Weed Control -- Easy, Effective but PET SAFE

Jjjjjjjjbarry

Hi All,

Has anyone found some good effective weed killer products that are pet safe or do you make your own? My particular area is too large for me to maintain by manually pulling (before I get attacked for being lazy) as I just don't have the time.

Last year I tried Weed Off Organic from Wipeout.ie. It was effective but everything started to go green again after a couple of weeks so I found it frustrating so kept upping the dose and buying more.

Was just looking up some options there and see some articles about mixing salt and water? Anyone tried that?

grassylawn

Dont use salt, it will ruin your soil. Possibly your neighbours' soil too if it ends up in their gardens.

Mattock/adze hoe is a lot less work than pulling.

Dunno about weedkiller chemicals.

Harry Palmr

Permeable covers?

CelticRambler

Jjjjjjjjbarry wrote: »

Was just looking up some options there and see some articles about mixing salt and water? Anyone tried that?

Never tried it, but if you take a stroll along any seashore, you'll observe that the Plant Kingdom has no trouble at all coping with salt and water. All you'll do is marginally change the chemical composition of your soil - probably just enough to kill off your sensitive specimen plants, but not enough to get rid of weeds. If the concentration of salt is high enough to do anything to those hardy plants, there's probably just as much of a risk it'll irritate the paws of any pets who walk over it (or eat the coated leaves).

In an effort to be less glyphosate-dependent, I've spent the last year using a flame gun on my courtyard, where I'd like there to be no greenery at all between the cobbles. So far, the results have been considerably less impressive than expected. What I've noticed is that typeof weeds has changed. Whereas before I'd have had a bit of everything, now all the delicate self-seeded annuals and the like have disappeared, and in their place I have tougher, deep-rooted perennials like docks, dandelions, thistles, etc. And if I miss a 4-week re-treatment interval, the clover, viola, alyssum, shepherd's purse, etc, etc, comes back again in the blink of an eye.

I won't be throwing out my glyphosate just yet ...

fiacha

Weed supression fabrics and lots of good quality woodchip mulch. Hit anything that pops up with boiling water. No matter the option you take, it's going to be constant maintenance.

Hillybilly4

How about a flame gun?
https://www.quickcrop.ie/product/sheen-x300-flamegun

grassylawn

Yeah I laid weedproof membrane a couple of years ago and covered it with wood I'd shredded from pruning. Nothing needed since. It had been a huge tabgle of briars and nettles before.

Only specific plants that can tolerate it grow where seawater permeates. If you use enough salt to kill weeds you will damage your soil.

Woodchips