Forum home› Problem solving
This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.

DIY weedkillers?

Jess is in the GardenJess is in the Garden Posts: 1,022
in Problem solving
Hello All,

I've got the usual pesky sycamore saplings and other weeds coming up through the patio of my new house.
Other than blitzing them with weedkiller, what home grown, tried and tested methods of killing them off have you used?
I'm trying to go greener in my new garden and I already only used fungicide (stopped using insecticide years ago).

Would love to hear about them!

Thanks 
«13

Posts

  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    edited April 2019
    Cheapest and most efficient way to get rid of tree saplings is to pull them out by hand. 😊 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • hogweedhogweed Posts: 4,053
    there is vinegar and salt, both used to kill weeds. But they are still chemicals and will still affect the soil. with no guarantee of success. Personally I would use weedkiller as at least it works and you can carefully spot weed. 
    'Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement' - Helen Keller
  • Jess is in the GardenJess is in the Garden Posts: 1,022
    pansyface said:
    A hoe.
    Eco friendly, costs nothing, kills nothing but weeds, good exercise.
    Thanks Pansyface - I do that already! Bit hard on the patio though  :smile:
  • Jess is in the GardenJess is in the Garden Posts: 1,022
    Dovefromabove said:
    Cheapest and most efficient way to get rid of tree saplings is to pull them out by hand. 😊 
    I've tried!! They are so well inserted and so flipping' strong, that I literally can't get them out...the ones in open soil are bad enough, but the ones nestled in the gap between patio and house, now they are evil...
  • Jess is in the GardenJess is in the Garden Posts: 1,022

    hogweed said:
    there is vinegar and salt, both used to kill weeds. But they are still chemicals and will still affect the soil. with no guarantee of success. Personally I would use weedkiller as at least it works and you can carefully spot weed. 
    Great - I'll try that - it's on a patio, far from any open soil, so hopefully minimal if any leaching into the ground near plants.
  • Jess is in the GardenJess is in the Garden Posts: 1,022
    I wonder if pouring boiling water from the kettle directly onto them, would work...
  • debs64debs64 Posts: 5,184
    I use a little tool a bit like a knife, in between paving slabs, I do half an hour at a time, set an alarm on my phone, soon starts to look better. If you use weed killer you still have to dig up the dead weeds. 
  • Jess is in the GardenJess is in the Garden Posts: 1,022
    debs64 said:
    I use a little tool a bit like a knife, in between paving slabs, I do half an hour at a time, set an alarm on my phone, soon starts to look better. If you use weed killer you still have to dig up the dead weeds. 
    True...I have inherited a jungle of a garden (in the process of being tamed, as we speak), and the pesky sycamore saplings are in tiny cracks in the very ugly concrete patio surface.
  • debs64debs64 Posts: 5,184
    I feel your pain we have them next to the allotments and every plot is covered with seedlings but weed killer is not an option and it’s a long slog with the old hoe! 
  • Jess is in the GardenJess is in the Garden Posts: 1,022
    edited April 2019
    debs64 said:
    I feel your pain we have them next to the allotments and every plot is covered with seedlings but weed killer is not an option and it’s a long slog with the old hoe! 
    God they're awful!! I have never had to lean back, pulling with all my force, to have a weed just remain stock still and laugh at me  :)
Sign In or Register to comment.