There is a vast range of common gravel weed species. From grassy weeds like henbit and purslane to woody weeds such as broadleaf or dandelion, these plants are not afraid of taking up residence in decorative gravel. Rather than running to stores to buy weed killer, gardeners may be surprised to hear that there is a better and natural way to see the back of these garden pests.
Fed up of weeds taking over her driveway, one woman took to the Gardening UK Facebook page to ask for some weed removal tips.
Angel Choco wrote: “Hi folks, is it worth putting down weed killer on my gravel now or would the rain just dilute any solutions?
Also wondering if anyone uses bleach solutions to kill weeds. I have a gravel driveway and hate using Resolva or Roundup due to the bad press of it causing health issues. Thanks.”
Quick to offer up their responses in the comments section, fellow gardeners recommended Angel stay away from using bleach and instead opt for the natural route.
Many suggested Angel use a combination of salt and boiling water to “kill” the weeds.
Christopher Soper said: “Bleach is a chemical too. Different weed killers work in different ways, just make sure you follow instructions, avoid using chemicals not approved for the use.”
Christine Howell wrote: “Keep away from the bleach and use boiling water and salt.”
In response to Christine, Cathrine Pettet said: “Yes, This works really well. We’ve stubborn brambles coming up the side of our patio and boiling water and salt is the best way we’ve found so far to effectively kill them.”
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Ben Stillman commented: “If you never want anything growing there again, use salt and hot water. It’s perfect for driveways.
“The salt instantly kills the plants and the hot water will help the weeds absorb the salt quicker and also help kill the weeds. My driveway used to be covered in weeds, I now don’t have any weeds growing up.
“I originally did a one to one ratio when the weeds were bad but struggled to get the salt to dissolve in that amount of water so reduced it to one to two salt to water ratio.
“Now I quickly pour salt on the weeds and then pour water on them later when I remember.”
Sarah McDonald said: “I made a spray of hot water and salt on my paving which I’ve always struggled to keep weeds off and they’ve finally not come back. Could be worth a try.”
Hannah Woodley wrote: “Salt and Boiling water is really good and safe for wildlife. Please don’t use bleach in your garden, it’s really bad for everything (hedgehogs, birds, bugs etc).”
Judi Murphy said: “I use salt and water. I was told about it about three years ago and I have been using it since.
“I buy the big cheap bags of salt and dissolve half a bag in hot water. I add a little lemon washing up liquid and I have a separate red watering can.
“One can to half a bag. Don’t use it on anything you don’t want to kill off though because it will kill plants and grass.
“I put it on the gravel areas and over the slabs twice a year and apart from the odd weed or bit of grass through the slabs it works.
“I have also found that using it over the last three years, less and less weeds are coming back.”
Salt can be picked up from supermarkets such as Aldi and Morrisons for 55p and at Asda and Sainsbury for 65p.
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