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Natural weed killers

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  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    For ‘normal’ weeds I just keep hoeing ... it’s how weeds have been controlled for centuries. 😊 

    For the pernicious b****rs I use carefully targeted applications of glyphosate ... applied directly to the leaves of the weed, not sprayed or watered on an area. 

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





  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    @Guernsey Donkey2 - just use a weedkiller. Don't beat yourself up about it. 
    You're not someone who uses it indiscriminately, same as many of us, and you're already doing your bit for wildlife. As Dove says - you can just target the worst bits.

    I have a gravelled area for my car, and I know how much work it can be to hoe or handweed, and I don't expect those plastic thingies make it very easy for hoeing anyway. I'm about to renovate all mine, as the gravel gets swept down onto the road [no proper kerb/barrier] and is a bit sparse, and the weeds are having a field day. 

    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • YviestevieYviestevie Posts: 7,066
    I agree @Fairygirl @Dovefromabove I don't use pesticides/weedkillers indiscriminantly but I do paint leaves when absolutely necessary.  I plant with wildlife in mind and I'm sure I do more good than harm.   
    Hi from Kingswinford in the West Midlands
  • TopbirdTopbird Posts: 8,355
    Ditto the above 3 posts. Carefully applied glyphosate only works on the weeds not on the ground. 
    Heaven is ... sitting in the garden with a G&T and a cat while watching the sun go down
  • treehugger80treehugger80 Posts: 1,923
    anything that kills plants is a poison, whether its glyphosate or vinegar.
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    A car park  wildflower meadow? 
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • Guernsey Donkey2Guernsey Donkey2 Posts: 6,713
    edited August 2019
    @B3 no, it's a driveway that we would like to keep free of plants.
    You see how it is - a little voice in my head tells me not to use weed killer (can't hoe because of the grids approx 4" gaps between each one and they are all linked together @Dovefromabove) however as many of you have rightly said I do now garden with wildlife in mind, I am just concerned for the hedgehogs and also the consequences of using a chemical. However I am also thinking that most of these weeds will die off in the winter, so the problem is solved - although I am sure they will return with double the strength next year! The picture shows how the driveway looked when first laid - before this it was mostly potholes with bumps, weeds and water collected everytime it rained.  It was a mess.  Since this picture was taken we have planted a wild flower bank on the left, so you could say we have exchanged one reasonably tidy area for another, depending on your outlook to tidiness.
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    A job for life  hand weeding  that drive!
    I suspect  that the wildflower  bank will provide  plenty  of weed seeds. 
    My neighbour  had gravel  in her front  garden.  I never  saw  the results  of the seeds  I sowed  in my garden but they came  up fine  in hers.😕
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    We had  some  young  nieces  visiting  once. They asked  us why  so many people  in England  had graves  in their  front  gardens. 
    It  took  me a little  while  to realise  that they were  talking about the gravelled  gardens.
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • glasgowdanglasgowdan Posts: 632
    Glyphosate doesn't kill hedgehogs, or deter wildlife from the garden. That gravel drive needs it, life is too short
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