Weedless gravel paths and recycling existing weed invested gravel?

[Time Waster]

Digging out gravel paths to put down weed control sheet then cover with gravel. Hopefully weeds won't keep growing through that.

How deep do you need to lay gravel foot such a path?

Also, the gravel we're digging up is a mix of gravel, soil and plants. If we sieve this do you think we'd save much gravel or should we get rid and get fresh? I thinking sieving might work so we don't have to buy so much gravel. There's a lot of these paths to renovate like this and 100% new gravel could get expensive.

 

[Slick]

Sieving will be fine, but whilst taram or similar will be helpful, weeds will come back just not necessarily through the sheet.

Its the eternal battle.

 

[Slick]

As for depth, personal preference is best, but too deep can be a pain.

I've just ordered 20 ton for week after next, but I'm starting to think it won't be enough as its for driving on and you need a little depth for cars.

 

[Time Waster]

The battle right now is we spend a day digging out the weeds in the path, then a week or possibly two weeks later there's weeds and they're pretty much as big as the ones we removed. Seriously, it's that quick to come back!

 

[classic33]

Try an agricultural supplier, what they sell can keep weeds at bay a lot longer, if not permanently.

One such product,
https://elixirgardensupplies.co.uk/...phosate-commercial-strength-treats-1666-sq-m/

 

[Seevio]

I may be able to lay my hands on some agent orange. That would do the trick.

 

[classic33]

I may be able to lay my hands on some agent orange. That would do the trick.

Try coffee filters.
Although how many you'll need I don't know.

 

[Time Waster]

Try an agricultural supplier, what they sell can keep weeds at bay a lot longer, if not permanently.

One such product,
https://elixirgardensupplies.co.uk/...phosate-commercial-strength-treats-1666-sq-m/

Glycophosphates aren't advisable around pets and other animals. Although I've used that on the tarmac driveway on plants growing out of the corner. I believe it's in roundup spray. It hasn't been that effective IME perhaps I needed to spray them days a day for a few weeks to kill the little triffids.

BTW those green with purple/ red fringed, pointed leaves would easily survive a nuclear armageddon! Just glad they've not made it to the back jungle I mean garden.

I do like the idea of agent orange. I don't think napalm would touch some of these plants. Vinca major is one and another is a kind of vine that spreads along the ground with every contact to the soil results in a new plant. Green with light green/white bits on it.

Other places it's strawberry plants. Bought two plants 2 years ago. They've overgrown the border they're in, they're now growing out of the patio, paths and even put of a tree round cut from a leylandii we had felled. Mutant strawberries the way they've spread.

Agent orange is a serious good idea. Do they sell it in B&Q garden section?

 

[fritz katzenjammer]

I know… you could ride you bike up and down the trails. That will kill the weeds. If the weeds are taking over get more people to ride on it.

Its odd, before gravel riding was a thing my friends and I used to rip up a set of local tracks, they stayed weed free without chemicals or barriers or layers of gravel.

and we didn’t even have specialized bikes or tires… imagine that.

 

[wiggydiggy]

Glycophosphates aren't advisable around pets and other animals. Although I've used that on the tarmac driveway on plants growing out of the corner. I believe it's in roundup spray. It hasn't been that effective IME perhaps I needed to spray them days a day for a few weeks to kill the little triffids.

BTW those green with purple/ red fringed, pointed leaves would easily survive a nuclear armageddon! Just glad they've not made it to the back jungle I mean garden.

I do like the idea of agent orange. I don't think napalm would touch some of these plants. Vinca major is one and another is a kind of vine that spreads along the ground with every contact to the soil results in a new plant. Green with light green/white bits on it.

Other places it's strawberry plants. Bought two plants 2 years ago. They've overgrown the border they're in, they're now growing out of the patio, paths and even put of a tree round cut from a leylandii we had felled. Mutant strawberries the way they've spread.

Agent orange is a serious good idea. Do they sell it in B&Q garden section?

I've no pets/animals but if that one wasn't that effective is there another you'd recommend?

I have the same stones/weeds issue. The previous owners had stones everywhere which I'm in the middle of digging out and getting actually plantable soil in place, but I've still got quite of lot of stone with the ubiquitous weed problem to deal with.

 

[presta]

Digging out gravel paths to put down weed control sheet then cover with gravel. Hopefully weeds won't keep growing through that.

As a kid I grew beans sandwiched in between the wall of a jam jar and a piece of damp blotting paper, explain to me why weed seeds in damp gravel above a plastic sheet won't germinate the same way. During the nine years my car was stood unused before I scrapped it, the inside became damp enough for the grass seeds trapped in the carpet to sprout.

 

[MontyVeda]

plenty of weeding to be done on my mother's gravel 'lawn'... and that's got weed control sheeting down. As mentioned, weeds will eventually grow on top of the sheet, but without the sheeting it'd be far far worse.

 

[Time Waster]

As a kid I grew beans sandwiched in between the wall of a jam jar and a piece of damp blotting paper, explain to me why weed seeds in damp gravel above a plastic sheet won't germinate the same way. During the nine years my car was stood unused before I scrapped it, the inside became damp enough for the grass seeds trapped in the carpet to sprout.

It's about stopping the seeds and bulbs beneath the sheet from growing through. You then put clean and seedless material on top. Finally you keep on top of the self seeded weeds that ends up in the gravel.

I'm Isn't about a magical means top stop weeds completely. It is about giving yourself a clean start so you have a chance to stay on top of it.

Right now we can clear a path completely of weeds but two weeks later we're practically where we started. There's enough seeds, bulbs, corms root material in the soil and gravel to keep doing that for longer than I have here. If I use for weed control sheets and clean material on top I've got a decent reset and a chance at keeping it weed free.

I know from being a kid and having to "tickle" my grandparents garden borders with a hoe that it's very much easier to keep on top of a weed problem than getting on top of it.

I once took over an abandoned allotment and after clearing out the couch grass I lost over a foot of height in the soil but I'd very nearly got rid of it. That was seriously hard work and that was couch grass that you can pull on the roots to clear it out a lot easier than the stuff I've got growing in our paths. Plus our paths are very well packed.

 

[Time Waster]

plenty of weeding to be done on my mother's gravel 'lawn'... and that's got weed control sheeting down. As mentioned, weeds will eventually grow on top of the sheet, but without the sheeting it'd be far far worse.

That's why you need to keep on top of it once you've got the clean reset of laying the sheets down under the gravel. It's not about eliminating work completely, but starting from a clean state.

The house was empty for a few years before it could be sold to us. The garden allegedly had a gardener come once a month to keep it tidy. When we got it all paths were covered with either vinca major, vinca minor or a host of other weeds. We worked hard to clear a lot I the first year there but over winter, by the time we could get out in the garden again, it wasn't quite at the beginning but we had a lot top do to even get back to the best of the first year.

This year, our third year here, the garden is looking good. Yes we've got a "country garden" look with a lot of flowing flowing perennials that self seeded, but it looks good and wildlife seem to love it. We've got masses of bees in our garden. Wood pigeons I think are nesting in the overgrown hedging shrub next door and use our greenhouse as a landing strip before casually walking into the shrub and their nest. After fledging we will be cutting that shrub back from the greenhouse like every year we have to. We've had fox visits and numerous bird species. Several types of tips, both house and hedge (dunnocks) sparrows, thrushes (mistle and song I think) plus a few less common ones too. Deer used to visit the top half of the garden, and might do still. We have various mice, shrews and voles too. Oh and occasionally we find another nest that's in use in the garden too.

The only thing is it's too big for us to manage and work too. We need to find shortcuts that help us keep it looking managed. It'll never be manicured to the nth degree but it needs to look tidy. The weeds in the path is really the big issue right now hence finally deciding on a clean reset. I can't think of any other feasible method than this. Considering we've got a pet dog and we're encouraging wildlife.

 

[classic33]

I've no pets/animals but if that one wasn't that effective is there another you'd recommend?

I have the same stones/weeds issue. The previous owners had stones everywhere which I'm in the middle of digging out and getting actually plantable soil in place, but I've still got quite of lot of stone with the ubiquitous weed problem to deal with.

The difference is largely due to it being formulated for home use. The agricultural version was/is mixed down by the user to 200ml per 4 gallon knapsack sprayer. The home use version may contain 10ml for the same volume of water.
I did my own drive and neighbours, whilst she was on holiday having taken the dogs with her. Both still weed free five years later.

@Time Waster, you want the active ingredient from Agent Orange, try bleached coffee filter papers as suggested above. Many contain unsafe, sometimes leathal amounts of the active ingredient.