Installing bluestone gravel driveway and i dont want weeds. What should i use?

[spooldup]

Hey guys i am planning on installing a bluestone gravel driveway. I dont want weeds or would like to keep them at a minimum. The driveway is 15ft wide by 150ft long. I was thinking i could roll out some type of rotproof plastic or a tarp and then cover it with 4-5 inches of bluestone? I cannot find a underlayment product that i am asking for. All the tarps i found are rotproof but thats above grade. Any help is appreciated. Thanks guys.:thumbsup:

 

[Redneck in training]

google geofabric or geotextile

 

[JD4320]

You will want a water permeable fabric - Home Depot sells some but last time I checked it was only in 3' x 300' rolls. I usually get mine (12' x 300') at a foundation (concrete) contractors supply. It is pricey but works very well.

 

[forgeblast]

you will also want a back pack sprayer, because no matter what something will want to grow, they you can just round up it. I find when i cut the grass if i keep the grass from discharging onto the driveway i dont have to spray as much.

 

[RickB]

you will also want a back pack sprayer, because no matter what something will want to grow, they you can just round up it. I find when i cut the grass if i keep the grass from discharging onto the driveway i dont have to spray as much.

#1 best answer.

 

[LBrown59]

you will also want a back pack sprayer, because no matter what something will want to grow, they you can just round up it. I find when i cut the grass if i keep the grass from discharging onto the driveway i dont have to spray as much.

Weeds and grass will grow up in gravel drives.
What happens is dirt and or mud gets tracked onto the drive from vehicle wheels etc.
Also dust gets blown on the drive .The dust dirt and mud fills in the spaces between the stone creating a surface or field rich enough to grow grass and weeds.
Permeable fabric geofabric or geotextile will not prevent this.

 

[radioman]

sorry - i am with the other guys with this one. using weed proof fabric under drives is only for a float on soft ground basically. you will always get weeds growing ontop of the permable surfaces. If you really don't want to spray weeds, you will have to maintain the driveway somehow like using a boxblade to resurface the top layer.

 

[Redneck in training]

Weeds and grass will grow up in gravel drives.
What happens is dirt and or mud gets tracked onto the drive from vehicle wheels etc.
Also dust gets blown on the drive .The dust dirt and mud fills in the spaces between the stone creating a surface or field rich enough to grow grass and weeds.
Permeable fabric geofabric or geotextile will not prevent this.

The geofabric will prevent mud permeating up and slow down the process of fertile soil collecting in the rock. But you are right sooner or later the weeds and grass start growing there.
You can do the opposite. Cultivate the grass on the driveway preventing weeds growing there. Very popular in Europe. They sell concrete tiles of various sizes that look like a grid with holes about 5X5" separated by about 2" wide "bars". The holes are filled with topsoil. The concrete provides stability while the grass makes that look like lawn.

 

[Wildbill34]

I used the fabric under river stone around the house and fenceline. I am out there spraying the weeds annually. However, I only spray it once a year. I use Karmex and Oust mixture. Actually prevents the weeds from growing in the first place. I can tell you undisturbed areas will not grow. However, the disturbed areas would have a potential to grow. But then again with the tires rolling over those areas, it probably wouldn't grow anyways.

I call it the one and your done. Make sure you don't spray it where you want something to grow.

 

[Tim D]

It would make a difference as to the part of the world that you live in. The reason I say this is, I live in NE Missouri where we have freeze and thaw cycles that can wreak havoc on gravel roads and driveways. If you live in these conditions, you can almost bet that the tracks you run in all the time will compact down and the center will rise exposing your fabric. The only time I have seen this fabric used was on a new driveway leading to a cell phone tower. The fabric was layed and then about 6 to 8 inches of rock was spread on top. After 2 winters you could see the fabric in the center of tracks. This driveway gets very little traffic. If it is ever graded, there is going to be a bunch of fabric wadded up everywhere. On my personal driveway, to keep weeds in check, I use a chemical that is no longer produced called STEEL mixed with generic glyphosate. The generic gets any top growth and the STEEL has residual for grass and broadleafs that holds weeds down throughout the summer. Run off into the yard has no effect on yard grass. Hope this helps in your decision making.

 

[roadhawk]

We finally gave up and said "why?". Normal driving keeps most of the grass/weeds at rock height, and the lawn mower on the edges keeps the rest looking good. A side benefit is that the roots/grass keep everything anchored in better, so even the big fat brown UPS truck isn't messing things up when he goes up the hill now.

 

[BTDT2]

Forget the geofabric and enjoy the free soil binder.

Life's too short to worry about weeds in your driveway

 

[Redneck in training]

The geofabric will prevent mud permeating up and slow down the process of fertile soil collecting in the rock. But you are right sooner or later the weeds and grass start growing there.
You can do the opposite. Cultivate the grass on the driveway preventing weeds growing there. Very popular in Europe. They sell concrete tiles of various sizes that look like a grid with holes about 5X5" separated by about 2" wide "bars". The holes are filled with topsoil. The concrete provides stability while the grass makes that look like lawn.

Permeable and Porous Concrete Pavers - The Concrete Network

 

[mustangsallysdad]

Hey guys i am planning on installing a bluestone gravel driveway. I dont want weeds or would like to keep them at a minimum. The driveway is 15ft wide by 150ft long. I was thinking i could roll out some type of rotproof plastic or a tarp and then cover it with 4-5 inches of bluestone? I cannot find a underlayment product that i am asking for. All the tarps i found are rotproof but thats above grade. Any help is appreciated. Thanks guys.:thumbsup:

Have it "chip sealed" or "surface treatment" in some parts of the country...I'm on my sixth year after having mine done (12' x 1,400') and have yet to have any weeds...the contractor applied an herbicide prior to first coat.

 

[Jeff244]

I'm not exactly sure what the bluestone is that you are using. What I am familiar with is small size (3/8"-1/2") stone chips. If that is what you are planning on using, I think you will have problems with it moving all over the place. There is no "fines" in it to bond the stone together like crushed limestone, so it will move. Like mustangsallysdad said, you should have it "chip sealed" or "tar and chips" is what I always called it.


Jeff

 

[spruce Deere]

Hey guys i am planning on installing a bluestone gravel driveway. I dont want weeds or would like to keep them at a minimum. The driveway is 15ft wide by 150ft long. I was thinking i could roll out some type of rotproof plastic or a tarp and then cover it with 4-5 inches of bluestone? I cannot find a underlayment product that i am asking for. All the tarps i found are rotproof but thats above grade. Any help is appreciated. Thanks guys.:thumbsup:

Lay geofabric down first, it will not so much keep the weeds down but keep the rock up... Get your rock all spread nice and smooth and then spray or have it sprayed by someone with a pre-emergent herbicide like valpar, simazine, oust over the rock. Once a year application in later spring should keep it green free. Mabe mix in a little round-up or stinger to smoke off what ever is alive will help too.

 

[ampa]

Cement is the expensive way to go,but also....not done correctly is a bummer,weeds find their way through,I have an older friend that done his own driveway using a small cement mixer,still in good shape after 30 years, took him a long time,but saved the $$,just my 2 cents,.......Ampa