I have a fairly small gravel drive (about 17 feet long by 8 at the
widest point).

The previous owners didn't lay it correctly or at all - as far as I can
see they just put a very thin layer of gravel la few mm thick over a
grass/soil base. Needless to say, weeds are a big problem although for
very occasional driving on, the surface is fine.

I'm not in the mood to dig it out properly. It's not so much laziness
as not wanting to spend money at present on soild and muck disposal.

Is there a workaround I can use until I can do it properly?

Would digging out a small layer, adding a weed sheet and then gravel on
top of that to a few centimetres be a very temporary solution?

On Fri, 03 Jun 2016 21:38:29 +0100, Gareth Davies wrote:

I have a fairly small gravel drive (about 17 feet long by 8 at the
widest point).

The previous owners didn't lay it correctly or at all - as far as I can
see they just put a very thin layer of gravel la few mm thick over a
grass/soil base. Needless to say, weeds are a big problem although for
very occasional driving on, the surface is fine.

I'm not in the mood to dig it out properly. It's not so much laziness as
not wanting to spend money at present on soild and muck disposal.

Is there a workaround I can use until I can do it properly?

Would digging out a small layer, adding a weed sheet and then gravel on
top of that to a few centimetres be a very temporary solution?

All gravel drives will eventually gather muck in them and form a bed for
weeds. You just keep topping up the gravel and use it as a mulch picking
out the odd weeds from time to time until they become a big enough
problem to top up the gravel again.

In article ,
Mark Allread wrote:

All gravel drives will eventually gather muck in them and form a bed for
weeds. You just keep topping up the gravel and use it as a mulch picking
out the odd weeds from time to time until they become a big enough
problem to top up the gravel again.

I'd second all of that, and add that spraying with a glyphosate
weedkiller helps a great deal (for one thing, dead weeds are far easier
to pull out than live ones[1]. Life's too short.

J.

[1] It takes a couple of weeks to act properly (unlike the cartoon TV
ads, where the weeds fall over like bowling pins).

On 03/06/2016 22:57, Tim Streater wrote:
In article , Another John
wrote:

In article ,
Mark Allread wrote:

All gravel drives will eventually gather muck in them and form a bed
for weeds. You just keep topping up the gravel and use it as a mulch
picking out the odd weeds from time to time until they become a big
enough problem to top up the gravel again.

I'd second all of that, and add that spraying with a glyphosate
weedkiller helps a great deal (for one thing, dead weeds are far
easier to pull out than live ones[1]. Life's too short.

+1

Swot I'm doing.


We used to use Sodium Chlorate. It killed the weeds, and nothing grew
there for quite a while. Shame it's no longer available - I assume
because it's too easy to make explosives out of it? That seems a much
better solution (no pun intended) than glyphosate.

"GB" wrote in message ...

On 03/06/2016 22:57, Tim Streater wrote:
In article , Another John
wrote:

In article ,
Mark Allread wrote:

All gravel drives will eventually gather muck in them and form a bed
for weeds. You just keep topping up the gravel and use it as a mulch
picking out the odd weeds from time to time until they become a big
enough problem to top up the gravel again.

I'd second all of that, and add that spraying with a glyphosate
weedkiller helps a great deal (for one thing, dead weeds are far
easier to pull out than live ones[1]. Life's too short.

+1

Swot I'm doing.


We used to use Sodium Chlorate. It killed the weeds, and nothing grew
there for quite a while. Shame it's no longer available - I assume
because it's too easy to make explosives out of it? That seems a much
better solution (no pun intended) than glyphosate.

Banned by the EU I'm afraid

Andrew

On 04/06/2016 10:10, Andrew Mawson wrote:

Banned by the EU I'm afraid

Andrew

Ditto Copper Sulphate and post-jun 23rd, Glyphosphate
is being lined-up for a ban. Despite a total lack
of evidence, some people are trying to classify it as
carcinogenic. This may be a German plot linked to Bayers
take over bid for Monsanto.

On 04/06/2016 10:10, Andrew Mawson wrote:

We used to use Sodium Chlorate. It killed the weeds, and nothing grew
there for quite a while. Shame it's no longer available - I assume
because it's too easy to make explosives out of it? That seems a much
better solution (no pun intended) than glyphosate.

Banned by the EU I'm afraid

Apparently not originally by the EU.

" In 2005, the use of sodium
chlorate as a pesticide/fumigant was
banned under the Montreal Protocol on
Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, "


https://www.gov.uk/government/upload...rmation_v1.pdf


Apart from that, it appears to be really quite dangerous to use, so I'm
not sure it was at all a bad idea to ban it.

On Saturday, 4 June 2016 10:10:45 UTC+1, Andrew Mawson wrote:
"GB" wrote in message ...

On 03/06/2016 22:57, Tim Streater wrote:
In article , Another John
wrote:

In article ,
Mark Allread wrote:

All gravel drives will eventually gather muck in them and form a bed
for weeds. You just keep topping up the gravel and use it as a mulch
picking out the odd weeds from time to time until they become a big
enough problem to top up the gravel again.

I'd second all of that, and add that spraying with a glyphosate
weedkiller helps a great deal (for one thing, dead weeds are far
easier to pull out than live ones[1]. Life's too short.

+1

Swot I'm doing.


We used to use Sodium Chlorate. It killed the weeds, and nothing grew
there for quite a while. Shame it's no longer available - I assume
because it's too easy to make explosives out of it? That seems a much
better solution (no pun intended) than glyphosate.

Banned by the EU I'm afraid

I am sure once the tories realise they can give us freedom from such bans we can get them to lead us out. Think of all the driveways they could use it on.

On 04/06/16 09:45, GB wrote:

We used to use Sodium Chlorate. It killed the weeds, and nothing grew
there for quite a while. Shame it's no longer available - I assume
because it's too easy to make explosives out of it? That seems a much
better solution (no pun intended) than glyphosate.

Ammonium sulphamate?

Tim Watts wrote:

GB wrote:

We used to use Sodium Chlorate. It killed the weeds, and nothing grew
there for quite a while. Shame it's no longer available

Ammonium sulphamate?

I used to find Root Out effective gainst brambles, not so sure it had
the same long-lasting effects as sodium chlorate though.

On Saturday, 4 June 2016 09:45:51 UTC+1, GB wrote:
On 03/06/2016 22:57, Tim Streater wrote:
In article , Another John
wrote:

In article ,
Mark Allread wrote:

All gravel drives will eventually gather muck in them and form a bed
for weeds. You just keep topping up the gravel and use it as a mulch
picking out the odd weeds from time to time until they become a big
enough problem to top up the gravel again.

I'd second all of that, and add that spraying with a glyphosate
weedkiller helps a great deal (for one thing, dead weeds are far
easier to pull out than live ones[1]. Life's too short.

+1

Swot I'm doing.


We used to use Sodium Chlorate. It killed the weeds, and nothing grew
there for quite a while. Shame it's no longer available - I assume
because it's too easy to make explosives out of it? That seems a much
better solution (no pun intended) than glyphosate.

Ordinary salt is nearly as good and may even be free.

In message ,
harry writes
Swot I'm doing.


We used to use Sodium Chlorate. It killed the weeds, and nothing grew
there for quite a while. Shame it's no longer available - I assume
because it's too easy to make explosives out of it? That seems a much
better solution (no pun intended) than glyphosate.

Ordinary salt is nearly as good and may even be free.

Point of order.... salt used for de-icing paths etc. may cause damage to
trees/shrubs through underlying roots.

--
Tim Lamb

GB Wrote in message:
On 03/06/2016 22:57, Tim Streater wrote:
In article , Another John
wrote:

In article ,
Mark Allread wrote:

All gravel drives will eventually gather muck in them and form a bed
for weeds. You just keep topping up the gravel and use it as a mulch
picking out the odd weeds from time to time until they become a big
enough problem to top up the gravel again.

I'd second all of that, and add that spraying with a glyphosate
weedkiller helps a great deal (for one thing, dead weeds are far
easier to pull out than live ones[1]. Life's too short.

+1

Swot I'm doing.


We used to use Sodium Chlorate. It killed the weeds, and nothing grew
there for quite a while. Shame it's no longer available

EBay 5litres £30?

--
Jim K


----Android NewsGroup Reader----
http://usenet.sinaapp.com/

In message , Chris Hogg
writes

As a lad I soaked loo paper in it, dried it out and tried it as rocket
propellant in a cigar-tube rocket. Not very successful but great fun.

Much better to mix it with sugar, then pack in tube of choice. So I'm
told ...
--
Graeme

In article ,
News wrote:
In message , Chris Hogg
writes

As a lad I soaked loo paper in it, dried it out and tried it as rocket
propellant in a cigar-tube rocket. Not very successful but great fun.

Much better to mix it with sugar, then pack in tube of choice. So I'm
told ...

35mm film can and some jetex fuse.

--
from KT24 in Surrey, England

On Sat, 04 Jun 2016 10:20:47 +0100, Chris Hogg wrote:

snip

We used to use Sodium Chlorate. It killed the weeds, and nothing grew
there for quite a while. Shame it's no longer available - I assume
because it's too easy to make explosives out of it? That seems a much
better solution (no pun intended) than glyphosate.

I wouldn't use it myself, but for no particularly good reason. It does
tend to poison the soil and hang around, so can be quite long lasting
in its effect, which is probably what you want on a drive, but not
anywhere else. Run-off may be a problem. It's still available as a
solution on Ebay, it seems. http://tinyurl.com/jotgar6

As a lad I soaked loo paper in it, dried it out and tried it as rocket
propellant in a cigar-tube rocket. Not very successful but great fun.

I did similar ... made up a supersaturated solution and soak strips of
newspaper in it and hang to dry. If burned as an open strip it would
go like a fuse and give off loads of white smoke. Packed more densely
it would burn 'quicker' of course. ;-)

Cheers, T i m

On 04/06/2016 10:20, Chris Hogg wrote:

As a lad I soaked loo paper in it, dried it out and tried it as rocket
propellant in a cigar-tube rocket. Not very successful but great fun.

We used to fill a strong bottle with it, drill through the stopper for
the fuse, then run fast.

Bill

Mark Allread wrote:
On Fri, 03 Jun 2016 21:38:29 +0100, Gareth Davies wrote:

I have a fairly small gravel drive (about 17 feet long by 8 at the
widest point).

The previous owners didn't lay it correctly or at all - as far as I can
see they just put a very thin layer of gravel la few mm thick over a
grass/soil base. Needless to say, weeds are a big problem although for
very occasional driving on, the surface is fine.

I'm not in the mood to dig it out properly. It's not so much laziness as
not wanting to spend money at present on soild and muck disposal.

Is there a workaround I can use until I can do it properly?

Would digging out a small layer, adding a weed sheet and then gravel on
top of that to a few centimetres be a very temporary solution?

All gravel drives will eventually gather muck in them and form a bed for
weeds. You just keep topping up the gravel and use it as a mulch picking
out the odd weeds from time to time until they become a big enough
problem to top up the gravel again.

We have a big gravel drive. The best (as regards maintenance) parts
are those where the gravel has impacted down with sand and some soil
to form an almost concrete like surface. I chuck all sorts of 'gunge'
of various sorts on the drive to try and encourage all of it to become
more solid like the good bits.

--
Chris Green
·

On 03-Jun-16 9:38 PM, Gareth Davies wrote:
I have a fairly small gravel drive (about 17 feet long by 8 at the
widest point).

The previous owners didn't lay it correctly or at all - as far as I can
see they just put a very thin layer of gravel la few mm thick over a
grass/soil base. Needless to say, weeds are a big problem although for
very occasional driving on, the surface is fine.

I'm not in the mood to dig it out properly. It's not so much laziness as
not wanting to spend money at present on soild and muck disposal.

Is there a workaround I can use until I can do it properly?

Would digging out a small layer, adding a weed sheet and then gravel on
top of that to a few centimetres be a very temporary solution?

On 03-Jun-16 9:38 PM, Gareth Davies wrote:

Glyphosate, (or Roundup the branded product) would kill the weeds. Mix
at 25mL per L and spray on. Make sure you keep the spray on the drive
(it will kill most things green.) The pack will also give you the
dilution for use in a watering can. I think a sprayer is the most
economical, even a small container with a hand operated trigger which I
use for isolated weeds.


--
Old Codger
e-mail use reply to field

What matters in politics is not what happens, but what you can make
people believe has happened. [Janet Daley 27/8/2003]

"Gareth Davies" wrote in message
...

I have a fairly small gravel drive (about 17 feet long by 8 at the widest
point).

The previous owners didn't lay it correctly or at all - as far as I can see
they just put a very thin layer of gravel la few mm thick over a grass/soil
base. Needless to say, weeds are a big problem although for very occasional
driving on, the surface is fine.

I'm not in the mood to dig it out properly. It's not so much laziness as
not wanting to spend money at present on soild and muck disposal.

Is there a workaround I can use until I can do it properly?

Would digging out a small layer, adding a weed sheet and then gravel on top
of that to a few centimetres be a very temporary solution?


Google 'Clinic Ace' - it's a glyphosate weed killer.

Andrew

On 03/06/16 21:38, Gareth Davies wrote:
I have a fairly small gravel drive (about 17 feet long by 8 at the
widest point).

The previous owners didn't lay it correctly or at all - as far as I can
see they just put a very thin layer of gravel la few mm thick over a
grass/soil base. Needless to say, weeds are a big problem although for
very occasional driving on, the surface is fine.

I'm not in the mood to dig it out properly. It's not so much laziness as
not wanting to spend money at present on soild and muck disposal.

Is there a workaround I can use until I can do it properly?

Would digging out a small layer, adding a weed sheet and then gravel on
top of that to a few centimetres be a very temporary solution?

spray it off with glyphosate, and add another 3" of gravel on top.

Then forget about if for another year


--
New Socialism consists essentially in being seen to have your heart in
the right place whilst your head is in the clouds and your hand is in
someone else's pocket.

Gareth Davies wrote:
I have a fairly small gravel drive (about 17 feet long by 8 at the
widest point).

The previous owners didn't lay it correctly or at all - as far as I
can see they just put a very thin layer of gravel la few mm thick
over a grass/soil base. Needless to say, weeds are a big problem
although for very occasional driving on, the surface is fine.

I'm not in the mood to dig it out properly. It's not so much laziness
as not wanting to spend money at present on soild and muck disposal.

Is there a workaround I can use until I can do it properly?

Would digging out a small layer, adding a weed sheet and then gravel
on top of that to a few centimetres be a very temporary solution?

It would look hideous - the weed membrane shows through the gravel unless
it's at least 3 or 4 inches thick

On 04/06/16 16:20, Phil L wrote:
Gareth Davies wrote:
I have a fairly small gravel drive (about 17 feet long by 8 at the
widest point).

The previous owners didn't lay it correctly or at all - as far as I
can see they just put a very thin layer of gravel la few mm thick
over a grass/soil base. Needless to say, weeds are a big problem
although for very occasional driving on, the surface is fine.

I'm not in the mood to dig it out properly. It's not so much laziness
as not wanting to spend money at present on soild and muck disposal.

Is there a workaround I can use until I can do it properly?

Would digging out a small layer, adding a weed sheet and then gravel
on top of that to a few centimetres be a very temporary solution?

It would look hideous - the weed membrane shows through the gravel unless
it's at least 3 or 4 inches thick


And does **** all on drives where mud will drop off tyres full of seeds
anyway


--
€œSome people like to travel by train because it combines the slowness of
a car with the cramped public exposure of €¨an airplane.€�

Dennis Miller

The Natural Philosopher wrote:
On 04/06/16 16:20, Phil L wrote:
Gareth Davies wrote:
I have a fairly small gravel drive (about 17 feet long by 8 at the
widest point).

The previous owners didn't lay it correctly or at all - as far as I
can see they just put a very thin layer of gravel la few mm thick
over a grass/soil base. Needless to say, weeds are a big problem
although for very occasional driving on, the surface is fine.

I'm not in the mood to dig it out properly. It's not so much
laziness as not wanting to spend money at present on soild and muck
disposal. Is there a workaround I can use until I can do it properly?

Would digging out a small layer, adding a weed sheet and then gravel
on top of that to a few centimetres be a very temporary solution?

It would look hideous - the weed membrane shows through the gravel
unless it's at least 3 or 4 inches thick


And does **** all on drives where mud will drop off tyres full of
seeds anyway

yep, bird **** full of seeds, dandelion seeds blowing about, they all
germinate

On 04/06/16 17:01, Phil L wrote:
The Natural Philosopher wrote:
On 04/06/16 16:20, Phil L wrote:
Gareth Davies wrote:
I have a fairly small gravel drive (about 17 feet long by 8 at the
widest point).

The previous owners didn't lay it correctly or at all - as far as I
can see they just put a very thin layer of gravel la few mm thick
over a grass/soil base. Needless to say, weeds are a big problem
although for very occasional driving on, the surface is fine.

I'm not in the mood to dig it out properly. It's not so much
laziness as not wanting to spend money at present on soild and muck
disposal. Is there a workaround I can use until I can do it properly?

Would digging out a small layer, adding a weed sheet and then gravel
on top of that to a few centimetres be a very temporary solution?

It would look hideous - the weed membrane shows through the gravel
unless it's at least 3 or 4 inches thick


And does **** all on drives where mud will drop off tyres full of
seeds anyway

yep, bird **** full of seeds, dandelion seeds blowing about, they all
germinate


ABOVE the weed contraol layer. That crap only works for ornamental
gardens where it stops perennials with roots like coucjh from coming
through. Its useless on a real drive.


--
€œit should be clear by now to everyone that activist environmentalism
(or environmental activism) is becoming a general ideology about humans,
about their freedom, about the relationship between the individual and
the state, and about the manipulation of people under the guise of a
'noble' idea. It is not an honest pursuit of 'sustainable development,'
a matter of elementary environmental protection, or a search for
rational mechanisms designed to achieve a healthy environment. Yet
things do occur that make you shake your head and remind yourself that
you live neither in Joseph Stalins Communist era, nor in the Orwellian
utopia of 1984.€�

Vaclav Klaus