Weed abatement HELP!

[eggrookie2010]

Hi Im the new kid here...Im looking for lots of resources for lots of things so bear with me. Today Im researching weed abatement. Im try so very hard to get away from chemicals. Roundup is currently my friend. I have 10,000 sq feet of crushed granite driveway about to sprout a springtime weed fiesta. Can anyone tell me how I might at least deter this mess? Im freaked out about soil issues (among other things) and cant in good conscience continue to use chemicals on my place. My kids arent going to have much of a planet left to live on when they are my age if we dont learn to do things differently. Thanks for any input.

 

[Wifezilla]

Agricultural vinegar might do the trick.
http://www.oregonlive.com/hg/index.ssf/2008/08/use_vinegar_to_combat_weeds.html

 

[Bubblingbrooks]

Goats!
You might even be able to rent a few to remove the weeds.
Check around your area.

 

[SKR8PN]

If it's just a driveway, why worry?

 

[FarmerJamie]

First, eggrookie, Hello! and

I hear what you are saying about the Roundup - I'm trying to wean my wife off of it!!!

It probably won't be practical for the size of area you're facing, but I've found that Hot, boiling water leftover from my canning adventures kills the young plants very quickly too. I use it for spot treatments on the patio.

I think Wifezilla is onto something with the vinegar, my brine/vinegar solutions seem to work the best.

good luck!

 

[Mattemma]

I have done vinegar for weed.I get a very green blacktop drive that I even mow at times,lol. I would add more rock to the drive.My neighbor did the slag with crushed asphalt to his unpaved drive.

 

[eggrookie2010]

Agricultural vinegar might do the trick.

/use_vinegar_to_combat_weeds.html

Ive never heard of that. Im going to study up on it thanks. Wifezilla...I LOVE your saying...post-apocolyptic skill set....LOL! I already feel at home on this forum. No one will think Im crazy like everyone Im surrounded by here.

Bubblingbrooks we are actually considering buying a few goats but my cousin the goat farmer says they would not do well on the gravel. I think I might get some anyway though...I have 5 acres.

We just moved here in July (transplanted city slickers) and the whole place was serioulsy under about 4 feet of vegetation. I have the driveway area scraped with a tractor cause there WAS no driveway. Now those weeds want to come back and I still need a driveway! We have 4 boys ages 2-19 and they dubbed it the haunted house when we bought it.

 

[Dunkopf]

I gave up on keeping the gravel weed free. Beware of goats. They need a good fence to keep them in. Barbwire doesn't even faze them. I will be getting some myself but first I have to replace around 3000' of barbwire with pasture fencing. The stuff that comes in 330' rolls. Unfortunately the horses like to bend that stuff over and hot wires don't work too well here because of the dry ground.

You might try a heavier layer of gravel. Driveway gravel is much cheaper than the stuff they use for borders and such.

 

[eggrookie2010]

I gave up on keeping the gravel weed free. Beware of goats. They need a good fence to keep them in. Barbwire doesn't even faze them. I will be getting some myself but first I have to replace around 3000' of barbwire with pasture fencing. The stuff that comes in 330' rolls. Unfortunately the horses like to bend that stuff over and hot wires don't work too well here because of the dry ground.

You might try a heavier layer of gravel. Driveway gravel is much cheaper than the stuff they use for borders and such.

Yes we are boarding horses and they have been bending the new fieldfence so we put barbed wire at the top. NOW we know if we get escape artis goats I better get hotwire or more barb down low or....something better than what we have.

 

[lighthawk]

Anytime I take down one of the willows in my yard they keep throwing up suckers so a friend told me to cover the stump with rock salt. Killed the stump and all the grass around it. Can't see why an application of rock salt on your driveway wouldn't do the same. Just thinking out loud. Anyone else ever tried this?