Kill IT!! Deader n' Dead!

[Motorboatin]

Last year I was looking for an alternative to Roundup and found this. It works

You can buy it by the gallon or all the way up to 275 gallon totes

2% Omri Listed Horticulture Vinegar Weed Killer

 

[MossRoad]

...I want the dirt essentially sterile so that NOTHING grows. ....

That's never gonna happen. You can put seeds on sterile sand and if there's just the slightest bit of water and the temperature is correct, they'll sprout and send out roots. They'll live off of their own stored reserves for several weeks until they find a source of water. If they don't they die. If they do, they keep growing. Since most water isn't sterile, they'll suck out any nutrients in that water and keep sending roots out and down.

Products like Preen work not by preventing seeds from sprouting, but by preventing them from forming good roots. Preen is activated by water. It works, but it has to be reapplied depending on how much water the area gets and washes it away. How Preen Prevents Weeds
• Preen

So, you have to kill all existing weeds AND prevent any seeds from sprouting. Anything with root runners will infiltrate the area and work their way in from the edges. That can't be prevented.

You can put down a base, and then put in pavers tightly and that will usually deter weed seeds from finding a foothold, and makes it easier to spot-spray any that do eventually sprout up in the cracks. But nothing is permanent and everything requires preventative maintenance.

Instead of pavers, you could do stamped concrete. That's a solid surface with no path down to water. It looks like pavers, but no paths down to ground water for weeds to take hold. Then you can just power wash it once a year to remove any dirt that might accumulate in the dips.

 

[dusty3030]

Helps to positively identify what you are trying to kill too. Glyphosate (aka RoundUp) is usually a major component of a broad based ground clear type product. Imazapyr (aka Arsenal) is usually the other major component.
Problem is there a a lot of weeds and grasses that are hard to kill with glyphosate. Some have become so resistant to it there is no effect on them. The imazapyr is most effective on the woody / brushy type plants and you need to be careful using it around desirable trees or bushes because it does jump from root system to roots system and it will damage or kill the desirable plant even if you don't spray it directly on.

Some common things not usually effectively controlled by a glyphosate based cocktail would be bermuda grass, yellow nutsedge, poison oak, various pigweeds, and several others. They will need a specific chemical targeted to them in order to get good results.

Hope this helps.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Or you could just move to the moon.

 

[BrokenTrack]

I agree with Moss Road: what you want will never happen.

Mother Nature does not like to be barefoot.

 

[spitter]

Polymetric sand stops weeds from growing through pavers . And I stoped using mulch and put stone where I had mulch . Around house , trees, and other landscape features. About 300 tons of it:confused2:

 

[Diggin It]

I've heard of using vinegar before but haven't seen a product sort of made for it like the above. The vegetable oil idea is interesting, but I see side effects. At least it wouldn't contaminate like motor or hydro oil. I'll have to check on 'Polymetric sand'.

This is all related to my other thread about a shed roof/overhang and trying to get water away from the house. In the sketch below, the house is on the left, breezeway between house and garage on top, and garage on the right set at an angle to the house. The grey square is an old concrete cistern. Ground is nearly flat/level around and behind that, which leads to rainwater collecting in the blue oval area. Once I get the shed roof built, no more rain will fall on that area and the plan is to grade the 'courtyard' off towards the green line to keep rain that falls on the remaining uncovered area to drain away.

The cistern leaks a bit and at least some rainwater collects inside it, even though it's covered. That should stop once I get the water/drainage resolved. Then I can uncover it and set a grate over it for safety that will let it air out and dry. There's probably a couple of feet of water in it that will have to be pumped out. Until that happens, I'll have to watch for algae and mildew growth under the new shed roof.

Once all that is done, and the area can dry out, I can set pavers as I have funds available. But in the mean time, I don't want any plant growth anywhere in that area that can draw and emit moisture. Lack of Sun will help, but there will be enough from the open side to allow some. The end goal for the area under the new roof is to be as dry and barren as possible, desertified, moonscaped. Dry enough for the ground surface to crack and become dusty.

This all goes back to the Termite issue. I've got to get any and all water away from the house and this is a problem area that stays wet. It's been too wet to even treat with the pesticides mentioned. They would just get diluted and become useless.






.

 

[BrokenTrack]

I do feel your pain...

Years ago I used to get all hot and heavy into yard work and in the Spring of the year have my home really looking good, then by July it was a tangled mess of weeds. After a few years of that, I got really tired of spending lots of time and money on yard work.

Then I got another bulldozer...oh yeah, that messed up ye ole lawn for sure.

It is to the point now where I hate mowing my lawn even. It is like being in a Nascar race, put the lawnmower on rabbit, and go fast, and go left in endless circles...oh what fun:thumbdown:, like I do not have better things to do with my time. Not that our houses are messes, and they look nice enough, but it is the bare minimum for landscaping.

 

[lman]

Move into town.

 

[Hay Dude]

Be VERY careful with hydrogen peroxide. In concentrated( commercial ) form is an almost explosive oxidizer. I have used the commercial product - experiment to rejuvenate an old seepage pit. It went ballistic. Created a volcanic eruption of sludge and old sewage.

Spectacular to view - very dangerous to be around.

Can you give me a call next time you do that? Id like to grab a poncho and a pair of goggles so I can stand back and watch :laughing: