Any Tried and Tested Weedkiller Recipes?

[ryanguevara1983]

Hi all, I've googled this and found plenty of ideas, but was just wondering if you guys had any that you know to be effective? The stuff in the shops seems so expensive.

I have a fairly large area (30sqm) with perennial weeds and grass to clear - the plan is to dig it over and plant it up with sunflowers next Spring.

Also, some of my veggy beds are overrun with annual and perennial weeds - but I'd like to try some hardwood cuttings in them at them end of the summer, so a quick fix in here would be ideal.

Would love to hear any ideas, thanks all.

[rustylady]

Strim it down and cover with thick cardboard or something similar. This will deprive the weeds of light and they will die.

As for your veg beds, handweeding is the best way, and can be quite therapeutic.

[Glutton4...]

Ditto what RL just said. Using any form of chemical weedkiller will damage the soil, kill vital organisms, and impair performance in the future.

Spot weeding, ie Dandelions in a lawn, can be carried out using a pinch or two of cheap household salt, on a hot dry day. However, if you are planning on using this method on a grander scale, I will refer you back to my previous paragraph.

[roitelet]

Do as Rusty lady says and then mulch well, that will stop most of the weed seeds germinating. I have turned a field into a garden without the use of weedkiller.

[Two_Sheds]

The stuff in the shops seems so expensive.

It's illegal to make your own weedkillers & pesticides

[greenishfing]

Typical!!!! Let me guess EU 'elf and safety!!!

[veggiechicken]

It's illegal to make your own weedkillers & pesticides

Typical!!!! Let me guess EU 'elf and safety!!!

Whatever the rules, we're unlikely to recommend doing anything that's illegal

[Jeanied]

Well let's put it this way, I'm glad there are only a few chemicals available to the spray and kill 'em brigade who have plots on our lottie site! They are ruthless! And I can't see that they do that much better than I do without any chemicals at all.

When I turned the shed out at my house when I first moved in, I found all sorts of horrific stuff, and had a devil of a job getting rid of them. Nuff said.

[Aberdeenplotter]

It's illegal to make your own weedkillers & pesticides

and rightly so.

[Aberdeenplotter]

Typical!!!! Let me guess EU 'elf and safety!!!

No common sense to stop idiots poisoning themselves and others

[greenishfing]

No common sense to stop idiots poisoning themselves and others

I have never used any weedkillers or pesticides or herbicides EVER, but I hate to be told that I can't do something if I feel I need to, I just feel our lives are far too regimented by rules that take no account of individuals and insist on lumping together the whole european population and making rules for them. If I ever need to use a weedkiller I would do research to see if I could concoct something less harmfull than the commercially available products for my specific purpose. Being a cynical person I would tend to believe that the people that make the rules have shares in the chemical companies and some of the concoctions that they have licensed over the years (and still are) are truly horrific. I would rather have no crops than use such things as roundup.

[Two_Sheds]

I hate to be told that I can't do something if I feel I need to

Quite a lot of people hate being told what to do: people who do 70mph in a 40 zone, for instance. Rules are there for a reason.

Yes, some companies want you to buy their expensive weedkillers, but these rules aren't in place to make you buy them, they're to stop you from poisoning yourself or others.

Back to the OP, there are natural methods of weedkilling out there, but you need to be careful and think it through: eg. you could use salt to kill all your weeds in one go, it works like a charm. However, it also poisons ALL plant life and possibly the soil too.

My neighbours use Roundup to kill all the weeds on the drive: it turns them all brown, and they're an unsightly brown for a while, then it all turns green as the next crop of weeds germinates (Roundup doesn't kill weed seeds, and it doesn't remain in the soil to kill the next crop).

There really isn't a magical quick fix, you've got to use a bit of elbow grease. To clear a patch of tough perennial weeds, covering them for a few months really does work. Sheets of cardboard from the back of a store are ideal, and as they rot they add goodness to the soil.

[rpt]

It's illegal to make your own weedkillers & pesticides

And it's illegal to use anything that is not licensed as a pesticide to kill anything. So even using salt to kill weeds and slugs is probably illegal.

If I ever need to use a weedkiller I would do research to see if I could concoct something less harmfull than the commercially available products for my specific purpose. ... I would rather have no crops than use such things as roundup.

Would you carry out years of trials to prove that your product is safe? I'd rather use an approved product that has been around since the 70s and is proven to be safe than something home made. The rules are to prevent harm to the environment and to stop idiots harming themselves (which would be a burden on the rest of us via the NHS etc). Glyphosate (the active ingredient in Roundup) is actually considered one of the safest pesticides although, as has been said, it should be a last resort.

[Alison]

Glyphosate (the active ingredient in Roundup) is actually considered one of the safest pesticides although, as has been said, it should be a last resort.

The fact that it's considered to be one of the safest is a very good reason in my book not to use any of them.

[zazen999]

Glyphosate (the active ingredient in Roundup) is actually considered one of the safest pesticides although, as has been said, it should be a last resort.

A - it's not a pesticide - it's a herbicide
B - if you say so...It’s official: Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide causes birth defects