I want to stop weeds growing in a particular place

[Brian Gaff]

Hi I have a couple of gardening issues, although I'm not a gardener. I had a new patio laid and along one edge is an old brick wall, with a slight gap so that we can get it redecorated etc. However, weeds are spring up there in just a couple of days, and I wondered what I might be able to put down this crack to keep it clear for a couple of months till I can get the wall done. I'm not up to speed with what is out there since the health and safety mob got into the act. Likewise, a piece of maybe 2 year old concrete is already showing patches of moss that have appeared this year. These are slippery when wet, and probably are not doing the concrete any good either. what is the best treatment here? I figure if its pretty easy even a blind man can do it! Brian

[Jeff Layman]

To stop plants appearing in cracks between paving, etc, you need to apply something like Weedol Pathclear. This is said to keep weeds down for around 3 months. It was reformulated several years ago and is nowhere near as effective as it used to be.

For moss, the best treatment is BAC (benzalkonium chloride). You can get BAC50 - the 50 refers to the concentration - from Amazon and others. It needs to be diluted to 1:8 before being sprayed on. The moss will die pretty quickly, and seems to take a long time to come back. Others may recommend iron sulphate. This will work, but will stain everything that it comes into contact with a rust colour, which in my experience is permanent.

[Animal]

take your pick, there are plenty of weedkillers about

copper wire.

[Mike Rogers]

I use Rock salt as used on icy roads.

Mike

[weel...]

If using a weedkiller let the weeds grow a couple of inches before applying and dont cut them down as the weedkiller travels from the leaves to the root system which can take a couple of weeks, you may still have to deal with any seeds still to germinate in the soil.

[Brian Gaff (Sofa]

Copper I know about, but the snag is that you replace a slip hazard with a trip hazard!

Brian

[Brian Gaff (Sofa]

Does not that need constant traffic over it though? I'm leaning toward the first solution mentioned from Amazon at the moment!

Brian

[Brian Gaff (Sofa]

The plants at the moment just pull out roots and all, especially around a small drain where the sink empties in, as does the washing machine, but I fancy the latter is in fact fertilising the area around it by droplets!

Brian

[Mike Rogers]

Rock salt works along the edges of my gravel drive that get no traffic.

Mike

[Brian Gaff (Sofa]

I do know from some time in Guernsey, that wherever there is salt spray, you get alliums growing, kind of plants related to onions and garlic with little flowers, but smell when you tread on them. Brian

[Brian Gaff (Sofa]

I have now got some of that anti moss chemical. 1Ltr, and intend getting my garden person to mix and treat some problem areas next time he comes. Obviously, being diluted, I'm hopeful that the diluted mixture will go a fair way or be able to be used more than one treatment. I noticed somewhere that this chemical could soon be banned since some idiots are using it incorrectly and causing problems outside of the treatment area to wildlife etc. Are there really that many idiots around? I guess there probably are.... Brian

[jkn]

Curious - we are on the South Coast, but a couple of miles from the see, and 'onion weed', which sounds a bit like your description, is a weed I would like to eradicate

J^n

[Tim Lamb]

Glyphosate (Roundup) not good on your lawn!

There are selective weedkillers safe on established grass. 2-4D perhaps

[fred]

Best cure , and cheapest (?), for moss is any biological washing powder. Sprinkle it on dry. I fought moss on tarmac for years and this was the only effective long term solution

[The Natural Philosopher]

I find it washes off with a pressure washer just fine On grass, selective weedkiller cures it in time.

[Brian Gaff (Sofa]

Right, I have now received that chemical for the moss at least, I'll need to get my gardener to dilute some and see what it does to the moss. Brian

[Andy Burns]

Assuming you mean BAC50, it doesn't get diluted very far, I think 4:1

[Jeff Layman]

The recommendation on the BAC50 container is to dilute it 1:8. I think that's far too strong. It killed all the moss on the drive in a few days, and it still hasn't returned after almost 5 months.

Next time I use it I'll try 1:20.

[Brian Gaff (Sofa]

Well I cannot read the instructions on the bottle myself. 1Litre should go a fair way I'd have thought. Brian

[Brian Gaff (Sofa]

Hmm, I would hope for longer than 5 months, but I guess it depends on how long it stays around. It seems from what I can gather to be toxic in high doses, so to speak. and its always a hard call to know what to do if you like wildlife but need to keep this sort of problem at bay for safety reasons and hopefully long life of the concrete.. Brian