roundup.

How large an area? Gravel has been outlawed here, but river rock on top of landscape cloth is good where stuff won't grow. Doesn't support weeds as long as it doesn't have soil dumped on it. The few weeds that do sprout are easy to pull. I would consider changing over to rock and landscape cloth, or to beds of native plants or non-agressive ground cover (like hosta). Beds of day lily, hosta, iris, are low maint. and look good. Trying to kill weeds is a waste - if nothing else, plant attractive ones :o)

Why was gravel outlawed?

We have River Rock Beds exactly as you describe at our house. We have Hostas, Iris, and other stuff in it. Unfortunately, that damn cloth ain't worth a sh*t. Weeds root right through it, and to make matters worse, grass seed got in the beds and grass grew right through the cloth. It sure was a big job scarfing off the rock to clean out the vegetation in the beds. Now that they have been cleaned out, we will use Roundup (carefully and sparingly) to control whatever comes back.

There's plenty of "valid research", the question is whether they went far enough/covered every aspect.

Roundup is essentially a contact herbicide. It won't travel thru the roots or soil to other plants. So, as long as you don't hit the leaves or stems of desirable plants with roundup itself, it won't hurt them.

Professionals sometimes resort to wearing cotton gloves over rubber barrier gloves, dip the glove in roundup, and manually "swipe" the undesirable plants if desirable plants are too close to safely spray.

Buckets or plastic will work as long as you don't have them on so long the desirable plants don't overheat.

Landscape fabric. Install it under the gravel and it will let water through, but help keep weeds from coming up.

Roundup will kill any plant it contacts given sufficient quantity. Most other weed killers are comparable, even the ones that claim to no harm grass. They mostly depend on staying on the right threshold where they kill the weed and don't quite kill the grass.

Show me where humans were fed minute amounts of pesticides or herbicides in their drinking water for many years, in a controlled study.

Also: Children constantly put their hands or fingers in or near their mouths when they're playing. Show me controlled studies in which children came into contact with yard chemical residues and then put their fingers in or near their mouths.

You bought a lousy product. The right stuff works fine for many years. Where did you buy yours?

JoeSpareBedroom wrote: ...

OTOH, show epidemiological evidence indicating a problem.

You could say the same thing on any and every product made (including so-called "organics" and/or "natural").

NOTHING can be shown to meet those criteria.

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Couldn't be shown that ingestion of small amounts wasn't hazardous... :)

(Sorry, absolutely couldn't resist... :) )

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Get serious. Please.

Pete C. wrote: ...

So will water...

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Application rate is not the way herbicides are differentiated as to effectiveness against broadleaf vis a vis grassy plants. They are different chemically and affect the specific types of plants in a totally different manner.

That said, none also will say NO harm to grass and, most specifically, bermuda and similar grasses are more susceptible than most other lawn grass varieties.

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I'm as serious as you want...if your statement is to be taken at face value, so is mine.

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So, you're saying that if it has not been proven UNsafe, it's OK to eat it and have kids come into contact with it. Is that your final answer?

You may say "We have no intention of eating it", but that may or may not matter. Can you tell me some details about groundwater and the drinking water supply in the OP's town?

We had a guy put it in for us last year. I'm not sure where he got it.

My favorite garden store (Agway) has 3 levels of fabric quality available. They're clearly marked as to life expectancy. One suggests permanence you won't be around to see. Find a real garden store that stocks various types.

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In my area, it is prohibited in building code. Global warming. Believe it:o) It was the rage about 20 years ago, and after about 20 years it also looks like crap.

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We have small areas around our condo where nothing grows, and some of those areas, against the building, are also where downspouts empty. With the deluges we get, anything else would wash away. When hubby and I were janitors, I used leaf blower to keep them clean. It's been about