A Good Flame Weeder/Weed Wand?
diospyros4luna
19 years ago
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gardenspice
19 years agodiggingthedirt
19 years agoRelated Discussions
driveway weeds
Comments (8)karinl, hiring help is out of the question! Too bad, that'd sure be the easiest! Might have to resort to herbicide. I'm seeing some types that sterilize the soil...sounds drastic, but maybe in the end results in less chemicals if the application rate is less often. The weeds just aren't all that "pullable". It's heavily compacted soil, it's amazing anything can grow. I tried some boiling vinegar water, that didn't phase them. dsb22, I'm thinking as you are about adding gravel, but I really think I'd like some sort of weed barrier as insurance. I'm thinking about trying a small area to see if it works or not. I think I'd have to add to the whole drive way, not just the center, as the center is already quite high compared to the ruts. I am in the process of trying the other idea you suggested. I put down some news paper, then compost, then some ground cover in a strip along half of one side of the driveway. So far the ground cover hasn't grown much (it's been about a month), but the weeds have not come up through the paper and compost, so that is good. I like the idea of mondo grass, but I think that could get expensive. So far I'm trying a sedum I have that really likes to spread, but stays low enough that it wouldn't be too bad if it got into the flower beds...and it's easy to pull. Guess I'll just keep plugging along. Would it be worth trying some sod in some of the more fertile seeming areas (areas that have grass but mostly weeds taking over)? What could I do to increase the fertiliy of that area, spread some compost first?...See MoreWeed control options
Comments (3)The best thing you can do is have tall dense grass and a dry soil surface. 1. Water deeply but infrequently. In the hottest part of summer that means once a week, but for an hour or so at a time. Weed seed needs continual moisture to sprout. Infrequent watering and allowing the surface to dry out prevents germination. 2. Mulch mow at the mower's highest setting. Tall grass shades the soil and any seedlings that may have sprouted. The shade prevents the seedlings from taking root. Tall grass also keep the soil cooler preventing evaporation. Next fall be sure you overseed as much as necessary to get a more dense turf. Do that as soon as the summer heat breaks....See Moreflame weeding
Comments (14)Flame weeding is a high risk, high reward activity. You have to pay close attention and know you limits. The difference between flaming weeding too early and too late is usually 10-12 hours. You want to do it at the last possible minute, but not too late, especially for the carrots. This year I had mixed results. Both of the growing spots for carrots this year were very weedy to begin with. I knew I was in for a weed fight. To add to the difficulty was it was monsoon season right when I was trying to plant the carrots. 4.5 inches of rain on top of them after flaming just brought the next flush of weeds and beat down the carrot seedlings. Long story short, I spent lots of time hand weeding. The other growing spot I was unable to flame weed. Due to some poor planning on my part, I scheduled the flame weeding day on a Wednesday, the same day as our market. At that time of the year, I was super busy and planned on doing it that night after market, but it rained. The next morning, I was going to flame weed, but the carrots were coming up. 6 or 7 hours of weeding later, I have a nice stand. Never going to make that mistake again! I have attached a link to a blog entry I wrote about flame weeding. I think it has a place, but you have to be very careful about your timing. Jay Here is a link that might be useful: Flame weeding and Carrots...See Moreweeds and dealing with them
Comments (16)Shelleyvw, I think your right it would kill some weeds outright but with deep rooted, bulbous or couchtype weeds I doubt it would be successfull without repeat applications. My main problem is with weed seedlings which come up when I pull the mulch back to plant. As this land has not been cultivated for over 30 years there is quite a store of weed seed sitting around just waiting for conditions to be right for germination and of course as soon as I plant, dig and water off they go - I have a large area to maintain and will never get away completely from hand weeding, but I think that steam or flame weeders will help me keep on top of the weeds when my back says its had enough. Im also planting a lot of succulents around and under the trees and while I use paper and mulch on the gardens I cannot mulch right up to the succulents.It seems every solution also has its limitations but in combination I hope I will be able to reduce the physical side of weeding without resorting to roundup/etc...See Moredethride
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