Killing/preventing weeds in a gravel driveway

CarPark2

I have used roundup in the past and found it effective, but i am wondering if there is a way i can manage the weeds in the gravel driveway without roundup.

I came across this: http://www.fhcoop.org/DrivewayMaintRecipes.pdf
which is basically vinegar, salt and fairy liquid.

Others recommend putting loads of salt.

I saw another thread here (for tarmac) that mentioned using washing powder (i.e., for washing machine).

A few questions:
- has anybody used any of these and found them to be effective on gravel driveways?
- If i put salt down on the driveway, is that likely to affect the underside of the car or the tyres?
- Where would i source cheap vinegar and/or salt in large quantities?

Thanks in advance.

blackbox

CarPark2 wrote: »

I have used roundup in the past and found it effective, but i am wondering if there is a way i can manage the weeds in the gravel driveway without roundup.

I came across this: http://www.fhcoop.org/DrivewayMaintRecipes.pdf
which is basically vinegar, salt and fairy liquid.

Others recommend putting loads of salt.

I saw another thread here (for tarmac) that mentioned using washing powder (i.e., for washing machine).

A few questions:
- has anybody used any of these and found them to be effective on gravel driveways?
- If i put salt down on the driveway, is that likely to affect the underside of the car or the tyres?
- Where would i source cheap vinegar and/or salt in large quantities?

Thanks in advance.

I'd stick with Roundup rather than use chemicals that are not approved for weed killing.

runawaybishop

CarPark2 wrote: »

I have used roundup in the past and found it effective, but i am wondering if there is a way i can manage the weeds in the gravel driveway without roundup.

I came across this: http://www.fhcoop.org/DrivewayMaintRecipes.pdf
which is basically vinegar, salt and fairy liquid.

Others recommend putting loads of salt.

I saw another thread here (for tarmac) that mentioned using washing powder (i.e., for washing machine).

A few questions:
- has anybody used any of these and found them to be effective on gravel driveways?
- If i put salt down on the driveway, is that likely to affect the underside of the car or the tyres?
- Where would i source cheap vinegar and/or salt in large quantities?

Thanks in advance.

Use roundup (or rather any glyphosate based one), its designed to be effective, shortlived and break down quickly. Salt will wash into the surrounding areas and kill indiscriminately.

Seamai

I've been using salt on a gravel drive for the last few years mixing about a kg of salt to 5 litres of warm water and a squirt of washing up liquid.
It works up to a point but you really have to drench each weed and the ground around it (I'd pull any bigger ones) and repeat every few weeks. I've read lots of articles that will tell you that salt will destroy the soil and nothing will grow there for months or even years after but this hasn't been my experience. I'd imagine the amount of rain we get here it gets washed down pretty quickly.

CarPark2

runawaybishop wrote: »

Use roundup (or rather any glyphosate based one), its designed to be effective, shortlived and break down quickly. Salt will wash into the surrounding areas and kill indiscriminately.

I’m not very keen on roundup because of risk to myself and the kids. Also I am conscious of the birds and the bees, but I don’t actually know if salt, vinegar or detergent is better or worse for them than round-up.

Accepted Round-up is most effective. Are there other options that are less toxic for me and nearly as effective?

PaulKK

50/50 bleach and water. Use it on my cobble and paths.

runawaybishop

CarPark2 wrote: »

I’m not very keen on roundup because of risk to myself and the kids. Also I am conscious of the birds and the bees, but I don’t actually know if salt, vinegar or detergent is better or worse for them than round-up.

Accepted Round-up is most effective. Are there other options that are less toxic for me and nearly as effective?

What risk? Roundup is designed to have a short lift of 4-6 hours and break down on contact with the ground. Salt, bleach etc are designed to last and will spread around when it rains, killing not just the weeds but other plants and insects etc it comes into contact with. With enough applications you will poison the ground for a significant period of time.

Nothing will be as effective as a specifically designed weedkiller, if you are worried about exposure of animals etc then just do a small section at a time and cover/block it to prevent access.


I would question the sanity of someone that thinks firing bleach around outside is somehow safe

edit: probably not practical if you have a large area but boiling water is very effective at killing weeds. Vinegar will only kill leaves and will not kill the root system.

irish_goat

CarPark2 wrote: »

Where would i source cheap vinegar and/or salt in large quantities?

You can get big boxes of salt and bottles of vinegar at catering supply shops. Hardware shops sell big bags of salt too.

PaulKK

runawaybishop wrote: »

I would question the sanity of someone that thinks firing bleach around outside is somehow safe

No need to be condescending.

It's diluted and very effective at removing fungi and algea off cobble and concrete. Would I use it exclusively for extended periods as a weed killer? Maybe not, but it's worth a shot for the OP.

I'm talking about a small area of cobble and patio, not half an acre.

I've gone off using roundup myself after the research coming out about it and it beginning to be banned in several countries. Also even when wearing a mask it gives me a headache using it.

runawaybishop

PaulKK wrote: »

No need to be condescending.

It's diluted and very effective at removing fungi and algea off cobble and concrete. Would I use it exclusively for extended periods as a weed killer? Maybe not, but it's worth a shot for the OP.

I'm talking about a small area of cobble and patio, not half an acre.

I've gone off using roundup myself after the research coming out about it and it beginning to be banned in several countries. Also even when wearing a mask it gives me a headache using it.

There is no research that shows roundup causes issues, its one of the most studied herbicides that exists. Bleach, on the other hand, is known to cause cancers in wildlife.

Using bleach outside is very bad for the environment, it is highly toxic and it should not be used as it enters the local water table and will still be polluting the area days afterwards. Its extremely irresponsible to use it for cleaning your drive.

runawaybishop

runawaybishop wrote: »

What risk? Roundup is designed to have a short lift of 4-6 hours and break down on contact with the ground. Salt, bleach etc are designed to last and will spread around when it rains, killing not just the weeds but other plants and insects etc it comes into contact with. With enough applications you will poison the ground for a significant period of time.

Nothing will be as effective as a specifically designed weedkiller, if you are worried about exposure of animals etc then just do a small section at a time and cover/block it to prevent access.


I would question the sanity of someone that thinks firing bleach around outside is somehow safe

edit: probably not practical if you have a large area but boiling water is very effective at killing weeds. Vinegar will only kill leaves and will not kill the root system.

Couldnt agree more, from a conservation/wildlife perspective Roundup is so much better than most household chemicals.

Lumen

Interesting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwiojxoc55Y

CelticRambler

You could consider using a heat-wand. They've been around for ages, but never seem to have taken off as a "must have" garden tool. I'm looking into them at the moment, as I have a cobbled courtyard with about 50 years' worth of chicken manure in the cracks that supports an incredibly robust weed growth (ten years of Roundup made no difference )

When I blitz it in June-ish, the summer heat keeps usually everything at bay till October-ish, so I'm hoping that a "flame-thrower" will do the same.

magicbastarder

runawaybishop wrote: »

Bleach, on the other hand, is known to cause cancers in wildlife.

Using bleach outside is very bad for the environment, it is highly toxic and it should not be used as it enters the local water table and will still be polluting the area days afterwards. Its extremely irresponsible to use it for cleaning your drive.

You have a link for that? Bleach breaks down into salts and water, I'd never heard of a link with cancer in animals.
Regarding salt killing everything forever, they salt the roads in winter, but one phenomenon this has caused is coastal plants have been migrating inland in the verges of major roads as they're more acclimated to salt in the soil.
IIRC, bleach is considered a class 3 carcinogen, i.e. no evidence, and Roundup a class 2 - a possible link.

BBC4's 'more or less' radio show examined the facts around the high profile court case regarding Roundup and lymphoma, and found the evidence linking the two was definitely equivocal, IIRC. it's available as a podcast.

Anyway, I use a gas torch or pull the weeds, but my driveway is not massive.

runawaybishop

magicbastarder wrote: »

You have a link for that? Bleach breaks down into salts and water, I'd never heard of a link with cancer in animals.
Regarding salt killing everything forever, they salt the roads in winter, but one phenomenon this has caused is coastal plants have been migrating inland in the verges of major roads as they're more acclimated to salt in the soil.
IIRC, bleach is considered a class 3 carcinogen, i.e. no evidence, and Roundup a class 2 - a possible link.

BBC4's 'more or less' radio show examined the facts around the high profile court case regarding Roundup and lymphoma, and found the evidence linking the two was definitely equivocal, IIRC. it's available as a podcast.

Anyway, I use a gas torch or pull the weeds, but my driveway is not massive.

Road salt is also bad for the environment but we keep using it anyway

Bleach by itself when used correctly is fine, it's when it reacts to other chemicals that's it's dangerous. It can break down into dioxin which is a proven carcinogenic. Funnily enough when combined with urine it can break down into pure cloride gas which is poison.

Gylposate is considered a possible carcinogenic, but that means we do not have evidence to state it does cause cancer, or does not. Bacon and alcohol, for example, definitely do cause cancer. WHO, EU health council etc have all stated glyphosate is safe to use.

The court case in the US is an example of stupid America. Johnson (the guy at the center of it) had non Hopkins lymphoma I think, his own doctors said they could not say how he got it. He put 2 and 2 together and decided that because he was youngish it must be the weedkiller that gave him cancer. A jury agreed with him. No science, just a bunch of people going with his story. It's since been appealed and his award reduced and is being further appealed to have it overturned as there is no evidence that supports it.

magicbastarder

runawaybishop wrote: »

Funnily enough when combined with urine it can break down into pure cloride gas which is poison.

i think it's more when people assume 'ammonia is a cleaner, and bleach is a cleaner, so mixing them together gives turbo cleaning' that it's made headlines for killing people.

magicbastarder

seems like a reasonable summary:
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/mar/09/spray-pray-is-roundup-carcinogenic-monsanto-farmers-suing

FWIW, i hate the stuff. not because i'm particularly concerned on health grounds, more to do with that 'to a man with a hammer, every problem looks like a nail' phenomenon, where people spray things simply because they have the spray available.

runawaybishop

magicbastarder wrote: »

seems like a reasonable summary:
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/mar/09/spray-pray-is-roundup-carcinogenic-monsanto-farmers-suing

FWIW, i hate the stuff. not because i'm particularly concerned on health grounds, more to do with that 'to a man with a hammer, every problem looks like a nail' phenomenon, where people spray things simply because they have the spray available.

Yeah good article. I agree as well, I don't mind a guy clearing a driveway but just lashing gallons and gallons of herbicide over 4k acres just sounds mental.

magicbastarder

The chap who does the garden for my next door neighbour sprays the weeds growing in the thin soil collected up against the front wall on the public footpath. Instead of taking a couple more minutes to just scrape up the soil. And instead of cutting the grass up to the wall inside the garden, he sprays a strip of the lawn about six inches wide along the wall.

jimmyging

the writing seems to be on the wall for round up . It was a ludicrous decision by Bayer to buy Monsanto . They now have 70 staff in Brussels lobbying EU politicians full time on glyphosate.