£250 + Vat to clear weeds. Is that reasonable?

[Toddlerteaplease]

Need to get the weeds in my garden cleared. I've been quoted £250 plus vat to spray them with industrial strength weed killer. I have no idea if that sounds reasonable or not. It's a fairly small garden.

Ok so pull all the dead ones out now and see what’s left?

I always hand weed but if you are determined to use weed killer then be aware that there are different types, which may be why you still have weeds after spraying yourself. You can do it yourself again with the correct weed killer for very little time and money.

Some weeds e.g dandelions have deep roots and you need to use a glyphosate based weed killer which is absorbed by the plant leaves an then travels down to the roots. This can take at least a couple of weeks. A lot of people think it hasn’t worked because the weeds look fine for two weeks after spraying.

Go to your local Wilko and read the labels. Look for glyphosate as an ingredient. If you can buy just glyphosate even better (and cheaper). Follow the safety instructions. You won’t see any difference for at least two weeks.

Some will also have another ingredient to prevent weeds coming back, but that’s going to stop you being able to grow anything at all for ages, which I don’t recommend. Really bad for the environment too.

Aside from how awful weed killer is, the quote you’ve been given is ridiculous and is an absolute ripoff.

Spend an hour or two pulling them all up, then just keep on top of it.

There is pretty much NO permanent solution to weeds. You just need to do a little and often to keep on top of it.

No way I’d be using weed killer. Firstly, would not chance it with my cat. Secondly, it’s awful for biodiversity etc.

I also wouldn’t look for quotes to remove stones and lay more membrane - it won’t be cheap. Some gardeners advise against membrane in areas such as your photo. Regular walking on the gravel creates rips and tears under the stones - weed roots find their way underneath and actually make them harder to pull out.

The quote you’ve been given comes to £300 and won’t be a permanent solution. I’d rather spend the money on a tonne bag of gravel (usually around £100) and just increase the depth of your gravelled areas - weeds will be much easier to pull out then.

Weed killer is toxic to wildlife and goes into the water table. Buy a pump spray and spray it with vinegar.

Speaking as someone who earns there living by gardening I can honestly say that the worst job I ever do is pulling weeds from gravel. It baffles me why people think gravel is low maintenance. There's the constantly sweeping it back into place, raking it so it doesn't pile up and then the weeding! In autumn leaves fall on it and are a bitch to pick up off of gravel. If you don't pick them up they mulch down and form a perfect medium for weeds to self seed and thrive in.

The exact same issues apply to fake grass. The money I've earned weeding astroturf/raking astroturf/pulling up astroturf and digging out the bamboo growing under it and coming up through it!!

These low maintenance fads are all a crock.

The process @Whatevergetsyouthroughthenight describes of going to Wilkos/choosing product/applying product/waiting two weeks/pulling up weeds is so much more work and expense than just doing the final stage of the process and pulling the weeds up.

It's a part of owning a bit of the outdoors that you have to tend your bit of the outdoors. Not many people buy a house thinking the won't have to clean and decorate it. Why is the outdoor bit any different?

@ChrisPNoodles tell me about it. I can't tell you how much I regret agreeing with the then land lady, that getting rid of the grass would be a good idea! I don't mid mowing a lawn!

Have found a gardener to do the job for £96 inc vat. So happy with that.

So I've just had the weeds cleared for £96 and it looks so much better. I've also been quoted £966 + vat to remove the gravel and membrane, add extra top soil and level the paving stones, and lay new grass. Does that sound about right?

A 5litre bottle of Gallup XL from ebay and a cheap garden sprayer will have all that dead in a few weeks, and enough left over to repeat for 10 years

I'd already tried that!

That sounds pretty cheap.