How harmful is Roundup?

[Janelady]

Neighbours are suggesting we use roundup in the garden to tackle some invasive weeds. I’ve never used toxic weed killer and don’t like the thought of it plus we have 3 young kids and a dog. We’ve always encouraged wildlife into the garden and have spotted hedgehogs and newts so obviously i wouldn’t want to cause any harm to any wildlife but research on how toxic and harmful it is seems to really vary!

....watching with interest, our driveway is covered in weeds & I was hoping to leave something on it whilst we are away on hols but don't want to kill off the insects, is there anything?

I wouldn't use it.
How picky are your neighbours being? What sort of "weeds" are they objecting to?

It’s mainly bindweed which I know is a bugger. We had managed to keep on top of weeding by hand up to this point but it’s got out of hand this year for a number of reasons

Glyphosate has its place when used very selectively against extremely persistent weeds. So spraying only those weeds and preventing run-off. The dangers to human health are pretty much overblown (on a par with those from bacon) unless you bathe in the stuff. The major concern at a policy level I understand is with biodiversity.

I've had to use it in the past to deal with a small patch absolutely infested by Canadian goldenrod. Didn't exactly enjoy it but the alternative apparently would have been to get professional gardeners in to cart of and replace several cubic metres of soil since the feckers have an ultra-robust root system 🤣🤣🤣

I really recommend bio washing powder for driveway weeds. Google it, it is actually a thing.

How I do it is I buy the cheap stuff, sweep it all into the cracks and then get the hose on a light mist to wet the powder so it all dribbles through the cracks and then I just leave it to dry. Then I repeat in a weeks time. It's worked really well for me. I don't know if it harms insects but I thought it must be better than weed killer.

The only issue is sometimes it leaves the drive a bit chalky looking residue however a second go over with the hose just rinses the residue away.

I think it is recommend you dissolve the powder in water first but i just do it my own way.

Regardless of your opinion on using Roundup or not, if Bindweed is your problem it really wouldn’t be that effective anyway. The only way to deal with Bindweed is to pull it out from the root, and keep doing every time it inevitably comes back, until it’s weakened and finally gives up. It’s like a war…

Glyphosate is a systemic pesticide so the active ingredient travels through the whole plant.

To reduce its use, you can spray or slosh onto a sponge and dab. If your target has a strong leaf, a waxy or hairy layer, a quick go over with a little dishwashing liquid can help remove any natural barrier.

Even better is to feed your target with a high nitrogen fertiliser to encourage new, leafy green growth and come back later to spray or dab that.

I use Roundup for bindweed because, lets face it, life is too short.

Everything else gets dug up.

One patch of invasive shrubs I am currently annihilating by cutting down and covering with membrane for a year because without light they will eventually die.

Personally I would avoid, there is too much research now on its potential harms
https://www.webmd.com/cancer/herbicide-glyphosate-cancer

It’s horrific for bees and pollinators, if you notice this year there’s barely been any. So please don’t add to it.

https://amp.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jun/02/glyphosate-weedkiller-damages-wild-bumblebee-colonies

I wouldn’t use it if there’s a chance the DC or dog might eat it.

If they won’t then I would consider using it very carefully on the bindweed. Cut it short so there’s just a couple of leaves left and then paint or sponge the roundup directly on the leaves, that way they absorb it and kill it from inside without it getting onto other plants etc.

But is there another neighbour with it too…? If they don’t tackle theirs then there’s not much point as it will just come back under the fence.

The bindweed in my garden comes through from next door. I'm stuck with it as they don't garden at all so I have occasionally used the toughest weedkiller on it but very, very carefully.

My garden was weedfree when I first moved here but I now have two garden disaster zones either side of me so it's an ongoing battle with removing the invasive weeds I get coming through 😡

I'm trying something I saw on TikTok for bindweed. Put stakes in the ground then when the bindweed grows up the stakes put it in a plastic bang and weed kill the leaves, this way it will kill the plant. Just means you're not randomly spraying everything too

I wouldn't use weedkiller unless I had to.

I use it on cracks where it is impossible to pull the weed and the root out. You can inject it right into the crack so the root gets it but it has little chance of getting out.

I just weed my stuff by hand. The first couple of times it takes a bit of effort then after that just 30 mins a week to keep it under control. The key is to make sure you remove the root of the weed each time you extract. And also to ensure that the weeds never flower. If they flower they will produce more seeds which produce more weeds. So even if you pick off the flowers/seed pods you are going some way to reducing the problem.

Quick and easy way to kill weeds is to pour boiling water on them. It might take a while to kill off something as invasive as bindweed, but it's not going to harm the environment.

This may help. It's awful stuff. Toxic to everything

Bindweed is having a very good year! I think it's quite pretty but yes you do need to keep it under control.

I’d Say if you’re questioning at all then don’t bother with it- some people just see it as a quick and easy fix- dh is always going on about two ladies at the end of the road who are always weeding and wondering why they don’t hire a sprayer or something, I say but their end result is always pristine anyway!! it drives me mad that he thinks people should use it just as a way of getting out of work

Boiling water, heat gun, salt, vinegar. Less harmful.

If you have hedgehogs and newts in your garden your very lucky. Please dont put that stuff down its poison. Wildlife is having such a tough time of it , sounds like your garden is a haven . Keep it up 😊

We are obsessed with neat and tidy in this country. Every "weed" has to be obliterated regardless of destruction to the environment.

This has been very effective on my bindweed and is glyphosate free.

Please don't do this without considering the impact on biodiversity. I don't know, but would imagine the chemicals in this could be very harmful to soil flora and fauna and unlike glyphosphate may not break down in the soil.

Not that I'm advocating the use of glyphosphate, its just that its considered to break down in the soil. Chemicals in the washing powder may remain there for a long time/alter the pH of the soil for a much longer more damaging period of time.

Get some Ammonium Sulphamate.

Bindweed left unchecked will outcompete and strangle other plants so not exactly great for biodiversity.