Laying waste to the land - in a kind and gentle way.

[Dan Mages]

Good morning

The 25 year weed barrier that I purchased from Mendards last year is not worth anything. My vegetable garden is now overrun by heavy weeds, which I need to kill off. I don't want to use Round-Up or other heavy chemicals since it is a vegetable garden. Any suggestions on how to kill everything back there without poisoning the land? I was thinking of a good dosing of gardener's lye, but I am not sure if that will work.

Thanks!

Dan

[Jeff Bower]

Dan, in my experience weed barriers are just as you said, useless. My mom has always told me that laying down newspaper (about 5 pages thick) over the weeds and then covering that with mulch will take care of the weeds you have now and for about another season. I did this for the first time this spring and no weeds came up through the paper/mulch at all thus far, about 4.5 months now. No chemicals used

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Dan......IMHO ....bad news.....Lye can't be good for the ecosystem. Some of the more knowledgeable people help me out here....lye ....sodium hydroxide?

One way of controlling weeds is using the hoe......

I have an aunt who gardened alot in the mid-west. She put down bisquine (black plastic used in the building trades) and just cut holes where she wanted plants to grow. She made the hole larger than the plant so the roots wood get water when it rained. Then she only had to weed the area of the hole. The plastic kept water from the undesired weed seeds and super heated the soil which helped prevent the sprouting of weeds.

Good luck!

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Dan....went and checked. Potassium hydroxide, a form of lye, is used as a herbicide. Still......it's a chemcial and in strengths that actas a herbicide, it isn't environmentally friendly IMHO.

[Al Willits]

We use the black landscaping cloth and have pretty good luck with it.
I think laying black plastic over the weeds will do it or at least kill what's there....maybe.

Al....Beasty usually just has the coven over and they cast some sort of spell, but not sure witch...er..which..one they use though....

[Jim Becker]

You can use higher strength ammonia (often used for patio crack weed control by non-chemical lovers), but that will still require you to recondition the soil after a bit of time.

In my experience, weed barriers only work if you...weed over them frequently. They do make that job easier, but weeds will still grow in almost anything you put on top of the barrier, itself.

[Matt Meiser]

So what is an environmentally friendly method when pulling or hoeing (hoing?) aren't feasible. Such as on a few hundred feet of gravel driveway?

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

Lye can't be good for the ecosystem. Some of the more knowledgeable people help me out here....lye ....sodium hydroxide?

Most all acids and bases break down in the wild to form harmless salts.

[Dan Larson]

So what is an environmentally friendly method when pulling or hoeing (hoing?) aren't feasible. Such as on a few hundred feet of gravel driveway?

Matt, have you tried one of these?
http://www.leevalley.com/garden/page...t=2,2300,44822

[David G Baker]

Gravel...Roundup does the trick very well unless your driveway is on a slope. The weed roots help hold the gravel, sand and what ever else you have in your drive from washing down the grade in a heavy rain. I learned the hard way.
My driveway is around 300 feet long, has a fair grade and now has green things growing in it.
Heavy duty weed barrier like that used in nurseries will work and will last until you put dirt on top of it. The 25 year weed barrier works well under rock until the wind fills the spaces with dirt. Where there is dirt, there will be weeds.
The problem with putting things down as a weed barrier that will not allow water to flow through can cause problems. I made the mistake of putting black 6 mill plastic under some decorative redwood bark. The first heavy rain floated the bark and made a big mess.
Killing weeds with out chemicals...anything that will not let light pass through it will kill weeds.

[David G Baker]

Matt, have you tried one of these?
http://www.leevalley.com/garden/page...t=2,2300,44822

Dan, I forgot about the weed torch. Thanks. It works very well where it can be used. Great idea.

[Matt Meiser]

I've got one of those torches that I planned to use to clean out the ditches but now the county is going to do that so I don't have to. I haven't tried it on the driveway yet. It seems to burn through propane pretty quick so I kind of put that in the "unfriendly" category. Not sure if it is more or less friendly than Roundup which I've used the past couple years.

[jeremy levine]

Matt, have you tried one of these?
http://www.leevalley.com/garden/page...t=2,2300,44822

I want to

[Matt Meiser]

I want to

Come on over. I'm home every day.

[Dan Larson]

I have an aunt who gardened alot in the mid-west. She put down bisquine (black plastic used in the building trades) and just cut holes where she wanted plants to grow. She made the hole larger than the plant so the roots wood get water when it rained. Then she only had to weed the area of the hole. The plastic kept water from the undesired weed seeds and super heated the soil which helped prevent the sprouting of weeds.

Good luck!

This is the way to do it if you don't want to use "chemicals". The sun beating down on the black plastic should also warm the soil enough to kill off any weed seeds lurking under the plastic (140 degrees F.)

I think you're asking for trouble if you mess with the soil pH by using lye. It probably would kill weeds. But if you're not careful, you'll kill off the rest of the garden, too. Also, lye can burn your skin... handle it with care if you do decide to use it.

Personally I have no issues with Round-Up. I think it's a great product. It breaks down in the environment within days, and it only kills the plants that get their leaves doused with the product.

Dan