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Weed killer.....


PaulT

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.....I do not really like using them but........

When we were last here I cleared two areas of all growth and left it as bare ground. On this visit the weeds have said 'oh goody let's get established' and they have been very successful. I am now clearing again.

Which weed killer would you recommend me putting down when we return to the UK so that weeds do not return.

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I use Glyphos, most supermarkets sell this in their Brico sections, diluted and sprayed as it says on the tin/bottle. Kills anything it touches and results visible in about a week. However after that time any seeds that blow onto the plot may take root and start growing. Sodium chlorate/chlorate de soudre may have a longer lasting effect but difficult to get hold of in some places because of its explosive nature when mixed with certain common domestic substances and I would be worried about damaging the soil for subsequent plantings. I have sprayed large areas in my field with Glyphos where I have installed solar energy collecting pipes and only had to respray a couple of times more in the year to keep the green stuff under control. Roundup is basically the same stuff as Glyphos but usually more expensive. So worth a try?...............JR
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[quote user="PaulT"]

.....I do not really like using them but........

When we were last here I cleared two areas of all growth and left it as bare ground. On this visit the weeds have said 'oh goody let's get established' and they have been very successful. I am now clearing again.

Which weed killer would you recommend me putting down when we return to the UK so that weeds do not return.

[/quote]

Why not cover the area, if it's not too big, with tarpaulin. I have a large area of grass therefor getting lots of grass cuttings, so I spread the grass cuttings over any borders that I want to clear out of weeds. Next time you come over; uncover the plot and it should be relatively weed free, put the old grass cuttings in the compost and you've done two jobs for the price of one.

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[quote user="dave21478"]What can I use as a real weed destroyer...I mean scorched earth...nothing will ever grow there again kind of thing?

I have Glyphosate, which works well enough but they come back within a couple of months.[/quote]

The guy that did our gravel drive said diesel. If the farmers yard across the road from us is anything to go by it works well! Couldn't stand the smell myself.

.

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[quote user="powerdesal"]I seem to recall a historical method of destroying cultivation potential by ploughing salt into the ground. It seemed to be the method preferred by William the Conqueror in the North of England.[/quote]

Is that why people who have grown up in the North of England are often referred to as "the salt of the earth"?

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[quote user="JohnRoss"]I use Glyphos, most supermarkets sell this in their Brico sections, diluted and sprayed as it says on the tin/bottle. Kills anything it touches and results visible in about a week. However after that time any seeds that blow onto the plot may take root and start growing. Sodium chlorate/chlorate de soudre may have a longer lasting effect but difficult to get hold of in some places because of its explosive nature when mixed with certain common domestic substances and I would be worried about damaging the soil for subsequent plantings. I have sprayed large areas in my field with Glyphos where I have installed solar energy collecting pipes and only had to respray a couple of times more in the year to keep the green stuff under control. Roundup is basically the same stuff as Glyphos but usually more expensive. So worth a try?...............JR[/quote]

JR, I know you have cats, so can I presume that this stuff is pet- and wildlife- friendly?

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Several sites indicate that it is ok when dry and the advice is to spray when you have little chance of rain for the next 6 hours. This site http://pmep.cce.cornell.edu/profiles/extoxnet/dienochlor-glyphosate/glyphosate-ext.html  gives the result of experiments on various animals. I find experimenting on animals in this way more than a little bit disturbing however I suppose there was a need to know and how else could this data be obtained?...............JR
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Thank you very much, JR.

Can't guarantee rain in the next 6 minutes, nevermind 6 hours, so will hold off until the fine weather decides to return.

Very grateful to you [:)]

Edit:  I mean, can't guarantee NO rain, of course, but you know what I mean.....

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[quote user="sweet 17"]

Can't guarantee rain in the next 6 minutes, nevermind 6 hours, so will hold off until the fine weather decides to return.[/quote]

Do you mean IF fine weather EVER decides to return! ;-)

I've never known a summer like it, at least the Ivy likes it, just what does kill the stuff (roots below concrete!)

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Glyphos doesn't kill ivy and I've yet to find anything that does. I saw a small container of stuff for "lierres" in Jardiland one time but it was over 30€ and I couldn't bring myself to part with the money.

We have the Virginia Creeper, which attaches itself by minute "suckers" and this covers walls very nicely, turning red in the autumn, but leaves a "dotty" mess if you pull it down. We want to retain this.  Then we have the Ivy, which is far more destructive, growing into the wall and eventually prising stones apart as it swells. I usually cut the ivy at its base but it always grows again; we want to destroy this one. Any suggestions?

 

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I, too, have an ivy problem - not on the ground, but from the top of the wall on one side of the garden. It is overhanging from the neighbours' garden, which is about 2 meters above ours!!! So the result is that I am constantly pulling up plantlets from the ground of our garden below. I hadn't thought of it as a big problem until this year. I have tried to cut it and finding it very very hard - on top of that, I might have developed an allergy to it!

So. Since it isn't in the ground but on the wall, with big trunks now, I wonder what is the best way to tackle it, surely not a chainsaw??? I wouldn't want to spray any chemical because of the fallback. Here is a link to a forum where people offer various solutions:

http://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5139

For other, less robust weeds, I wasn't kidding when I suggested using white vinegar, as I am told it is very effective (have not used it myself though, admittedly). Mind you, I was also told it is effective against ants in the kitchen, and found that it was not all that great...[:(] unless I keep spraying it several times a day...

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Vinegar IS good for some sort of fungus, however, 5-e.

Like the sort that grows on your feet and toes and (in my case last year) on your body, groins, arm-pits, etc.  Sorry if too much information, but might just help somebody who could be afflicted.....

Except "afflicted" is too mild a word but, this is open Forum, so it will have to do.

Mix one part vinegar to 4 of water and soak or spray the affected areas and then get down on your knees and pray that it works; c'est tout!

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Besides the wall problems, I have ivy growing up the trunks of at least 12 oak tress. The ivy is obviously very old and the main branch of it is up to 1" thick, (maybe even 2.5cms [geek]).

Last year I went round and cut all of these ivy trunks with a pruning saw. The ivy above has died and now pulls fairly easily from the trees and the trees look better for not having the ivy stifling their growth. However, at ground level the ivy has started to grow again. I believe this is probably the best time to spray it with "something", but I know not what! It appears that ivy doesn't absorb systemic weedkillers to the same extent as "ordinary" weeds, like dandelions for example.

Many of the more radical treatments are now banned (chlorate de soude for example).

 

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