My Garden

weeds in gravel despite membrane

Last post 26-06-2009 1:53 PM by RogerBee. 4 replies.

• 02/06/2009 12:48 PM

  shamac Location: northumberland Joined on: 02 Jun 2009 Posts: 1

  Reply | Contact  despite using a weed suppressing membrane we have a very large gravelled area in our holiday home garden which is now full of weeds after only a fortnight. Not sure what we did wrong and don't visit often enough to keep weeds under control just by pulling them up. We garden organically and have fruit and veg growing very nearby so how do we get rid of them. Someone mentioned applying vinegar-will this work? Do the garden flame throwers work? HELP!! Thanks

• 02/06/2009 04:50 PM

  In reply to

  bogweevil Location: Joined on: 02 Mar 2004 Posts: 2,043

  Reply | Contact Sounds like there was a certain amount of fines in the gravel and weed seeds have germinated in that.  A path weedkiller will remove them and keep the gravel clear, a contact weedkiller will kill them but they might comeback, a flamegun will kill them but you might die of the tedium first, espially in cool wet weather, and vinegar might well do some damage especially if applied in hot weather, but is unlikley to be much use in cool wet weather.  Pelargonic acid is a posh kind of vinegar and this has a slightly better effect than vinegar and is offered in products such as weedol max.   Boggy Beware the bat-eared bogweevil

• 26/06/2009 01:30 PM

  In reply to

  Alix Location: Bristol Joined on: 19 Dec 2008 Posts: 47

  Reply | Contact Trouble with membrane is that it stops weeds coming up through but it will not stop seeds germinating, as bogweevil says. Solid plastic membranes work better but are horrible and cause problems where the water runs off (especially if you've sprayed with weedkiller) and may be restricted now. If you dont visit often enough to weed, how on earth do you manage the fruit and veg? This is probably the worst time of year for it - a bit of rain and lots of sun and up pop the weed seeds that have been dormant for ages. I've never tried vinegar but someone I know swears by boiling water. I have tried flame weeding and its good for small seedlings and annuals but of course its rubbish on wet or windy days - mind you, not a good idea to use weedkillers on those days either. If you have leaves etc falling on the gravel this will worsen the problem as they rot down to form a lovely seed bed, and the roots go straight down through the membrane so that when you pull them it makes a hole in the membrane and then its ruined!! Doom!! Organic gardening requires a lot more man hours and thats all there is to it. Employ a gardener?

• 26/06/2009 01:44 PM

  In reply to

  RogerBee Location: Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire Joined on: 14 Jan 2009 Posts: 84

  Reply | Contact I put gravel down on my mother's front garden to make it easier to maintain (over a weed suppressing membrane) and still had trouble with weeds too. This year I tried using a dutch hoe, with it just below the surface of the gravel (but above the membrane to avoid digging into it) to chop the weeds off at ground level and have found this the most successful method yet. The total area involved is about 18-20m.sq so I don't know if this is practical for the size area you are dealing with. This is probably best done on a warm sunny day so that the sun will dry off and help kill the plants - and try to get it done before they flower and seed otherwise you'll have them literally everywhere. Give it a go - it might just work!

• 26/06/2009 01:53 PM	In reply to
  RogerBee Location: Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire Joined on: 14 Jan 2009 Posts: 84	Reply | Contact Sorry that should be 18-20sq.m (about 5m by 4m) Give it a go - it might just work!