Weed Killer

[whitbey]

I have not had any luck with weed killers. Round up is the one I have used the most. Soak a weed. Get a color change is a few days. A week later it seems like i fertilized it. Poured an old bottle of concentrate on a patch along a cement slab and it killed it. Even turned black. A month later more weeds in the same place.

We have mulch paths in the back yard with a barrier under the mulch. These weeds are growing in the mulch.

I need the piercing piccolo player that rides a broom of week killers. Anyone know this stuff?

[CharlieB]

Coupla things.......
Roundup has a shelf life. Needs to be fresh.
Tractor Supply has a more concentrated version than the stuff from the big box stores.
I gave up on weed barrier fabric and mulch for paths.
Weeds thrived in the mulch, and some even penetrated the fabric from below.
Reworked my paths with crushed stone over black plastic sheeting.
Now I have more time to play my trombone.

[ExZacLee]

I use boiling water or vinegar applied directly to the offending plant. These are non selective methods, so don't apply to grass. I don't let round up or anything like it get near my lawn if I can help it - I also have a garden for food and herbs and I'd rather not be eating that stuff. EPA claims it is safe, I'm not convinced.

[SwissTbone]

Boiling water is very efficient. But you still have to apply it regularly.

[Schlitz]

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[Doug Elliott]

I have a fair amount of experience with weed killers, but I don't like the whole idea of Roundup. A lot depends on exactly what weeds you're trying to kill.

There are only two that I use, both Ortho products but Bayer and others probably sell similar.
Weed-B-Gone (2,4-D) is good for broadleaf weeds like dandelions, but doesn't hurt grass. But it will harm other plants, especially some hydrangeas.
Poison Ivy Killer (Triclopyr) is good for woody plants and also Bermuda Grass which is what I use it for, and it also doesn't hurt grass.
A combination of both is particularly effective on plants that are really hard to kill. I normally use them separately.

There are some secrets though, that nobody tells you...
Always apply early in the day, before noon, on a sunny day when it didn't rain the day before and the day after. It has MUCH less effect if you don't follow that rule.
Don't expect one or two applications to finish the job. I usually do three or more, a week apart. I also closely spray only the weeds I actually see, I never do a general coverage type of spray.
In cooler weather you need to use more than the recommended concentration. Mix your own - the premixed stuff is completely ineffective in my experience.

With the Poison Ivy Killer It helps a lot to add Methylated Seed Oil 1/4 cup per gallon (which is very hard to find, only a few specialty lawn chemical places carry it). It dissolves the plant's waxy protective coating and makes the weed killer much more effective. This combination will kill Bermuda grass in the lawn with repeated use - but I vary the concentration depending on the temperature. Up to 3x the recommended amount in cooler weather when it's first growing in May and June. That's the only thing I've found to work - Bermuda grass is very hard to kill, with its long underground roots that can grow 3-4 feet before sending up another shoot.

[PhilE]

Further to Doug's post above - weed killers such as Roundup, 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T are translocated ie they are absorbed by the plant and act on the plant systemically from the roots up. They are most effective when the plant is growing rapidly. Hence the need to increase concentration in cooler weather.

Weed killers that are not translocated kill on contact only. Boiling water is a good example. Gramoxone is a chemical contact weed killer.

Roundup has been the subject a some major litigation in the US recently and has been declared a carcinogen in California.

Here in Australia, Roundup Ready GM crops have been given approval and are becoming more widely used. This has caused significant division amongst growers who fear they may lose their Non GM status if their crops are accidentally contaminated by a neighbour's GM crop. Non GM grain crops sell for a higher price on global markets.

Back to the topic.

[Doubler]

Roundup is nasty stuff for all living things, and it spreads. In my experience, a weeder tool is the effective way to get rid of weeds, albeit one by one. My next door neighbor will attest to this; we've tried the chemical means, and they just aren't satisfactory. It's a lot of work at first, but if you stay on top of things, new weeds become few and far between. This is the only permanent way I have found to get rid of poison ivy. A long sleeved shirt and nitrile gloves are mandatory, and if you have allergies, a mask is recommended. Take the gloves off after you put the shirt in a heavy duty laundry cycle.

Or... get a goat; it comes with an automatic fertilizer.

[DougHulme]

Gramoxone was the best I ever used but its banned in the UK now and they tell me Round Up now has a new recipe to make it possible to keep selling it. I always put a drop or two of washing up liquid in my mixes it probably has a similar effect as Doug outlined earlier with his Methylated Seed Oil (which I have never heard of over here in the UK so dont really know). Certainly improves the effectiveness anyway.

I'm not recommending this and I havent tried it and I suppose there are a bunch of ecological reasons not to but... I happened on an old boy who looks after a country church cemetary and he was busy spraying 'weed killer' on the paths... it was red diesel!!! He claimed it was very effective. I was just visiting, not my community but just saying - he said it was very effective!

Doug

[JohnL]

Poured an old bottle of concentrate on a patch along a cement slab and it killed it. Even turned black. A month later more weeds in the same place.

Roundup just kills the weed that's there, it doesn't do anything to prevent new weeds from sprouting in the same place. For that, you need a soil sterilizer, which is pretty wicked stuff. It essentially poisons the soil so nothing can grow in it until it breaks down and/or washes away.

My mother-in-law swears by vinegar. Schlitz's brew of vinegar, road salt, and Dawn sounds like it should work quite well.

[JLivi]

Does anyone have any ideas on how to kill a “Forrest” of weeds? We’ve gotten a ton of rain the last 6 weeks (something like rain 36/42 days) and there are some weeds that look like bushes and others that are 3-4’ tall

Any tools that will help or products ideas would be greatly appreciated. I was thinking of trying to make a ton of natural weed killer (vinegar, Dawn, etc) and spraying the whole area multiple times.

Please help!

[BGuttman]

When it's like that you probably need to rent a brush cutter. It's like an oversize string trimmer with a fiercer blade. I have one with a 4 bladed steel thing referred to as a "grass cutter", but there's even a blade that looks like a chain saw chain. Most of the real heavy duty ones are gasoline powered.

[Kingfan]

I try and avoid chemicals on my lawn at all costs. We use corn gluten, a non-hazardous byproduct of corn processing, as a pre-emergent weed control and fertilizer. Our local mulch/stone/lawn care supply store carries it in 50 lb bags. Won't do a thing to existing weeds but stops dandelions and other annuals from sprouting. My neighbor uses a lawn service applying who-knows-what chemical and he has as many dandelions as we do.

[ArbanRubank]

OR we could all have a paradigm shift and re-think that "weeds" are okay, as long as they aren't the extremely invasive kind - like Canada Thistle or some type of weed tree - which can both be dealt with surgically. I've intentionally sown clover into a part of my lawn. What's wrong with clover? Bees love it. All the lawns had clover in them when I was a child. We got stung once and then we learned.

[DougHulme]

Yes Tim... good point. My wife had me put some daiseys in too, the really short stubby ones that dont get completely cut when you mow the lawn. -fought for years to keep them (and clover) off the lawn but now I actually think its cool and of course we do have 8 bee hives in the garden and surrounds!

[JLivi]

When it's like that you probably need to rent a brush cutter. It's like an oversize string trimmer with a fiercer blade.

I realized that I had this type of attachment for my Ryobi weed wacker. I was out in the yard for just under 10 minutes and was able to at least tame the forrest. Thanks for the insight. Once I clean it all all, then I'll have to figure out a natural weed killer solution to kill the roots.

[Kingfan]

OR we could all have a paradigm shift and re-think that "weeds" are okay, as long as they aren't the extremely invasive kind - like Canada Thistle or some type of weed tree - which can both be dealt with surgically. I've intentionally sown clover into a part of my lawn. What's wrong with clover? Bees love it. All the lawns had clover in them when I was a child. We got stung once and then we learned.

Agreed. A "monoculture", all one type of grass like a golf course, is unhealthy for the environment on many levels. I live where deer abound, but instead of spraying repellant in the open front yard we chose plants they don't eat. In our back garden inside the fence we go for butterfly weed, milk thistle, lamb's ears, others that bees and butterflies love. The birds go crazy over our serviceberries.

[Doubler]

OR we could all have a paradigm shift and re-think that "weeds" are okay, as long as they aren't the extremely invasive kind - like Canada Thistle or some type of weed tree - which can both be dealt with surgically. I've intentionally sown clover into a part of my lawn. What's wrong with clover? Bees love it. All the lawns had clover in them when I was a child. We got stung once and then we learned.

My yard is mostly grass, and the rest is an assortment of other species (weeds, if you will). It's all green, it's enough to hold the soil together reasonably well, and I mow it regularly. There are more important things for me to do with my time than fighting weeds. Plus I'm lazy when it comes to yard work.

[timothy42b]

Agreed. A "monoculture", all one type of grass like a golf course, is unhealthy for the environment on many levels. I live where deer abound, but instead of spraying repellant in the open front yard we chose plants they don't eat. In our back garden inside the fence we go for butterfly weed, milk thistle, lamb's ears, others that bees and butterflies love. The birds go crazy over our serviceberries.

At the risk of veering off topic late on a Friday afternoon, animal species with no biodiversity are also bad for the long term environment.

Unfortunately I was careless enough to comment on this on social media and would be "unfriended" by a large assortment of poodle lovers, but they're staying to abuse me.

My dog is a rescue from the pound, but she's also a mixed breed who gets regular vet checkups and shots but at age 10 has never needed treatment. Poodles and pretty much all other purebreds in the US are at least half siblings if not more closely related. Most poodles derive from the same 5 founding animals, the famous or infamous Wycliffe bottleneck. Not trying to pick on poodles or any other breed - just that the assumption that quality comes with a pure pedigree is mistaken. You can imagine the rage I provoked.

[BGuttman]

I can imagine the rage. We have been "pound adopters" through 11 dogs, although two were purebred greyhounds (retired from racing). None of our "mutts" have been a problem and all were truly affectionate and loyal. But one of the greyhounds had lousy teeth -- they don't feed them good food at the track.

Meanwhile, I have found that something called Jewel Weed likes my yard. In the fall, the weeds disappear -- probably eaten by deer. Good on them.

I also try to cultivate one or two milkweed plants to support the butterflies.