Killing Weeds - which weedkiller?

kennyb3

I've never done any gardening before.

Our lawn is riddled with weeds. So tell me which weedkiller should I use? There is such an array here.

http://www.woodiesdiy.com/category/weedklers/4.4.2

When should I use it exactly? (anytime - summer, winter, all year round?) and are there any considerations for toddlers playing on it after.

I just need some basic garden maintenance tips.

Could I just apply this to my whole grass area?

_Brian

Dont apply roundup to the whole area as it will kill grass and everything, Its a NON Selective weedkiller...

What you need is a selective weed killer that can kill weeds and not kill the grass...

As for their use around children, its best to follow the exact directions on each product, they will give periods of times that pets and children need to be excluded from the treated zone..

kennyb3

_Brian wrote: »

Dont apply roundup to the whole area as it will kill grass and everything, Its a NON Selective weedkiller...

Thanks could you advise on a selective one to use? It's a bit of a minefield when you don't know what exactly you are looking for.

Flippyfloppy

Home remedy is boiling water. Better than using chemicals.

biko

Aye, boiling water/vinegar/weed burner - all better than chemicals.

kennyb3

Flippyfloppy wrote: »

Home remedy is boiling water. Better than using chemicals.

I'd guess my garden is about 40ft by 15ft wide, so might be very time consuming.

We've weeds both intermixed with grass and in the flower beds at side.

Looking to kill as much as them as I can

Flippyfloppy

Well in that case there's a danger of your grass and flowers bring killed too! Maybe fill a spray bottle with vinegar as previous posters suggestion

Polo_Mint

I use Vinegar or a Weed Burner.

biko

I've used undiluted white vinegar during a dry day. If it rains it may wash out.
It takes a day or two for the weed to die from vinegar.

You can get a 5 litre plastic from most foreign shops, maybe Dunnes/Tesco.

dodzy

Another plug for Vinegar. Combined with the fact that water is probably more expensive than vinegar nowadays anyway

Polo_Mint

biko wrote: »

I've used undiluted white vinegar during a dry day. If it rains it may wash out.
It takes a day or two for the weed to die from vinegar.

You can get a 5 litre plastic from most foreign shops, maybe Dunnes/Tesco.

Add a bit of washing up liquid does the trick to make vinegar stick.

there's an Asia Wholesalers in Ballymount in Dublin that do 5ltr containers of vinegar.

Only 1 ltr bottles of Vinegar in Tescos I found

greenbicycle

Does the vinegar kill the grass too? what type of weeds are you killing with this? daisy? dandelion? I have both of those and lots and lots of a weed I didnt know about but which seems to be called self heal, lots of little purple flowers!


sorry for butting in on this thread but I have the same problem as OP.

I actually think the extent of weeds in my lawn will mean that when all of them are killed there will be very little grass left behind so might require sowing grass seed.

Polo_Mint

Vinegar will kill anything you put it on.

I put it in one of theses

http://www.woodiesdiy.com/Product/ronseal-pump-action-sprayer/16427/2.21.2.2

The reason I use Vinegar is I have Dogs

TAZ32

This will do the job for you without affecting the grass. Cant post link. Just google, dicophar ireland

Nekarsulm

https://www.agridirect.ie/p/dicophar__1_litre

_Brian

God folks ya can't be serious expecting OP to go round with vinegar spot treating weeds in a large lawn.

Get a selective weed killer as above and spray carefully on the lawn.

Be careful on flower beds though. They are selective for grass only so will damage shrubs and likely kill flowers.

Flippyfloppy

_Brian wrote: »

God folks ya can't be serious expecting OP to go round with vinegar spot treating weeds in a large lawn.

Get a selective weed killer as above and spray carefully on the lawn.

Be careful on flower beds though. They are selective for grass only so will damage shrubs and likely kill flowers.

How is spraying vinegar different / more time consuming than spraying weed killer?

Nekarsulm

Flippyfloppy wrote: »

How is spraying vinegar different / more time consuming than spraying weed killer?

Because the idea with the vinegar seems to be that you need to get down on your knees and spot treat the weeds one by one using something like a "Windolene" squirter.

With a selective weed-killer you spray the entire grass area with a knapsack or similar sprayer and only the weeds are killed.
So basically you would be able to walk at normal pace and, depending on the nozzle selected in your lance, cover a strip of either .5 metre or 1 metre.

On the Nozzle choice, please get a "Reflector" nozzle for your sprayer. It is much more efficient than the old adjustable cone nozzles, and eliminates a lot of drift.
Do not wave the lance from side to side.
A yellow reflector nozzle covers .5 metre, and a green one covers a metre.

overmantle

I learn something new every day. Never before heard about vinegar being used as a weedkiller. It seems it's not called acetic acid for nothing. It makes you wonder what is does to your insides, though!

overmantle

I learn something new every day. Never before heard about vinegar being used as a weedkiller. It seems it's not called acetic acid for nothing. It makes you wonder what is does to your insides, though!

Supercell

Would vinegar be any use against comfrey?, have a couple of plants that are unruly beasts and chopping them down is only slowing them down so i want rid of.

blackbox

I find that Verdone is very effective for killing daisies and dandelions in a lawn. It's not very effective against buttercups - I can't manage to get rid of these.

Nekarsulm

Supercell wrote: »

Would vinegar be any use against comfrey?, have a couple of plants that are unruly beasts and chopping them down is only slowing them down so i want rid of.

Don't know if vinegar would work with comfrey. At least they are big plants and spread slowly as long as you don't chop up the roots. A dart of a good systemic weedkiller would work, or dig them up and pot them for sale to
new-age travellers etc. They have medicinal uses. (aren't they called "bone-knit)?

OldRio

Nekarsulm wrote: »

Don't know if vinegar would work with comfrey. At least they are big plants and spread slowly as long as you don't chop up the roots. A dart of a good systemic weedkiller would work, or dig them up and pot them for sale to
new-age travellers etc. They have medicinal uses. (aren't they called "bone-knit)?

Comfrey is as good a plant feed you can use. Cut the leaves off. Throw them into a bucket of water. Put a lid on, it stinks to high heaven, Then a few weeks later its ready. Dilute it again and spray. Great for your fruit and vegetables.

Nekarsulm

+1 on the above. We have them in the garden cause when the grandfather bought the farm in the 1920 s they brought Comfry plants from the old place in Longford and cultivated them for pig feed.