MennoNet.com

temporal1 wrote:thank you. sounds like a plan.
should i use full strength vinegar, cheapest available, with table salt, ice salt? does it matter?
proportions?
use an ordinary watering can?

this problem worsens each year, more cracks, more weeds.

Cheapest available is fine (5%, right?). Get a gallon of vinegar and dissolve 1 cup of salt (whichever will dissolve best). Mix it all up; a water can should be just fine.
Some people add a squeeze of dish washing liquid to it to make the solution "stick" to the weeds better.
It might take a few days for the weeds to die, but dont worry- nothing should grow back
Apply on a sunny day when there's no rain in the forecast for the next couple of day.

Even better, you can also simply pour some salt in the cracks. Just pour a generous amont of standard table salt directly where you want no growth.

Just remember these are both driveway only solutions. Using either on a lawn or garden would be a mistake

KingdomBuilder wrote:

temporal1 wrote:thank you. sounds like a plan.
should i use full strength vinegar, cheapest available, with table salt, ice salt? does it matter?
proportions?
use an ordinary watering can?

this problem worsens each year, more cracks, more weeds.

Cheapest available is fine (5%, right?). Get a gallon of vinegar and dissolve 1 cup of salt (whichever will dissolve best). Mix it all up; a water can should be just fine.
Some people add a squeeze of dish washing liquid to it to make the solution "stick" to the weeds better.
It might take a few days for the weeds to die, but dont worry- nothing should grow back
Apply on a sunny day when there's no rain in the forecast for the next couple of day.

Even better, you can also simply pour some salt in the cracks. Just pour a generous amont of standard table salt directly where you want no growth.

Just remember these are both driveway only solutions. Using either on a lawn or garden would be a mistake

The weeds will eventually come back, no matter what you use, including Roundup and other such "remedies". I had done the salt treatment unintentionally last year but within a month or so the weeds started coming back. As you already know, even concrete doesn't deter them...

gcdonner wrote:The weeds will eventually come back, no matter what you use, including Roundup and other such "remedies". I had done the salt treatment unintentionally last year but within a month or so the weeds started coming back. As you already know, even concrete doesn't deter them...

How much salt did you use? Enough of it should cause the soil to go dead and to be incapable of supporting plant life. Maybe a few applications would be needed?

KingdomBuilder wrote:

gcdonner wrote:The weeds will eventually come back, no matter what you use, including Roundup and other such "remedies". I had done the salt treatment unintentionally last year but within a month or so the weeds started coming back. As you already know, even concrete doesn't deter them...

How much salt did you use? Enough of it should cause the soil to go dead and to be incapable of supporting plant life. Maybe a few applications would be needed?

How about 40 lbs poured out over a 10'x6' area? Even pesticides and herbicides have to be re-introduced on a regular basis because nature is stronger than our chemicals. Why do you think farmers use Roundup every year? There is no permanent way to get rid of plant life unless it is constantly under application of herbicides. Even after being buried in many feet of volcanic ash, plant life eventually returns. Some may last for a couple of months, but NONE are permanent. Did you ever wonder how weeds and flowers turn up even on the highways???
How long have you tested your applications???

gcdonner wrote:Even pesticides and herbicides have to be re-introduced on a regular basis because nature is stronger than our chemicals. Why do you think farmers use Roundup every year? There is no permanent way to get rid of plant life unless it is constantly under application of herbicides. m

From my understandings, synthetic herbicides and pesticides (& fertilizers...) tend to flush the soil. Which is why all 3 of those have to be reapplied over and over and often in higher amounts. I also imagine a lot of it has to do with soil type. Soils here have the tendency to accumulate salts... So perhaps that's why it works much longer.

i may be figuring out a mystery.
when i first moved here, i had the lawn sprayed for weed control, they sprayed areas on the driveway. one spray pretty much took care of my needs for the season. i live in the country, not attempting to compete with golf courses.

yearly, i have repeated.
but, each year, the treatment seems less effective.

i asked the owner if they changed chemicals? i did not feel i got a direct answer.
i've been relying more on DIY methods. esp for the driveway, which has more cracks.

from what i'm reading here, probably the treatment is less effective - and, i suspect, along with most other things in recent years, the chemicals have been changed.
what hasn't?

temporal1 wrote:i may be figuring out a mystery.
when i first moved here, i had the lawn sprayed for weed control, they sprayed areas on the driveway. one spray pretty much took care of my needs for the season. i live in the country, not attempting to compete with golf courses.

yearly, i have repeated.
but, each year, the treatment seems less effective.

i asked the owner if they changed chemicals? i did not feel i got a direct answer.
i've been relying more on DIY methods. esp for the driveway, which has more cracks.

from what i'm reading here, probably the treatment is less effective - and, i suspect, along with most other things in recent years, the chemicals have been changed.
what hasn't?

Ideally they would be rotating the chemicals used. If the same sprays are used every time, certain weeds may develop resistance to the active ingredients in those sprays.
Another thing that has happened over the years is some sprays that were previously used commonly have been withdrawn from the market or outlawed due to them having been found to be more harmful than previously thought.

For some reason it seems the only control method that weeds don't develop resistance to is "being plucked up by the roots." Unfortunately that's not always a practical control method for the weeds that grow in cracks of the driveway.

ken wrote:
Ideally they would be rotating the chemicals used. If the same sprays are used every time, certain weeds may develop resistance to the active ingredients in those sprays.

Another thing that has happened over the years is some sprays that were previously used commonly have been withdrawn from the market or outlawed due to them having been found to be more harmful than previously thought.

For some reason it seems the only control method that weeds don't develop resistance to is
"being plucked up by the roots."
Unfortunately that's not always a practical control method for the weeds that grow in cracks of the driveway.

i try to weed (by hand) when the ground is soft from rains, easier to get those roots!
maybe this year i will try to tackle those driveway cracks more seriously, by killing-digging out the offenders, then using asphalt crack fillers to prevent it all from worsening so quickly.

one neighbor we had, years ago, kept good care of his drive by applying a coating each year to the asphalt. he was able to maintain it well that way. it's a job, tho. to apply those big buckets of coating, then to allow it to cure. i dont believe i would tackle coating, myself, but i could go after the cracks with filler.

Super Shovel
http://www.gardeners.com/buy/super-shov ... it&start=1

i did invest in this Super Shovel a few years ago. it's a help for me.
again, i use it when the ground is easiest to work with.

i have aggressive mulberry starts, esp around my house. big nuisance!
one got a good start in my blueberry bed, no matter how i tugged at it, it thrived!

one day, when the soil was softer, and, that bed has a good layer of pine bark mulch, i decided to go after that mulberry start with this Super Shovel. i prevailed!

i was able to get the "root ball" out, which is key!
it has not returned.
amazing, the size of that root ball, in proportion to a not-large plant.

this shovel helps me, not having the strength of a man.
i protect the sharp teeth as best i can. so far, it's like new. it is a help cutting through tough roots.

ken_sylvania wrote: Ideally they would be rotating the chemicals used. If the same sprays are used every time, certain weeds may develop resistance to the active ingredients in those sprays.

Maybe it's a matter of semantics, but I find it easier to think of selecting the weeds that have the resistance to the herbicide, than think of them developing resistance. I've read that they've revived pathogens that have been dormant for centuries before antibiotics, and still found a small proportion of them that are resistant to modern antibiotics.

JimFoxvog wrote:

ken_sylvania wrote: Ideally they would be rotating the chemicals used. If the same sprays are used every time, certain weeds may develop resistance to the active ingredients in those sprays.

Maybe it's a matter of semantics, but I find it easier to think of selecting the weeds that have the resistance to the herbicide, than think of them developing resistance.

You're correct! Thanks for pointing that out.