Electric weed burner

traceylimebeer2eyFhs5h · August 2023

I have a large square of ornamental gravel with a weed membrane under it. There is a bird feeder on it and the seeds drop down and start growing. My partner hates it and is trying everything to stop it. The gravel and membrane cost quite a bit - Weed killers don't work. He says that we spent a lot of money on it and wants it to look good so wants to use an electric weed burner!! I think it may crack the gravel and melt the membrane. Any ideas?

bédé · August 2023

Certainly it will melt the membrane, though that might not affect its performance. Weedkillers will work, keep trying.

Lyn · August 2023

Would it not make more sense to remove the bird feeder?

diggersjo · August 2023

Can you not gently rake over the weeds?

Obelixx · August 2023

Move the bird feeder? Put it on slabs or grass so any seeds that fall either can'tgerminate or will be mowed off. Then you can just pull the weeds in your gravel. They'll come up easily enough, especially after a good rain shower.

StephenSouthwest · August 2023

I glued a plant saucer to the bottom of our bird feeder - it's worked really well (it's worth putting a little drain hole in it).

Continuously putting weedkiller on the ground sounds like a very poor solution...

It's worth remembering that weedburners work not by burning the plants, but by heating the flesh till the cells break down, so there may be a way to use one, for example, holding it with the heat horizontal with quick passes, that doesn't melt the membrane... ...but to be honest - it's a much better plan to not create the problem in the first place - I would suggest you either move, adapt or change the birdfeeder so that it drops little or no seed on the gravel in the first place.

...and on reflection, the amount of time and effort it would take just to pull the weeds up is likely similar to heat weeding...

Fairygirl · August 2023

Using a no mess mix of bird food also help to cut out a lot of waste. The cheap stuff is full of wheat and similar, so it often creates the most mess as it germinates readily.

My feeders are all on gravel, or above it. I just pull the odd bit out that doesn't get eaten and therefore starts to germinate, as there's still the aforementioned wheat in it. It takes seconds to pull out every now and again.

Dovefromabove · August 2023

I agree … we get very little stuff on the ground under the feeders … what there is gets harvested pretty quickly by the dunnocks and blackbirds.

Sunflower hearts don’t germinate and the ‘No mess’ mixes are pretty good as well. It’s the cheap seed mixes with lots of wheat in it that the birds discard that cause most ‘weed’ problems below feeders.

diggersjo · August 2023

I think I should stop my feeding as I've now bought 30kg of sunflower hearts in 3 months! The niger and peanuts last all year.

plant pauper · August 2023

I use only peanuts now. The seed, whichever one I chose, was sorted through and discarded within a few hours. I've also discovered that split peanuts disappear nearly twice as fast as whole!
There is farmland all around so a ready supply of berries and seeds nearby but I like to encourage plenty of birds to clear up aphids and other nuisances. I had a willow warbler this morning doing just that.
I have sparrows, dunnocks, blue, great, coal tits, green, gold and chaff finches, gold crests and even a woodpecker earlier in the year so no shortage of varieties of bird despite the limited menu. And no mess!

Waterbut · August 2023

Weed killers do work your problem as suggested above is seeds keep falling down from the bird feeder and germinate. A lot of weed killers now kill the weeds but neutralise in soil which is why you are having a continual battle with new weeds growing from the seeds.

Electric weed burner

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