OT: a small but insistent voice says I must go out and kill

That is just plain wrong with countless chemicals.

I got that wrong then. However, it is for sale in the UK, and it does damage vegetation if spilled on the way to the compost heap. ;-)

Jim

Salt. Needs to dissolved in water, not the solid just chucked about. The cheap stuff used for de-icing roads.

I trust you remedied the situation by replanting the weeds.

I intended to, but some different weeds occupied the space before I got round to it.

Jim

Petrol.

Not that I'm recommending it. No, definitely not. But I know from having used it on my drive that it anihilates weeds in hours, sterilises the soil and - on my drive, at least - nothing came back for over a year.

It may seem an expensive weed killer, but actually a fiver a gallon isn't that expensive compared to some of the others. I applied it using a plastic watering can.

I've never tried in on wet soil. I would think a dry but cool day would be best. And Bill, whatever you do, promise me you won't smoke whilst using it.

But look, this is a public forum. For the record, I absolutely do not recommend using petrol as a weedkiller. Doing so would be environmentally irresponsible, extremely dangerous for any nearby smokers, and very smelly for a couple of hours afterwards, and basically absolutely not the kind of thing any responsible adult would do. But if you're an irresponsible adult.........

I've spotted that someone else in this thread mentioned accidental spillages. That sort of thing could easily happen with petrol, obviously.

In terms of sheer speed, I've seen nothing like it. Squirt (sorry, accidentally spill) petrol on a plant and it wilts within minutes, and looks as dead as a nail in a few hours. Obviously one should take great care not to spill it.

I'm trying to imagine how one manages to spill it over an entire drive.

NT

You've drained the petrol tank (to remove rust flakes) into buckets and accidentally manage to knock one or two over - or perhaps the dog did, or a childs' football. Accidents do happen, you know.

Then your kid decided to ride like a maniac all over the drive without you noticing, and somehow survived?

NT