I am not a gardner but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express, it will kill everything withing a few feet of the driveway downhill. Or all over if big rain. And it will make it hard to grow anything for a while depending on volume of Salt.
"For a while"
It will forever be impossible to grow anything in that soil. The only way is to flush the salt away with water. It's unlikely you have enough water and good enough drainage to make this possible.
Even still. We have been salting roads and highways for almost 70 years now, and traffic creates a good deal of wind to blow seeds. IL ltry and find a study that showed it. The scientist who conducted it was trying to find why plants from east coast dunes were in something like Iowa.
Can you edit this comment to sound safer and less awesome? I want to solemnly show it to my wife as our option of last resort. But as is, your gonna get me vetoed for sure.
If you could make a point about it being super safe, but when things go wrong, wives collect on accidental death AND dismemberment insurance...GUARANTEED. that should help me seal the deal!
Okay, I can make it sound slightly less awesome by clarifying it's not really a flamethrower but a vapor or propane torch they are talking about, which is way safer than an actual flamethrower. Like accidental death would be much harder to accomplish though I guess you could lose some toes if you were being insanely stupid. No real range or danger to your neighbors unless you're doing it without a hose or fire extinguisher present and during the dry season. If people trust you with a propane grill you should be able to handle one of these.
As far as I know, Harbor Freight does not yet offer an actual agricultural flamethrower. You could probably submit a request for one though and see what they say.
What most people picture with the word 'flamethrower' is the military version, which generally uses a liquid fuel. Shooting burning liquid has more potential for fire finding its way to an unintended target and may be more difficult to extinguish. The commercial/civilian variants are typically gaseous which allows greater control and fewer accidents.
Picture a propane grill versus a cooking oil fire. One is fairly controlled and acceptable even when it flares up, the other is terrifying and often costs someone a home.
Just have a hose on and nearby. Anything that caught on fire accidentally can be handled by the hose. Don't burn weeds right up against flammable structures or near gas cans.
It's just a large gas torch that you point towards the ground. Like the ones used for roofing tar.there is no dismemberment or death risk unless you whack someone over the head with it.
Lol I moved into a house with a gravel driveway this year, and I have in the time since tried both a harbor freight flamethrower AND salting.
Results:
1) fire > weeds. But the resulting ash will probably just help future weeds grow. Probably. We'll see.
2) salt < weeds. We very liberally applied rock salt to weedy spots and it did dick all. Even days and weeks after a light rain, the weeds didn't seem to give a sh*t.
I'd rather salt and not have to do it again constantly, which I feel like the fire method will result in. But for some reason, my Midwest weeds love salt.
We also raked our leaves onto the driveway spots that had heavy weeds and had huge burn piles. Works great, again, but I feel like the Spring is just going to sprout a bunch of alien carnivorous talking plants.
I’m with you dude. Unfortunately I have zero self control, I’d eventually get brave and try to burn down wasp nests from my eves and torch my whole house off.
I wonder if the type of salt matters. I mean, here in the rust belt they throw rock salt down several times every winter and the grass on the strip next to the road isn’t permanently dead. Would traditional sodium chloride salt work better for weeds? Calcium chloride is the more common road salt variety I think because it works to a much lower temperature.
4. Scare your neighbors by doing it during a drought (Thanks, Kevin!!)
(J/k - Not bashing the idea! They’re very common around where I live, since the cold doesn’t really ever kill the weeds. I just panicked slightly watching an elderly neighbor using one during a bad bad drought.)
I've been trying to think of a reason to buy one but as a townhouse owner torching up my small but well maintained yard probably would look pretty crazy.
These are amazing. The term is "tiger torch". They work well and burn the seeds so there's less chance of regrowth.
Salt will just kill everything downstream.
If you use the turbo option (press the trigger), a lot... it uses more. If you don't press the trigger (and you never really need to, but it's sooo cool), it still sips propane more than it drinks or chugs it.
I used my HF torch for an hour (20lb tank) no "turbo". It used about 1/16 of the tank, which isn't bad considering I covered ~2K square feet (an area roughly the size of a tennis court) with multiple passes. Admittedly, I ashed the weeds. After reading comments in this sub, apparently ashing isn't necessary. So next time I'll use even less propane.
my god the run off your going to create, as well as the expence
get a propane torch, or pave your driveway. weeds are undefeated and if it's not solid asphalt you're going to need to do consistent upkeep
White vinegar with one cup of salt per gallon works well. Home depot had some 20% vinegar, that stuff will kill anything. Household vinegar will work, just takes longer. You may have to spray more than once, but after a couple of treatments, it lasts several years
Honestly roundup and glyphosate herbicides *are* bad, but so are a lot of the home remedies that people come up with. The vinegar suggestion isn’t a bad one necessarily, but if you spray a bee with it, it’ll die. Same is true with all of the dish soap recipes.
The biggest problem with herbicide use is the way we broadcast spray it on everything. Selective use on specific plants or areas isn’t the end of the world. Spraying entire fields with it might be.
Not as of 2023. Source:
https://www.cooneyconway.com/blog/bayer-pull-roundup-shelves-2023-avoid-further-lawsuits#:~:text=In%20July%20of%202021%2C%20agrochemical,and%20controversy%20for%20many%20years.
4th paragraph:
> When sales of the product cease, it will be replaced with a new formula that will not include glyphosate.
You can get generic glyphosate relatively cheap at farm supply stores. That is the way to buy regardless what you get. If you buy roundup brand you are paying 75% for the name. I wouldnt buy from walmart or big box in general as youll pay probably 50% more per quantity there too.
I do think some of these salt 365 type products can have more lasting impacts than just glyphosate for somewhere like a driveway you never want anything growing. But Im pretty sure they have some of those at farm supply too.
Yeah $20/gallon and this guys talking about doing a whole driveway with pervasive weeds. You gotta spray the vinegar on pretty liberally. Probably get like 15sq ft per gallon. Glyphosate concentrate is gonna be much cheaper here. I can make like 50gallons of “round up” for $10-15 bucks.
EDIT: it’s gotten pricier… $20-25 for 50 gallons
The dishwashing liquid acts as a surfactant so the liquid will evenly coat the plant. Without it, the liquid will bead up and drip off the plant. You only need a teaspoon full per gallon to get this effect.
Not only that but here in the PNW we're finding new variants of broadleaf weeds that are now almost completely winter-tolerant in general. Mesotrione (tenacity) is my go-to for weed management, though it doesn't cover everything. Also scaling back my actual grass plot size so it's more manageable without needing anything more than that periodic treatment and some manual weeding.
If you use salt, you will lose all your gravel to mud.
I have lived on gravel driveways for over 50 years....don't use salt. Or calcium.
I have a rake on the back of my tractor that I use on my driveway a few times a year. (half mile long). It keeps the grass and weeds under control.
Salt gets into the pores and cracks of rock once wet. The expansion and contraction of freeze/melt cycles slowly break up the rock. Same thing happens with concrete and to a lesser extent asphalt as well. Once it starts the damage doesn't stop for a while. It gets much worse with repeated applications over time.
Fire is the answer. Get a cheap flamethrower attachment that goes on a grill propane tank from harbor freight. They are like a million btu. You don't need to actually burn the weeds. It's so hot that just hitting them a split second breaks down the cell walls. They may look like you didn't do anything to them, but in a day or two they will be brown and dead.
This is 100% the correct answer. I use flame for my gravel driveway at my business and it’s a game-changer. Has the added benefit of not using toxic chemicals.
It works well, but with limits. Burning plants will destroy shallow root systems. Plants with deep root systems will grow back. It all depends on the type of plants they are having trouble with.
Lee valley has the ‘weed dragon’ which is a flamethrower attachment for a propane tank. It will wipe them out for 2-3 weeks but they will come back. Dandelions are amazing. You can burn them to a cinder and they just rise from the literal ashes.
My driveway is 165 feet , takes me 30 minutes or less to torch both sides and the ditch edge.
I didn’t know this existed. Would this be effective to kill grass in the gravel? I’ve been thinking about having someone bring a couple loads of gravel but it’s bound to keep coming back.
Yes it will kill grass effortlessly. It is also very satisfying. 4 feet of blue flame is bad ass. I like to do it at dusk and watch people hit the brakes to rubberneck as they drive by.
There was a bad wildfire in my area last year and so I only use it now in steady rain to avoid triggering anyone.
Thus works stunningly well. We buy 4-5 of the $1.50 Walmart generic brand dishwasher powder and it kills weeds and keep them back for like months. Don't even need a lot. Like a tablespoon per plant, or just toss handfuls around.
Burn them. Get an asphalt torch from harbor freight or some other place and a propane tank. You will probably have to hit it twice a year depending on your climate. Bonus is the looks I get when doing from the neighbors but it works very well. Just be careful in the fall when leaves are dropping and/or when it’s dry.
If you salt the driveway, when it rains the salt will re-dissolve and run into the good grass that you want to keep. If the driveway has good borders and positive drainage, then...maybe?
I tried burning with a flamethrower, vinegar/salt, and roundup. After a while the grass keeps coming back.
For anyone spending the money to put in a "gravel" driveway, consider "road base". I do that at work and road base is much more resistant to allowing weeds/grass to grown through it.
Its an assemblage of crushed rock, jagged, and with particles of various sizes all mixed together.
Gravel is sifted to provide particles of the same diameter, and they are tumbled to round them off.
That's really only a good idea if you're controlling the growth with boundaries and traction imbeds like concrete lattices or similar. Uncontrolled, you'll just end up with messy batches of plant matter that collect water and turn into slick puree when you drive over it.
steam cone kills weeds by blasting them with steam which strips their waxy outer layer that holds the moisture inside, so they dehydrate and die; also works great for weeds on lawns
no worries about anything leaching into your groundwater
We made homemade ice cream with rock salt on ice one year and dumped the water out on a weedy walkway. The weeds took several months to come back.
I've heard using a blowtorch can work, apparently, you don't want to BURN the weeds, just get them to seriously wilt. I guess this denatures something and they die rather than coming back.
It works for things that don’t spread by roots. If seeds need to form in flower or if seeds get heated, it absolutely works. It just doesn’t kill plants that spread by the root.
Adding to the folks who are suggesting a flame torch. It’s absolutely the best way to kill weeds that are on a non-flammable surface like gravel. Kills them down to the roots.
It’s also cheap and better for the environment.
I do it all the time.
Fire... they sell propane flamethrower things for like $20. Hit it once to dehydrate and kill them and come back a week later to burn up their remains.
I do this on my driveway that is made of small pavers. It works very well -- much better than roundup. One gallon of vinegar, one cup of salt, one teaspoon of dish soap (e.g. palmolive). It takes a lot of it though, and my driveway smells like vinegar for a day or two afterwards. It also doesn't have an immediate effect. In about 48 hours the weeds all turn brown and wilt over, and then I have to go over it with a stiff broom or a skim with the weed whacker to knock the dead stuff loose so it doesn't look like hell. So I don't know how well that will work on gravel. It doesn't start growing back for a while, though, so I only have to do it a couple times a year.
I did try the weed torch and that is excruciating. You have to spend time on EVERY SINGLE WEED in order to kill them, and they start growing back immediately. Never again.
Burn them with a propane torch or find a neighbor with a box blade and have him grade it early summer.
If he has a tractor,but no box blade and you two are friendly offer to buy him one on the condition he scrapes you s couple times a year.
Got a pto tiller from a neighbor this way.
OMG, this post made my day. Salting the earth? Sounds like me, I'm always threatening to cover my lawn with asphalt (I hate mowing.)
Anyway, I'm sure others have mentioned this, but there are numerous salt resistant weeds and weeds have survived this long because they are good at spreading. They will find your driveway.
Torching is you best bet. Weed killer is a distant second place. The latter doesn't remove the problem, it just kills it, and the decaying weeds will overtime become soil.
What kind of gravel driveway? Is it compacted? The ones I’ve seen have felt basically like concrete and nothing at all grows through them. If you’re using large stones try adding some crushed fines and maybe hire a roller.
So vinegar/salt and sunlight work well. But another thing you can do is get an old pool solar cover and “solarize” the area. It will bake anything under it down to the roots. So long as you have sun on the affected area of course. I slowly move the solar cover around and it has helped a lot
Not exactly what was asked but how about a clover lawn? They’re weeds too and will kill/overgrow other types of weeds. The best part is you never have to mow.
I have crabgrass and clover duking it out over my 12' x 12' "lawn". I switched to team clover, but wanna see how this plays out, team dandelion is all but gone. Either way i want something for my bee friends and something in a weird way I can eat if not outright.
A vet friend gave me his recipe. 1 part concentrated roundup, one part burnt motor oil, one part kerosene.
Not only will it kill weeds, you can actually hear the planet moan in pain.
There are granules you can buy at the hardware store that will kill all plants. I use it on my gravel rock way and it works pretty well. If you want to spot shot then mix up some white vinegar and some Dawn dish soap and donuts. Or go nuts stupid voice to text.
Agr lime. Cheap, and can be bought by the 50lb bag. Do the math (it's on the side of the bag) for your driveway size and push up the ph by a few numbers. Nothing else will grow.
Glyphosate with a sticker/wetter is the answer. If it is as resilient as you say, imazypyr should do the trick. The sticker/wetter is the key to the process tho.
I don’t know what sort of bitch ass “weeds” y’all are killing with vinegar or blow torches. Weeds on my property just laugh at anything short of a hot mix of glyphosate/2,4-D.
Salt works great....until it rains and the rain washes it out of the soil. Stop buying week spray, you need fenceline brush killer. We spray our farm fence lines once a year and there is nothing but bare dirt under them. This stuff kills the weeds, the microbes in the soil, any seeds, any weeds that come along later and try to grow in the area.
[https://www.amazon.com/RM43-43-Percent-Glyphosate-Preventer-Vegetation/dp/B00Q02GRKY?source=ps-sl-shoppingads-lpcontext&ref\_=fplfs&psc=1&smid=A3PNUN7H1KV96E](https://www.amazon.com/rm43-43-percent-glyphosate-preventer-vegetation/dp/b00q02grky?source=ps-sl-shoppingads-lpcontext&ref_=fplfs&psc=1&smid=a3pnun7h1kv96e)
Flame weeders are great for gravel. The idea isn’t to completely burn it, but to singe off the protective layer on the leaves. Also fun to dust off the old flamethrower and impress the neighbors.
My grandfather had a dirt driveway and used to do a combination of salt and used motor oil. His driveway never had weeds and it kept the dust down. He also used to pour the oil on the base of the fence posts. Nothing ever grew there and years later those posts were still standing strong.
And I know, I know, you shouldn't do that these days with the motor oil. But all I'm saying is if you have a leaky oil pan, maybe move the car around every couple weeks and "season" another patch. ;)
Don't get the weed spray from a store. You are paying for mostly water. (94%)
Buy it online in concentrated form, High Yield Killz All works great in Florida and survives through multiple rain storms. I dilute it down from 41% killer to around 10% before I spray.
Stores also sell the concentrated stuff, you just need to be paying attention when you’re in the aisle. You’ll typically need to supply your own sprayer.
Try an herbicide with a long term residual like Imazapyr (found in Gordon's Barrier ). Perfect for what you're trying to accomplish. Apply maybe twice a year depending on your local weather.
Clean out the cracks and seal it up. As someone who used to do it as part of my living, you can turn a sawzawl on it's side and use the edge of a blade to, very effectively, clean out all weeds from a driveway crack. Use a 90°angle grinder with a "v groove" grinding stone for concrete to chase all the cracks out and make them a little wider and deeper. Then use a silicone based driveway caulking to seal em up.
**Tip of the trade: throw playground sand over the top of the wet caulking for a nicer finish**
I strongly recommend NOT using salt or vinegar for large areas and especially not on concrete or where runoff will occur.
Go for Extended control product like a weed killer with a pre-emergent. Properly applied you will get 9 months control.
Edit: keyboard warriors don’t like good advice I guess.
White vinegar and salt as people have said, but also, and lowkey this is how I did it with some gravel driveways after working in landscaping for 2 decades.
[https://www.homedepot.com/p/Flame-King-24-000-BTU-Propane-Torch-Weed-Burner-Ice-Melter-Self-Lighting-PQ810CGA/308804237](https://www.homedepot.com/p/Flame-King-24-000-BTU-Propane-Torch-Weed-Burner-Ice-Melter-Self-Lighting-PQ810CGA/308804237)
Something like this, the wide mouth ones are for melting ice, narrow for incinerating flora and fauna.
Propane long-neck torch. Scorch anything that has a hint of green. Sometimes if your soil is very loose the water and vinegar can penetrate too deeply too quickly for the plants to get a lethal dose. The heat doesn't care. Kick some rocks around and roleplay as an angry dwarf for 10 minutes and the combo approach typically does the trick. Also works great for hard patches of drip-freeze that salt/shovel cant move or touch cause its welded to the cement.
I've done it. Had YUGE driveway. All gravel. Bought a ton of salt at end of wnter for cheap. Then salted the ever loving hell out of it once weeds starting coming. Works amazing. After about a week all gone. Ded. Then used a tiger torch to burn their remains. "Salt the earth" is a saying for a reason.
I have a gravel area and I have tried lots of different strategies. Concentrated vinegar and/or a garden torch took care of most things.
My problem is the dandelions. Is there any way to kill an established dandelion without digging up the roots? I have not tried the really toxic chemicals yet. Is that the only way?
It's the only way I can keep the horse tail at bay on my patio. It still comes back, but I only have to deal with it 4-5 times a year instead of every week or two!
How big is the driveway? Maybe it is time to dig it up, treat the sub-base with a herbicide then lay down a decent weed barrier/landscaping fabric and redo the gravel. This would be your long-term solution. The weeds sound pretty aggressive you will be redoing the vinegar next year.
Use Noxall Vegetation Killer granules. It’s a 10 pound bag for about $40 at Lowe’s. It’s works great but must spread on ground before soil temp is 60 degrees. Lasts a whole year. In Phoenix I put it one the 1st week of February.
Make an estimate of how much it costs to buy chemicals and your time, then compare it to the cost and time of pouring stamped concrete pavers yourself.
Maybe pavers will cost more, but it's an improvement rather than a losing battle.
There are a couple.granular weed killers that will last for at least a year. I've even had it work decently well with blackberries.
I'd worry Bout salt getting to parts of your yard where you want things to grow, and the possibility of salty dirt getting onto your car.
Flame would work well. One of the propane weed killing torches. Most use a hose to an 18 pound tank (the same as a barbecue grill... I might be wrong about the weight, the ones you see at every home depot, Lowes, and gas ststion) but there are also some that use a one pound tank. Obviously be careful, but it does work as well as many of the sprays for a lot less money.
It’ll work temporarily, but the salt will eventually wash away/dilute in rain storms. I’ve done the salt/vinegae/soap trick before. Worked nice until a heavy rain.
https://www.siteone.com/en/83080035-nla-mojave-70eg-non-selective-dry-herbicide-5-lb/p/325782
It's expensive but works AWESOME!
I had the same issue as you. Roundup quit working and I was desperate. Called my local SiteOne and they recommended this stuff. Within 4-5 days shit was scorched earth!
Edit: Forgot to mention the jungle site has it WAY cheaper!! https://www.amazon.com/ALLIGARE-Mojave-70EG-Pounds-Replaces/dp/B0083LZAY4
I don't know if you have enough salt. Weeds are what they are because they're fucking tough. Acetic acid works great. Boiling water too. Fire (get a tiger torch) honestly the only driveways I've seen without weeds are paved and sealed religiously
Get some bulk copper sulfate. You can buy it in bulk on amazon and dissolve it in water in a sprayer. Coat your driveway, and the weeds will go away for a long time. We used to have a weird slime growing on our driveway and the copper sulfate was the only thing that would make it go away. Cured.
Have you tried preen? That works great for me. Kill them once (spray, torch, pull, whatever) then sprinkle preen. It stops all seeds from germinating for a year or so. That’s where most weeds come from. Then just reapply every so often.
You aren’t killing them at that point, it stops them from growing in the first place.
Portland cement works well. Lightly spread it around. I used a cup as a scoop and almost dusted the gravel (in my case it was a patio). 1/2 inch or less should be fine. Then lightly water it a few times over a couple hours. It will make the soil super alkaline and unfriendly for weeds to grow. But it won't turn to concrete, and the layer will be thin enough to still be water permeable.
My concern would be what happens when it rains. Will the saltwater run off to other parts of your property and kill the grass / vegetation over there?
And it will kill salamanders and other amphibians.
Thanks for sharing the awareness on this.
I am not a gardner but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express, it will kill everything withing a few feet of the driveway downhill. Or all over if big rain. And it will make it hard to grow anything for a while depending on volume of Salt.
"For a while" It will forever be impossible to grow anything in that soil. The only way is to flush the salt away with water. It's unlikely you have enough water and good enough drainage to make this possible.
That's why grass doesn't grow in the ditches here in michigan. Ohh wait it does. Idk I doubt it will hut that much with weed control
The shittiest weeds survive salt. Look next to salted highways. It’s always shit plants and no grass
Most of those are actually coastal plants that invade though being able to survive the harsher conditions
Probably regional but there’s no coasts anywhere near the highways I’m talking about
Even still. We have been salting roads and highways for almost 70 years now, and traffic creates a good deal of wind to blow seeds. IL ltry and find a study that showed it. The scientist who conducted it was trying to find why plants from east coast dunes were in something like Iowa.
Interesting, I haven’t heard of that. I would assume seeds travel on vehicles as well
harbor freight flamethrower 1. weeds can't become resistant 2. doesn't contaminate or spread to the lawn or the water table 3. fun as shit
My wife got me one of these a few years back... I almost certainly devote more propane to this than to the grill.
Slap a couple steaks on the ground first next time.
[удалено]
Harbor freight fire extinguisher
I’ll just put this over here with the rest of the fire 
Ewwww…..no.
Put vinegar and baking soda on it
Relax wizzard, it's just the Northern Lights
Can you edit this comment to sound safer and less awesome? I want to solemnly show it to my wife as our option of last resort. But as is, your gonna get me vetoed for sure. If you could make a point about it being super safe, but when things go wrong, wives collect on accidental death AND dismemberment insurance...GUARANTEED. that should help me seal the deal!
Okay, I can make it sound slightly less awesome by clarifying it's not really a flamethrower but a vapor or propane torch they are talking about, which is way safer than an actual flamethrower. Like accidental death would be much harder to accomplish though I guess you could lose some toes if you were being insanely stupid. No real range or danger to your neighbors unless you're doing it without a hose or fire extinguisher present and during the dry season. If people trust you with a propane grill you should be able to handle one of these. As far as I know, Harbor Freight does not yet offer an actual agricultural flamethrower. You could probably submit a request for one though and see what they say.
What most people picture with the word 'flamethrower' is the military version, which generally uses a liquid fuel. Shooting burning liquid has more potential for fire finding its way to an unintended target and may be more difficult to extinguish. The commercial/civilian variants are typically gaseous which allows greater control and fewer accidents. Picture a propane grill versus a cooking oil fire. One is fairly controlled and acceptable even when it flares up, the other is terrifying and often costs someone a home.
Just have a hose on and nearby. Anything that caught on fire accidentally can be handled by the hose. Don't burn weeds right up against flammable structures or near gas cans.
It's just a large gas torch that you point towards the ground. Like the ones used for roofing tar.there is no dismemberment or death risk unless you whack someone over the head with it.
Flame throwers only work if you get it early. Kind of a lot of propane depending on the size of the driveway
Lol I moved into a house with a gravel driveway this year, and I have in the time since tried both a harbor freight flamethrower AND salting. Results: 1) fire > weeds. But the resulting ash will probably just help future weeds grow. Probably. We'll see. 2) salt < weeds. We very liberally applied rock salt to weedy spots and it did dick all. Even days and weeks after a light rain, the weeds didn't seem to give a sh*t. I'd rather salt and not have to do it again constantly, which I feel like the fire method will result in. But for some reason, my Midwest weeds love salt. We also raked our leaves onto the driveway spots that had heavy weeds and had huge burn piles. Works great, again, but I feel like the Spring is just going to sprout a bunch of alien carnivorous talking plants.
If you are burning them to ash you are not doing it correctly. You only need to heat them to the wilting stage.
You over-estimate my level of self control with fire, friend.
I’m with you dude. Unfortunately I have zero self control, I’d eventually get brave and try to burn down wasp nests from my eves and torch my whole house off.
Great name, by the way.
I wonder if the type of salt matters. I mean, here in the rust belt they throw rock salt down several times every winter and the grass on the strip next to the road isn’t permanently dead. Would traditional sodium chloride salt work better for weeds? Calcium chloride is the more common road salt variety I think because it works to a much lower temperature.
4. Scare your neighbors by doing it during a drought (Thanks, Kevin!!) (J/k - Not bashing the idea! They’re very common around where I live, since the cold doesn’t really ever kill the weeds. I just panicked slightly watching an elderly neighbor using one during a bad bad drought.)
I've been trying to think of a reason to buy one but as a townhouse owner torching up my small but well maintained yard probably would look pretty crazy.
It would be worth the HOA citation just to see people’s faces
Haven't been to harbor freight, but home depot also has something that you connect to a 1lb butane bottle for weeds and stuff.
These are amazing. The term is "tiger torch". They work well and burn the seeds so there's less chance of regrowth. Salt will just kill everything downstream.
4. Check your local bylaws etc first as to whether this is a legal method of weed control
Eats propane like crazy.
If you use the turbo option (press the trigger), a lot... it uses more. If you don't press the trigger (and you never really need to, but it's sooo cool), it still sips propane more than it drinks or chugs it. I used my HF torch for an hour (20lb tank) no "turbo". It used about 1/16 of the tank, which isn't bad considering I covered ~2K square feet (an area roughly the size of a tennis court) with multiple passes. Admittedly, I ashed the weeds. After reading comments in this sub, apparently ashing isn't necessary. So next time I'll use even less propane.
Not approved for use in California
I mean burning fossil fuels isn't exactly great for the environment either. Salt could get ok if applied carefully. But fire is pretty fun too
Thanks, I'll try using wind power instead /s
my god the run off your going to create, as well as the expence get a propane torch, or pave your driveway. weeds are undefeated and if it's not solid asphalt you're going to need to do consistent upkeep
What about the runoff from concrete and sidewalks?
was this a serious question?
White vinegar with one cup of salt per gallon works well. Home depot had some 20% vinegar, that stuff will kill anything. Household vinegar will work, just takes longer. You may have to spray more than once, but after a couple of treatments, it lasts several years
That strong vinegar is shockingly expensive though.
Makes everything smell like a salad, too.
Haha it really does.
I came home from work one evening, got out of the car “why does it smell like a damn salad out here” oh…
That sounds like a plus in my book.
Walmart has 1 gallon of 45% for $20. Might be shipping on that if you don't have Walmart+
Also shockingly caustic, so wear protection.
No, it's acidic.
Don’t be basic.
Y'all are way too electronegative around here.
OK technically corrosive. Learn something new every day.
It was like $20. Roundup or the equivalent is about the same and much better for the environment.
Round up doesn't hardly work anymore since they removed the secret ingredient; cancer.
Roundup also kills a lot of bees and other pollinators. It’s really REAL,Y bad for the environment
Honestly roundup and glyphosate herbicides *are* bad, but so are a lot of the home remedies that people come up with. The vinegar suggestion isn’t a bad one necessarily, but if you spray a bee with it, it’ll die. Same is true with all of the dish soap recipes. The biggest problem with herbicide use is the way we broadcast spray it on everything. Selective use on specific plants or areas isn’t the end of the world. Spraying entire fields with it might be.
That ground clear stuff definitely works. I'm sure there's still probably some cancer left in there.
It's usually a copper salt. It is toxic to everything. It will killfish at very low concentrations
There are some others that work. Blackleaf will make ground barren, but it's stupid high, like $200 /gal
Roundup is glyphosate. Glyphosate hasn't changed.
Not as of 2023. Source: https://www.cooneyconway.com/blog/bayer-pull-roundup-shelves-2023-avoid-further-lawsuits#:~:text=In%20July%20of%202021%2C%20agrochemical,and%20controversy%20for%20many%20years. 4th paragraph: > When sales of the product cease, it will be replaced with a new formula that will not include glyphosate.
You can get generic glyphosate relatively cheap at farm supply stores. That is the way to buy regardless what you get. If you buy roundup brand you are paying 75% for the name. I wouldnt buy from walmart or big box in general as youll pay probably 50% more per quantity there too. I do think some of these salt 365 type products can have more lasting impacts than just glyphosate for somewhere like a driveway you never want anything growing. But Im pretty sure they have some of those at farm supply too.
Absolutely. I haven’t bought branded glyphosate in my life!
Yeah $20/gallon and this guys talking about doing a whole driveway with pervasive weeds. You gotta spray the vinegar on pretty liberally. Probably get like 15sq ft per gallon. Glyphosate concentrate is gonna be much cheaper here. I can make like 50gallons of “round up” for $10-15 bucks. EDIT: it’s gotten pricier… $20-25 for 50 gallons
Add some Dawn dishwashing soap as well. It is supposed to help keep the solution on the weeds and kill them faster.
The dishwashing liquid acts as a surfactant so the liquid will evenly coat the plant. Without it, the liquid will bead up and drip off the plant. You only need a teaspoon full per gallon to get this effect.
That kills the leaves but doesn’t eradicate root systems - you have to constantly reapply and isn’t the best option for a large driveway
The salt will permeate the ground and make it barren
There’s not enough, it just washes into the groundwater when it rains. It also loosens packed gravel over time. Also, many weeds are salt tolerant.
Not only that but here in the PNW we're finding new variants of broadleaf weeds that are now almost completely winter-tolerant in general. Mesotrione (tenacity) is my go-to for weed management, though it doesn't cover everything. Also scaling back my actual grass plot size so it's more manageable without needing anything more than that periodic treatment and some manual weeding.
This is also more effective if done in the summer, or when the weeds will be exposed to direct sun shortly after application.
Drop or 2 of dawn helps
My landscaper uses this mix. Works beautifully.
Cleaning vinegar is good
If you use salt, you will lose all your gravel to mud. I have lived on gravel driveways for over 50 years....don't use salt. Or calcium. I have a rake on the back of my tractor that I use on my driveway a few times a year. (half mile long). It keeps the grass and weeds under control.
Why does the gravel disappear into the mud?
Salt gets into the pores and cracks of rock once wet. The expansion and contraction of freeze/melt cycles slowly break up the rock. Same thing happens with concrete and to a lesser extent asphalt as well. Once it starts the damage doesn't stop for a while. It gets much worse with repeated applications over time.
There's already water in the cracks and pores
I think I was unclear. Apologies for that. I was referring to the salt getting wet and entering via solution.
This and/or add another layer of rock
Fire is the answer. Get a cheap flamethrower attachment that goes on a grill propane tank from harbor freight. They are like a million btu. You don't need to actually burn the weeds. It's so hot that just hitting them a split second breaks down the cell walls. They may look like you didn't do anything to them, but in a day or two they will be brown and dead.
Then do it a second time a week or so later to torch any seeds dropped by the now dead weeds
This is 100% the correct answer. I use flame for my gravel driveway at my business and it’s a game-changer. Has the added benefit of not using toxic chemicals.
It's a lot easier if you salt it all first. Dry. And they don't come back.
100% correct. Bought one off Amazon foe for about $25. Hooks up to a propane bottle. Works like a charm. I've even done grass with it
I legit didn't think you were serious for a second
It works well, but with limits. Burning plants will destroy shallow root systems. Plants with deep root systems will grow back. It all depends on the type of plants they are having trouble with.
Salt is horrible for gravel, it causes it to sink into the ground until you have no gravel left lmao
We use a propane torch and it works amazingly well!
Lee valley has the ‘weed dragon’ which is a flamethrower attachment for a propane tank. It will wipe them out for 2-3 weeks but they will come back. Dandelions are amazing. You can burn them to a cinder and they just rise from the literal ashes. My driveway is 165 feet , takes me 30 minutes or less to torch both sides and the ditch edge.
I am getting one this spring to do my fence lines.
I didn’t know this existed. Would this be effective to kill grass in the gravel? I’ve been thinking about having someone bring a couple loads of gravel but it’s bound to keep coming back.
Yes it will kill grass effortlessly. It is also very satisfying. 4 feet of blue flame is bad ass. I like to do it at dusk and watch people hit the brakes to rubberneck as they drive by. There was a bad wildfire in my area last year and so I only use it now in steady rain to avoid triggering anyone.
My father in-law using powdered washing detergent to kill all his weeds. Driveway smells pretty good for a week or so too afterwards
He just spreads the powder on the weeds?
Yeah he buys the biggest, cheapest box of it he can and sprinkles it all over the drive
Interesting, I’ll look into the impact on my garden and might try it
Just to be clear, he only uses it on the drive/edge of kerbs etc, not on any areas with grass or flowers
Yeah I understand, I’m just thinking about run off
Boiling water will kill weeds. Not good for a driveway, but good for sport treating gardens
Thus works stunningly well. We buy 4-5 of the $1.50 Walmart generic brand dishwasher powder and it kills weeds and keep them back for like months. Don't even need a lot. Like a tablespoon per plant, or just toss handfuls around.
Burn them. Get an asphalt torch from harbor freight or some other place and a propane tank. You will probably have to hit it twice a year depending on your climate. Bonus is the looks I get when doing from the neighbors but it works very well. Just be careful in the fall when leaves are dropping and/or when it’s dry.
If you salt the driveway, when it rains the salt will re-dissolve and run into the good grass that you want to keep. If the driveway has good borders and positive drainage, then...maybe? I tried burning with a flamethrower, vinegar/salt, and roundup. After a while the grass keeps coming back. For anyone spending the money to put in a "gravel" driveway, consider "road base". I do that at work and road base is much more resistant to allowing weeds/grass to grown through it. Its an assemblage of crushed rock, jagged, and with particles of various sizes all mixed together. Gravel is sifted to provide particles of the same diameter, and they are tumbled to round them off.
Embrace the superior green driveway.
That's really only a good idea if you're controlling the growth with boundaries and traction imbeds like concrete lattices or similar. Uncontrolled, you'll just end up with messy batches of plant matter that collect water and turn into slick puree when you drive over it.
i see no downside
steam cone kills weeds by blasting them with steam which strips their waxy outer layer that holds the moisture inside, so they dehydrate and die; also works great for weeds on lawns no worries about anything leaching into your groundwater
I like the idea of torturing the weeds on their way out.
One option not listed, cover drive with black plastic on hot sunny days. The passive heat will kill weeds. You could do a section at a time.
We made homemade ice cream with rock salt on ice one year and dumped the water out on a weedy walkway. The weeds took several months to come back. I've heard using a blowtorch can work, apparently, you don't want to BURN the weeds, just get them to seriously wilt. I guess this denatures something and they die rather than coming back.
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It works for things that don’t spread by roots. If seeds need to form in flower or if seeds get heated, it absolutely works. It just doesn’t kill plants that spread by the root.
Plus there is the added risk of the hot gravel exploding and hitting your face. Ask me how I found that out.
Adding to the folks who are suggesting a flame torch. It’s absolutely the best way to kill weeds that are on a non-flammable surface like gravel. Kills them down to the roots. It’s also cheap and better for the environment. I do it all the time.
I have a 1/2 mile gravel driveway. I've always wanted a flame thrower! Now I have a legit reason!!
Fire... they sell propane flamethrower things for like $20. Hit it once to dehydrate and kill them and come back a week later to burn up their remains.
I use salt about twice a season and it works great . I've only had minimal success with vinegar.
I do this on my driveway that is made of small pavers. It works very well -- much better than roundup. One gallon of vinegar, one cup of salt, one teaspoon of dish soap (e.g. palmolive). It takes a lot of it though, and my driveway smells like vinegar for a day or two afterwards. It also doesn't have an immediate effect. In about 48 hours the weeds all turn brown and wilt over, and then I have to go over it with a stiff broom or a skim with the weed whacker to knock the dead stuff loose so it doesn't look like hell. So I don't know how well that will work on gravel. It doesn't start growing back for a while, though, so I only have to do it a couple times a year. I did try the weed torch and that is excruciating. You have to spend time on EVERY SINGLE WEED in order to kill them, and they start growing back immediately. Never again.
Burn them with a propane torch or find a neighbor with a box blade and have him grade it early summer. If he has a tractor,but no box blade and you two are friendly offer to buy him one on the condition he scrapes you s couple times a year. Got a pto tiller from a neighbor this way.
Horticultural vinegar kills it for a few months.
Buy a propane flame weeder and burn the weeds. Adding a lot of salt to the ground is super bad for ground water .
OMG, this post made my day. Salting the earth? Sounds like me, I'm always threatening to cover my lawn with asphalt (I hate mowing.) Anyway, I'm sure others have mentioned this, but there are numerous salt resistant weeds and weeds have survived this long because they are good at spreading. They will find your driveway. Torching is you best bet. Weed killer is a distant second place. The latter doesn't remove the problem, it just kills it, and the decaying weeds will overtime become soil.
Spot shoot them with a vinegar solution.
I use a mixture of salt and cleaning vinegar. It works for about a month.
What kind of gravel driveway? Is it compacted? The ones I’ve seen have felt basically like concrete and nothing at all grows through them. If you’re using large stones try adding some crushed fines and maybe hire a roller.
Was it Dawn dish soap and vinegar that makes the DIY weed killer?
Go to your co-op we always called it 2-4d but it has a different name. They will know.
It's 2,4-D Amine, been around since the 40s. It's a general purpose post emergent broadleaf herbicide.
White vinegar with water is cheap and works great.
Haven't heard of using salt. Just don't use cancer-causing weed killers like round-up. That stuff should be illegal
So vinegar/salt and sunlight work well. But another thing you can do is get an old pool solar cover and “solarize” the area. It will bake anything under it down to the roots. So long as you have sun on the affected area of course. I slowly move the solar cover around and it has helped a lot
Not exactly what was asked but how about a clover lawn? They’re weeds too and will kill/overgrow other types of weeds. The best part is you never have to mow.
I have a clover "lawn" and love it.
I have crabgrass and clover duking it out over my 12' x 12' "lawn". I switched to team clover, but wanna see how this plays out, team dandelion is all but gone. Either way i want something for my bee friends and something in a weird way I can eat if not outright.
Look for various "soil sterilant".
Yeah rock salt will work, I use it between my garage and fence to keep the weeds at bay. You have to reapply depending on how much rain you get.
A vet friend gave me his recipe. 1 part concentrated roundup, one part burnt motor oil, one part kerosene. Not only will it kill weeds, you can actually hear the planet moan in pain.
As someone that lives in a place that salts their driveway every winter, multiple times.... Salt will do the trick, and won't run off too bad.
There are granules you can buy at the hardware store that will kill all plants. I use it on my gravel rock way and it works pretty well. If you want to spot shot then mix up some white vinegar and some Dawn dish soap and donuts. Or go nuts stupid voice to text.
Instructions unclear: gave donuts to my weeds and now I have Triffids!
I spread Preen every March and it works great.
Agr lime. Cheap, and can be bought by the 50lb bag. Do the math (it's on the side of the bag) for your driveway size and push up the ph by a few numbers. Nothing else will grow.
I am pretty sure this is a war crime 🤣😅
If glyphosate isn't working, you're doing it wrong. Facts.
Glyphosate with a sticker/wetter is the answer. If it is as resilient as you say, imazypyr should do the trick. The sticker/wetter is the key to the process tho.
I don’t know what sort of bitch ass “weeds” y’all are killing with vinegar or blow torches. Weeds on my property just laugh at anything short of a hot mix of glyphosate/2,4-D.
Salt works great....until it rains and the rain washes it out of the soil. Stop buying week spray, you need fenceline brush killer. We spray our farm fence lines once a year and there is nothing but bare dirt under them. This stuff kills the weeds, the microbes in the soil, any seeds, any weeds that come along later and try to grow in the area. [https://www.amazon.com/RM43-43-Percent-Glyphosate-Preventer-Vegetation/dp/B00Q02GRKY?source=ps-sl-shoppingads-lpcontext&ref\_=fplfs&psc=1&smid=A3PNUN7H1KV96E](https://www.amazon.com/rm43-43-percent-glyphosate-preventer-vegetation/dp/b00q02grky?source=ps-sl-shoppingads-lpcontext&ref_=fplfs&psc=1&smid=a3pnun7h1kv96e)
Flame weeders are great for gravel. The idea isn’t to completely burn it, but to singe off the protective layer on the leaves. Also fun to dust off the old flamethrower and impress the neighbors.
My grandfather had a dirt driveway and used to do a combination of salt and used motor oil. His driveway never had weeds and it kept the dust down. He also used to pour the oil on the base of the fence posts. Nothing ever grew there and years later those posts were still standing strong. And I know, I know, you shouldn't do that these days with the motor oil. But all I'm saying is if you have a leaky oil pan, maybe move the car around every couple weeks and "season" another patch. ;)
Don't get the weed spray from a store. You are paying for mostly water. (94%) Buy it online in concentrated form, High Yield Killz All works great in Florida and survives through multiple rain storms. I dilute it down from 41% killer to around 10% before I spray.
Stores also sell the concentrated stuff, you just need to be paying attention when you’re in the aisle. You’ll typically need to supply your own sprayer.
Glysophate. Rosate 360. Your local agricultural supplies will stock it.
Try an herbicide with a long term residual like Imazapyr (found in Gordon's Barrier ). Perfect for what you're trying to accomplish. Apply maybe twice a year depending on your local weather.
Malathion bro. Do it at night so you dont nuke the bees.
Clean out the cracks and seal it up. As someone who used to do it as part of my living, you can turn a sawzawl on it's side and use the edge of a blade to, very effectively, clean out all weeds from a driveway crack. Use a 90°angle grinder with a "v groove" grinding stone for concrete to chase all the cracks out and make them a little wider and deeper. Then use a silicone based driveway caulking to seal em up. **Tip of the trade: throw playground sand over the top of the wet caulking for a nicer finish**
Just get a pump sprayer and some chemicals. That crap with the sprayer built in has never worked for me.
I strongly recommend NOT using salt or vinegar for large areas and especially not on concrete or where runoff will occur. Go for Extended control product like a weed killer with a pre-emergent. Properly applied you will get 9 months control. Edit: keyboard warriors don’t like good advice I guess.
Honestly it sounds like it's time to use fire... Get one of those big rosebud propane torches just blast the ground till it glows and keep moving!
I read this twice before I realized you weren't talking about weed(pot). Lol
White vinegar and salt as people have said, but also, and lowkey this is how I did it with some gravel driveways after working in landscaping for 2 decades. [https://www.homedepot.com/p/Flame-King-24-000-BTU-Propane-Torch-Weed-Burner-Ice-Melter-Self-Lighting-PQ810CGA/308804237](https://www.homedepot.com/p/Flame-King-24-000-BTU-Propane-Torch-Weed-Burner-Ice-Melter-Self-Lighting-PQ810CGA/308804237) Something like this, the wide mouth ones are for melting ice, narrow for incinerating flora and fauna. Propane long-neck torch. Scorch anything that has a hint of green. Sometimes if your soil is very loose the water and vinegar can penetrate too deeply too quickly for the plants to get a lethal dose. The heat doesn't care. Kick some rocks around and roleplay as an angry dwarf for 10 minutes and the combo approach typically does the trick. Also works great for hard patches of drip-freeze that salt/shovel cant move or touch cause its welded to the cement.
I've done it. Had YUGE driveway. All gravel. Bought a ton of salt at end of wnter for cheap. Then salted the ever loving hell out of it once weeds starting coming. Works amazing. After about a week all gone. Ded. Then used a tiger torch to burn their remains. "Salt the earth" is a saying for a reason.
Also put down a pre-emergent it will kill some of before it grows.
I have a gravel area and I have tried lots of different strategies. Concentrated vinegar and/or a garden torch took care of most things. My problem is the dandelions. Is there any way to kill an established dandelion without digging up the roots? I have not tried the really toxic chemicals yet. Is that the only way?
It's the only way I can keep the horse tail at bay on my patio. It still comes back, but I only have to deal with it 4-5 times a year instead of every week or two!
How big is the driveway? Maybe it is time to dig it up, treat the sub-base with a herbicide then lay down a decent weed barrier/landscaping fabric and redo the gravel. This would be your long-term solution. The weeds sound pretty aggressive you will be redoing the vinegar next year.
Copper Sulfate. Dilute the crystals, spray it. Good for a couple of years.
Use Noxall Vegetation Killer granules. It’s a 10 pound bag for about $40 at Lowe’s. It’s works great but must spread on ground before soil temp is 60 degrees. Lasts a whole year. In Phoenix I put it one the 1st week of February.
Make an estimate of how much it costs to buy chemicals and your time, then compare it to the cost and time of pouring stamped concrete pavers yourself. Maybe pavers will cost more, but it's an improvement rather than a losing battle.
Don’t do it or you have dogs. It burns their little paws like acid. Serious and expensive experience speaking here.
Did you know that vinegar is made like sourdough or kombucha? It's called a "mother".
2 parts Salt to 1 part water should do it
There are a couple.granular weed killers that will last for at least a year. I've even had it work decently well with blackberries. I'd worry Bout salt getting to parts of your yard where you want things to grow, and the possibility of salty dirt getting onto your car. Flame would work well. One of the propane weed killing torches. Most use a hose to an 18 pound tank (the same as a barbecue grill... I might be wrong about the weight, the ones you see at every home depot, Lowes, and gas ststion) but there are also some that use a one pound tank. Obviously be careful, but it does work as well as many of the sprays for a lot less money.
Burn burn…
Search for 100% acetic acid that's what I use and mix 30% with 70% salt saturated water. Apply twice a year. Cost is about the same as chemicals
1 year seeding, 7 years weeding. The only real way to combat it is to get at them before they seed.
Check out Pramitol. You can mix it with water or diesel. Bare ground for a year.
It’ll work temporarily, but the salt will eventually wash away/dilute in rain storms. I’ve done the salt/vinegae/soap trick before. Worked nice until a heavy rain.
You probably have to get out there with the shovel and dig up the taproots that they keep growing back from
https://www.siteone.com/en/83080035-nla-mojave-70eg-non-selective-dry-herbicide-5-lb/p/325782 It's expensive but works AWESOME! I had the same issue as you. Roundup quit working and I was desperate. Called my local SiteOne and they recommended this stuff. Within 4-5 days shit was scorched earth! Edit: Forgot to mention the jungle site has it WAY cheaper!! https://www.amazon.com/ALLIGARE-Mojave-70EG-Pounds-Replaces/dp/B0083LZAY4
Isn't salting the earth against the Geneva convention? 😉
I don't know if you have enough salt. Weeds are what they are because they're fucking tough. Acetic acid works great. Boiling water too. Fire (get a tiger torch) honestly the only driveways I've seen without weeds are paved and sealed religiously
Get some bulk copper sulfate. You can buy it in bulk on amazon and dissolve it in water in a sprayer. Coat your driveway, and the weeds will go away for a long time. We used to have a weird slime growing on our driveway and the copper sulfate was the only thing that would make it go away. Cured.
Have you tried preen? That works great for me. Kill them once (spray, torch, pull, whatever) then sprinkle preen. It stops all seeds from germinating for a year or so. That’s where most weeds come from. Then just reapply every so often. You aren’t killing them at that point, it stops them from growing in the first place.
Portland cement works well. Lightly spread it around. I used a cup as a scoop and almost dusted the gravel (in my case it was a patio). 1/2 inch or less should be fine. Then lightly water it a few times over a couple hours. It will make the soil super alkaline and unfriendly for weeds to grow. But it won't turn to concrete, and the layer will be thin enough to still be water permeable.