[Closed] Is there an environmentally 'friendly' path-clearing weedkiller?

Getting educated on glyphosate toxicity and breakdown would be a good place to start.

Boiling water or a blow torch

Edit: And apparently, WD40 (I doubt this falls under the environmentally friendly banner though)

2 litres of unleaded and a box of matches

Getting educated on glyphosate toxicity and breakdown would be a good place to start.

Happy to, care to help? The studies seem to be conflicting.

don't you love people who sanctimoniously post a thread that people should learn about something but offer not a single word of education. Just don't bother, your post accomplishes nothing.

They are, but relative to alot of commercially available stuff, is realtively benign.

My point is that asking for an environmentally friendly weed killer is like asking for a gun that doesn't kill people.

There's always a consequence, but in this instance, once it's dried, direct dog toxicity is not an issue.

If you want non chemical, have you considered one of those ground level blow torches for weeds? It burns everything and has the benefit of killing seeds in soil if you so choose to cook the area a little longer. Still more labour intensive than spraying though.

Jeyykl, I don't see it as my duty to spoon feed the hard of thinking or those that lack the initiative to find the information themselves.

There's nothing sanctimonious about suggesting to someone that they go and find out about something they don't know about.

Please stop wringing your hands so much. You'll get blisters.

Weed killer turns the weeds brown. Once it has been on the ground for a very short time (hours) it ceases to be effective i.e. it is systemic and needs to be taken up via the leaves, so it doesn't stop them regrowing. That's probably what Scienceofficer was thinking of. A spade removes them completely (though not woody roots). It's not that hard work really.

Get rid of the crazy paving, clear out the roots, and put something not-from-the-70's down instead?. 🙂

It’s not that hard work really.

Yep, every garden, hedegrow, paving area is exactly the same.

Glycophosphate is not very toxic - see Cornell University report

It causes the leaves to go brown but also kills the roots of actively growing plants - see Wiki

It's lack of activity after a short time outside of the plant is one of its advantages.

Alternatively go all Roman on the ground (just kidding, don't do it, salt is dangerous it has an LD50 of 3000 mg/kg and will stop most plants regrowing for years).

Get rid of the crazy paving, clear out the roots, and put something not-from-the-70’s down instead?

Oh, very much so, but the budget currently only runs to £20's worth of weedkiller, not £2000's worth of groundworks.

I have thought about the salt option, given that where the weeds are will never be anything other than driveway or patio.

I use white vinegar.  You can buy 20 litres on Ebay for £16.

Does it kill to the root CG?

Possibly dependent on the size of the root, certainly small ones are fine.

Glyo and keep the dog off for a day or two. Don't over think it!

Funnily enough I was weedkilling just yesterday. I had some stuff called weedol that you mixed in with water. I use it in one of those 2 litre pump action sprayers.

It clearly says on the box that once it is dry, it is safe for pets & children.

Can you just get some of this stuff & put it down on a warm evening once the kids are in bed & supervise the dog's comings & goings. The stuff I put down was dry in about 20 mins.

Murray

Alternatively go all Roman on the ground (just kidding, don’t do it, salt is dangerous it has an LD50 of 3000 mg/kg and will stop most plants regrowing for years).

I wonder how much salt you would need to make that effective as a weedkiller?

I've been pouring 10L of waste water from my salt water aquarium on some weeds outside my house for two years and they don't seem to give a crap.

Or maybe the salt they refer to is potassium or magnesium or something.

I bought some at lunchtime (hence opening the thread) to put down along my driveway. Should I worry about other people's dogs? Like the ones who left their shit on the ground right next to my car door?

@DezB, don't worry about it unless you're putting it in their feed bowls.

@retro83 salt used to be in the USA for bindweed control. You need a lot of it - 20 tons/per acre. I really wouldn't bother.

The likes of roundup is effective - very good 'spot' killer - I'd be more wary treating a large area, but it's perfect for the persistent weeds that keep popping up if you can't kill the root.  Large area's go for blow torch.

The neighbour's block paving is a mess because he never keeps on top of it.  Jet washed the lot last year, covered everywhere in dirt, the weeds are back again this year (not treated since).  Prior to that he had two guys scraping the paving for a couple of days, it soon came back.

And apparently, WD40 (I doubt this falls under the environmentally friendly banner though)

I used to work on an organic farm and they were trialling all kinds of weird dodgy sounding weed/pest killers including paraffin! It stank! But it's important to kill all the animals on them for the vegans, and it counts as organic.

We have a similar issue with persistent weeds in the paving to our back garden.

We have a cat and next door have 4 so not too keen on the use of chemicals, but I did notice that Lidl were knocking out a weed burner the other week for £15.  Not sure if they'll still be in stores, but I fancied that approach. More fun too

(heartless bastard) Can't you just leave it this year. I've a feeling the problem may no longer exist in 12 months ?

Maybe clear out the cracks and re-grout between the slabs?

(heartless bastard) Can’t you just leave it this year. I’ve a feeling the problem may no longer exist in 12 months ?

One problem probably won't, the other will. It's anyone's guess as to which is which though. 😉

Obvious solution is to sell the dog..

this solves any chance of poisoning it with a herbicide that would be unlikely to kill it even if he drank it.

I keep on top of the larger weeds like dandelions and such with a spray weed killer, or just pull them out, but I’ve got loads of a small shamrock-like plant with burgundy leaves and tiny yellow flowers that’s spreading all over the place that I rather like. Turns out it’s a type of Wood Sorrel, which you can actually eat in salads and such, has quite a nice citrusy flavour.

Last I checked, dogs aren't plant-based.

Tell her you've read on the Internet that Coke is a great weedkiller.  Get a bottle of glyphosate, throw a few capfuls into a bottle of Coke and treat the yard.  You win man points, all the weeds die, no-one else does, everyone's a winner.

Glyphosate used in the correct manner (non windy or wet day and not near a drain) to treat weeds on a drive is not environmentally unfriendly and will have zero affect on your dog. Your dog is more likely to be exposed to glyphosate in their dog food unless you feed grain free.

Salt is a very risky thing to use - it does not break down and depending on the soil can take years to wash away, a pro gardener friend  explained once how a potential client had "prepared" a whole garden with sodium chloride - salt   to clear the old weeds and make things easier - so it was like - well everything we plant in your garden will die - call back in 2 years if anything grows at all.

Cougar

Tell her you’ve read on the Internet that Coke is a great weedkiller. Get a bottle of glyphosate, throw a few capfuls into a bottle of Coke and treat the yard. You win man points, all the weeds die, no-one else does, everyone’s a winner.

Do you want ants? Because that's how you get ants.

Glyphosphate itself is fairly safe, obviously its toxic but as long as you use some common sense it's safe.

It's roundup and other glyphosphate based products that are being campaigned against as they are mixed with a surfactant and the surfactant is on the probable carcinogenic list. And the timescale for getting new products approved makes it almost impossible.

Found this recipe for homemade weed killer on web:

1/2 gallon of plain white vinegar (I’ve heard of using apple cider vinegar as well, but I don’t think it’s necessary)
1/2 cup of salt
2 tablespoons of dishwashing liquid (I always use EcoSense)

From the pics looks to work pretty well and ain't gonna harm no ickle kittie cats.

I've kinda given up battling the horses tail, it's definitely not even worth attempting to fight it this year, it's like a ****in forest. Gonna lift all the decorative chips, and turf the whole lot. I'll mow the ****in stuff to death.

What about using Hydrogen Peroxide. Breaks down to water and oxygen so no environmental nasties.

Or a mix of vinegar and a dash of washing up liquid in a spray bottle applied to the weeds works as well

Do you want ants? Because that’s how you get ants.

Fair point.  Diet Coke?

Point was, there's no reason not to use glyphosate beyond "the wife has concocted a fear story."

+1 glyphosate

(seems to me the OP is more interested in dog-friendly than environmentally-friendly but it ticks both boxes anyway)

When we had a puppy who would eat/lick anything in sight we avoided using weed killer so I invested in a blow torch weed killer, it worked very well and the weeds didn't tend to grow back but but it take a long time. Now that the pup is bigger, we just nuke it with some roundup and keep him away for a day or 2.

seems to me the OP is more interested in dog-friendly than environmentally-friendly but it ticks both boxes anyway

Quite honestly, it's both.Thing is, I know things like blowtorches/vinegar work, but from reading around they just seem to kill the leaves and not the root, and I'd like to kill the root.

Hydrogen peroxide's an interesting idea. Or just persuade MrsIGN that glyphosfate is fine.

If it’s paving and you are never likely to lay it into flowerbeds table salt in a watering can.

There is some evidence that glyphosate is carcinogenic so a precautionary approach is advised. If you are able to keep the treated area clear of children and pets until the application has fully dried it's likely to be low risk, and any residues applied to soil will break down.

The jury is out with a lot of the alternatives, certainly for commercial use. Foam products require heating, usually from a generator that will emit known carcinogens from its exhaust. Vinegar requires far more applications (again, causing more carcinogens if operatives drive to the site) and the commercial stuff is highly concentrated, posing health and safety problems because it will burn skin, plus it stinks. Blow torches are a pretty wasteful way of treating weeds superficially.

Try the wheel cleaning acid from eBay. I picked up the wrong bottle from the garage the other day and the weeds were brown and floppy within a couple of hours. Not sure what the dog would make of it, though our cat survived too tell the tale.

Hydrogen peroxide wtf! You're worried about environmental / health implications of a heavily regulated and type approved product for your application which works on the biology of the target weeds but are happy to consider completely unregulated chemicals which might work on the basis of them being very nasty chemicals.

The risk of cancer with this is so small I believe it's less than alcohol and we are talking about putting it on the patio not drinking it! If anyone's worried about the cancer risk with glyphosate they really need to make sure they are eating only organic food.

H2O2 is a short lived aggressive oxidiser (dependent upon concentration) that degrades to benign components and is unpredictable when handled due to it catalysing readily.

You're exchanging environmental concerns for H&S concerns really.

It's only a weed killer in the same way that napalm is really!

There's no evidence that organic food reduces cancer rates.

Any nettles?