Weeds in cobbles and removing ants

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Hi. Can anyone advise on the best method to remove weeds from cobbles? I'm not sure if I need to to spend a few hours on my hands and knees removing them or maybe use a weed-killer. Also the area seems to be infested by extremely industrious ants which is removing the filler from between the cobble stones. I would appreciate if anyone knows how to tackle this. Thanks

standardg60

Two choices, spend hours removing them by hand or ten minutes spraying with weedkiller.

Both jobs will have to be repeated regularly anyway.

Same with the ants, except for replacing the hours with days or the weedkiller with ant powder, or just admire their industriousness :-)

looksee

Paths and pavings is one situation where I would definitely say weedkiller. You will probably have to scrape out the worst of the dead weeds anyway, the smaller ones will eventually be able to be brushed away. You can get a little hook/knife that is great for that job. https://www.thegardenshop.ie/patio-weeder/

mrslancaster

Douse the weeds with white vinegar but you'll need lots and the weeds will come back eventually.

We were scourged with ants but it was indoors. Got those ant boxes in the hardware shop and they worked great but not sure if they work outdoors. Ant powder around the nest helps.

greasepalm

I bought 5ltrs of 5% vinegar and mixed salt and dish soap and still waiting for the weeds to die.

Nippon is a nectar in a tube you place on their runs and is brought back to the nest and works there.

HazeDoll

The ants aren't doing any harm really, are they? Leave them to it, protect whatever nature your property can support.

I gave up on weeding very soon after I bought my house. I could never bring myself to spray poison of any sort, knowing what we know about its effects. Instead I took to mowing the weeds and it's lovely! I have a mix of gravel and cracked concrete and the mix of surfaces actually looks great with the green of the grass growing through it. I mow it very short a few times a year and it only takes a few minutes. The dock leaves, thistles etc. don't like the mowing so it's mostly just grass now, with some pansies that escaped from a pot and have gone native. No weeding or poison, lots of daisies at the moment. It has started to go a bit crispy at the edges because it has been so warm and dry lately but it still looks nicer than dead weeds. It's a lovely healthy green most of the time, even during the winter.

At the edges it's a bit rough and I'm too lazy to go around and tidy it so I'm going to plant creeping thyme in a few places to sort that out.

One local told me he thought I was very eccentric when he first saw me out mowing my gravel like a lunatic. His daughter lives in a small suburban estate and she has started doing the same thing and is delighted with the results.

magicbastarder

you could try a gas torch on the weeds, but it won't kill them down to the roots.

i wouldn't be madly happy with ants under there, they'd probably undermine the cobbles.

greasepalm

I have a Parasene gas weed wand which was great but cylinders are no longer available which sucks as they were high pressure and toasted the weeds and i loved it. No gas cylinder comes near it with pressure and longer lasting.

Ants have collapsed my driveway so get rid of them.

Chris_5339762

No real easy solution sadly, we have the same problem. We are currently manually lifting slabs/bricks to put a layer of plastic underneath them, but even then the bits inbetween the pavings will gradually fill with earth and get all weedy again.

I don't like using weedkiller on it personally as you have dead weeds which still need pulling up, and with the amount of birds (and badgers) that walk all over its not great.

billyhead

Use Jeyes fluid?

?Cee?view

Just use the Weedkiller. Most of the stuff that's out there about the dangers is overblown.

looksee

Why are people so enthusiastic about using household chemicals - including salt, vinegar, Jeyes fluid, washing up liquid - which are not designed for nor tested in relation to pouring on the garden but will refuse to use weedkillers that are made to become inert when they hit the ground? Even worse is using diesel and engine oil though I haven't seen them mentioned here, they are used a lot in rural areas.

Apart from salt its likely that the others will probably not do too much damage in very limited quantities, but they will not do anything useful either.

Edit - ?Cee?view got there before me!

Kato74

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058298425/weeds-in-cobbles-and-removing-ants

Power wash in between them, let it dry & sweep up mess.

Pour weed killer between stones & put down your silicone sand.

You can actually get a sand that goes solid like concrete between them, easy to apply.

If your stones are level & you`re happy with them being stuck, i'd go with that stuff, get it in B&Q

magicbastarder

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120658119#Comment_120658119

not suitable for a large area, but boiling water is about as inert as you can get (with the caveat again that it's not systemic)

obviously not reall suitable for large areas...

looksee

That's true, I am commenting on the stuff that people mix into the water (cold or boiling) though.

magicbastarder

i just mention it because often when i've leftover boiling water (though i take pride in filling the kettle *just so*), i pop out into the garden with it and douse unwanted plants. little and often will eventually kill anything really, and it costs nothing extra.

greasepalm

The only thing with weedkillers is now how expensive they have got and trying other cheaper options to use.

Chocolate

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120658493#Comment_120658493

Based on recommendations I had seen elsewhere, I used boiling water a few weeks ago on the weeds which were growing between the paving slabs on my patio.

It killed off everything within a few hours. I gave the new weeds a boiling shower yesterday. They're dead today. I imagine I'll have to do that every couple of weeks until I finally get around to replacing the grout between the paving slabs.

It's a very inexpensive task. And it's somewhat satisfying seeing the weeds shrivel up straight away.

whelzer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120656124#Comment_120656124

It would be great to see a few pics. Thanks

cnocbui

For a quick fix, I use a strimmer, then glyphosphate on the comeback kids.

Discodog

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120658119#Comment_120658119

This should be stickied. The crazy idea that salt, vinegar etc are natural & harmless is insanity. I worked on the ecological effects of pesticides for almost 10 years, including applying many times the recommended dose. The effects on soil fauna were pretty much non existent. Put some salt or vinegar on a worm or slug & see how harmless it is.

Spanish Eyes

I had a similar issue and in the end got a company in to pressure wash the area. They did a great job, filled the cracks with sand and sprayed the area. That was in April. Just one or two little weeds now and I'm on to them like a mad thing. Cost about 250 quid and that included the front driveway aswell. Don't ask me who it was, recommended by a neighbour. Guy comes around every year but that's the first time I used him.