Weeds! What are the best ways to get rid of them?

[Linnet]

I have an area in my backgarden which is covered with weeds. It's a gravelly path, the eventual plan for the past ten years now has been to get it paved but we still can't afford to do it yet. Every year I spray it all with Round up which to be fair does kill them but I have to keep spraying it every 2-3 weeks to keep them at bay.

To be honest I'm sick fed up doing this every year, if I was to spray them all then put down some of that black plastic/fabric stuff that you get would that kill them all then keep them away? Can we walk over the black fabric stuff and put our table and chairs on it etc?

If not what is the best weedkiller that I can buy that would rid me of these weeds?

Thanks

bump

bumping again in the hope that someone can advise me,thanks

Yes, putting down the weed-suppressing matting and then putting back gravel on top will keep down most weeds. However, unless you've done a good level of hard-core to get a nice firm surface, putting tables and chairs with sharp legs on the matting will tend to puncture it and let the weeds through again.

If you've got a good sharp hoe (and it needs to be sharp like a knife to cut through the weed stems), I find that regular hoeing is more effective than weed-killing, and easier on the back and knees.

Do you know what sort of weeds you've got?

Thanks Grendelsmum, I have no idea what kind of weeds they are, all I know is that they're the same ones we get every year, there is moss too.

I don't have the time or the inlination to hoe the weeds out that's why I spray them all to kill them off. I'm lazy I'll admit it.

Roundup is a "systemic" herbicide, so it is absorbed through the leaves of anything growing and kills the plant, but is inactivated when it hits soil. So it won't stop something else germinating and growing so you have to keep repeating. It is quite good for pesky perennial weeds (ground elder, bindweed etc), however, as it goes into the roots.

If you are not planning to grow anything on that area for a year (it's a path/patio, for example), then you can use a stronger "total" herbicide. That kills plants, but also goes into the soil so nothing will grow there. It wears off after a while, but you wouldn't want to use it on a flower bed, for example.
The only brand-name I can think of is Pathclear, but there are others.

Sorry to be such a weedkiller "nerd". I used to work for one of the manufacturers......

I think I'll probably get some pathclear and give it a go. The area won't be planted on and if we ever manage to get the money together we'll get it paved, but it's a big area and the quotes were pretty big.

I've been googling weeds, some of the weeds we get are dandelions,obiviously I knew that one, grassy weeds, broad leaf plantain was another one which I always think looks like a cabbage,lol and the very imaginatively named spikey weed!

thanks again

Ooh, a genuine weedkiller expert! You find all sorts on MN.

Hmm - you see those are exactly the weeds that RoundUp should be killing. I'm not sure that PathClear would do any better.

I never have the patience for weedkillers myself, and would always much rather put the radio on and just leap in and hoe / dig.

Roundup does kill them but as Thenextmrsdepp said it only kills the ones that are already growing. It doesn't kill any that may be germinating under the soil.

When I rule the world there will be no weeds!

I'm all for chemical warfare, myself. Organic, schmorganic.....