Will anything stop weeds growing through block paving?

A.Penny.Saved

southcoastrgi wrote: »

salt..........

clicky

This does work but I prefer soaking the ground with a very strong salt solution rather than spraying. It can last many months until the salt washes out of the soil. Do it once a year and forget it, suits me fine.

Another option is borax. I have only had a brief rushed trial of this so far using a watering can with sprinkler attachment. It did kill a bit off but so far I cannot say 100% successful or that I would recommend it. It might work better using a spray, otherwise the soil needs saturating as it does with salt.

Borax is meant to be effective with mould & fungi.

27col

In my experience the weeds in my block paving are not growing up from below, but are growing in the soil/sand that accumulates in the joints. These weeds are for the most part wind blown.
Oh, I see that wallbash has already said the same thing.

wallbash

Problem with anything , in time the active ingredient will be washed away and dirt and dust and sand will enable grass to grow

If the driveway is not fitted right then there's no real way of stopping weeds.

even in the best laid driveway, sand is still used .....so no stopping the weeds.
its just a constant battle ...... get use to it

shegar

Ive got block paving I jet wash the whole of the front drive, let it dry then spray glyphosate weed killer , I do that twice a year and dont get any weeds through ..... Spray bottle cost £3.50 out of QD stores.....Job done..

Charlton_King

The day that you have no weed growth is the day that you can declare the whole of nature dead.

Personally, I hate this frothing pursuit of manicured looks for gardens and suchlike. Chill out. The odd weed here and there won't kill you.

JohnB47

shegar wrote: »

Ive got block paving I jet wash the whole of the front drive, let it dry then spray glyphosate weed killer , I do that twice a year and dont get any weeds through ..... Spray bottle cost £3.50 out of QD stores.....Job done..

My understanding is that glyphosate works by being absorbed through the leaves of plants and becomes neutral/uneffective on contact with soil. If you've blasted them out of existance, the glyphosate will be wasted, cos it won't have any leaves to work on. But perhaps you mean to weed kill those plants that remain after blasting?

I've recently jet washed my block paved drive. It removed most of the fine sand between the blocks and most of the grass/weeds. But I see now that some of the grass is growing back. So I'm wondering about what to do after jet washing for a longish term solution.

teddysmum

I didn't take much notice at the time, but the man who did our drive recommended using a certain type of weedkiller, as a preventative.


It was not the Roundup type, as I recall saying we had a large container of that, so assume it was the type that isn't inactive on contact with soil, ie residual, such as Pathclear. He said it was fine for us to use as there was no way that it would drain onto our or the neighbours' lawns, because of the slope.


It's over two years since the drive was done and small weeds are just beginning to show.

cyclonebri1

Biggest problem is that today you simply cannot get hold of weedkillers that last in the ground, they all work by killing active groth including the roots if you are lucky. The next seed to drop in will germinate as soon as it rains. Most weedkillers have also been dumbed down to some extent, they certainly appear to be much less effective than those of yesteryear.

However there is a highly concentrated form of Glyphosate available to the trade and also on ebay.
From memory it called Roseate 36 or 360. It's about 6 times as concentrated as anything from the garden centre and the last time I bought 1 it was around £13 for a 1 litre bottle. It works and goes a good way, just take care if you use it, it's hazardous stuff intended for pro use, it eats rubber gloves in minutes when neat.


Hear you go, memory a bit off and price gone up but;

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1-X-1L-ROSATE-36-VERY-STRONG-PROFESSIONAL-GLYPHOSATE-WEEDKILLER-/261503823848?pt=UK_Home_Garden_Garden_Plants_Fertiliser_CV&hash=item3ce2d7afe8