Weed killer

Coarse salt, dissolved in water. But it's slower to act than glyphosate etc.

After reading about bicarbonate of soda, I invested in a very large tub. Followed directions- small squirt of washing up liquid in watering can and liberally water the area. Then using a sieve, scattered the bicarb. Repeated the exercise 2 days later.
The results are patchy. Grass and broadleaved weeds are shrivelling but the little weeds infesting the gravel are resisting!
I wanted to avoid the heavy duty nasty stuff but am disappointed with this 'kinder' alternative.

DH uses a flame killer thingy as he wont use any weedkiller at all.

flame thrower!

If you don’t want to use glyphosate, salt is highly poisonous and will kill most living things as will any strong acid, although if we all started using those compounds on a large scale the environment would suffer too.

A flame thrower is out. What about vinegar?

Jeyes Fluid.

Realy MOnica ? neat or diluted?

Annie, I am not sure. It is the last bit of advice my DM ever gave me.

We had moved house a few months earlier and the lawn was infested with a tiny round leaved thug that had killed off most of the grass. I had tried lawn weed killer and salt, but without effect.

I never actually tried the Jeyes Fluid as sodium chlorate was still legal and having accidentally got some on the edge of the grass when spraying the front path and seeing it kill this pernicious plant, I said 'What the hell', sodium chlorated the whole lawn, dug it up and started again.

20 years later it is beginning to come back but - alas - sodium chlorate is banned and unobtainable.

I would think you diluted the Jeyes Fluid.

Jeyes fluid works but is banned for weed control so that is illegal although it used to be used on a large scale.
Use something legal like glyphosate, for a patio or path strong salt solution between the slabs will discourage most plant growth

Jeyes illegal? Was just going to order it Thump

Boiling water from the kettle?

I must admit the advice is more than 20 years old. My DM died in 1997.

I saw some non-glyphosphate Round-Up in Home base today, for those of you who won't use that weedkiller.

I use a weed burner wand www.ebay.co.uk/itm/WEED-BURNER-KILLER-WAND-BUTANE-GAS-BLOWTORCH-GARDEN-OUTDOOR-WEEDS-MOSS-FUNGUS/192423348274?var=&hash=item2ccd534832&enc=AQADAAAC8FjVrDbVsZ8oH%2F8PNHtt9VX4%2Fw7FZcmMuqsX8uaFEduVhSQ6BfMwGmp6myx%2B7wAXAtZbPeqwUmBo707bCJgw3Cf8dXfEiUZVEYMW%2Bk2p39Ro%2FIZdhLd05j4p3MKvR3KRx8ICy%2BSmzc9cSW3w5MaTm4dAfmD%2BpoUOaB2j3p%2FvX1LH3e79a2M1MwgczaogNWADtpulUV7R2p36%2FS5tvYxT%2Fd3IQMLM%2B8xKXovFDhnmwW7FjGcCz0PbqrTRrQA0TPRnt9NvGoyH9O8Kk%2BvZ4OnbkWnx50%2B2l0iyO28KZgwOPyoTgmMoEmQcBI3luvaHepsWfr%2BwMwMPb6a1tG7iY07AEG6pMcoeV2Ls4ongYOnxJ5wT66UIArflzgB2ScGRg02x4RsMg341ro%2Ff151neun3216diKXEoUSPwHwJHpeTBuP2BXV0VwM%2BSUhrzq0hfgyY3R5IOJYk%2BNDip6Ogd%2F7kGmYNpI5xwJb%2FZRLtQf62yc44gT%2BtrsndaeGB9MMEh%2FAwYEX5ylMunfTC38xukGku1VZqLVk6rLYIRhFV6sXREvnFvPcKDm1jZF%2FoVHGRj6%2F5QY9ATRxsQPI0QaQsyUy4rrFYtt%2BPwgzg2NKk%2BY9kgukR90y0x6J3a5ohi8thLw6AR9mPG5dnx4sYpTlYDsIlxI1xuaUy4Nuv2THU9Teh04bQcTxJwiuJTA7JYWwKXdiC0xXvJLYaPwuF%2BDY%2FaElzl3P%2BShqtDPpRiXXr67Vu10U4YbTK14X4N1SbcO1wKsqvTvz9bpFX%2BZ6MvY1qtRrGGCXZ4F%2FChPrwKgqx5wuMODI%2FnFHchaOJTT7IO0AakFmCKwdUDvshfXrbRiIJcNlEtO5v7inMgDezpWyCICFSVfg6QSH7U7EWAwNxG5EOsA6NvPkofysfypLCl7qcYOX3Y9E1%2F2roOgsgzOBwnznr2Uk17FXVFPF2ZBcZUPg1b9CRCRaJgSXdevcQi3SEVMA3btcz8CrIFOu8RuBiLBNwhncB&checksum=192423348274b32d5b7312f747e8ad8ff136dc5a1d3a

You can also get electric ones www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Parkland-2000W-Electric-Weed-Burner-Killer-Wand-Hot-Air-Blaster-Torch-600-c-New/264266065681?epid=9031178846&hash=item3d877c2711:g:fMwAAOSw0oFcrHJ8

I think I read that the problem with using salt is that it destroys nutrients in the soil, so nothing will grow there afterwards.
I only used it on one patch, next to a wall which I wanted to be kept clear.
OK between pavers too, as David says.

DH is thinking of getting a flame thrower; it's usually a hard slog with a trowel or fork but some are too persistent or between flagstones.
I just noticed a lot of bindweed which has appeared in the rosebed and that seems to thwart any attempts at digging it out.

I use white vinegar for weeds between paving slabs.

Thank you all

Flame thrower is out, my younger granddaughter is going to help me .

I will try white vinegar, the weeds are on the path and an area which has chippings .

I would really try the boiling water before weedkillers , I ended up with a horrible jelly like slime on the concrete from weedkiller

Have you tried a strong solution of salt water? Gets rid of weeds asap.

If you use it as a spray, be careful it doesn't drift onto the foliage of other plants, it's brown them
Spot dressing is best.

I have the flame thrower thingy, & find it burns the the tops off but they grow back as the roots aren’t burnt. Does your back in, bending down with it, too!

PS bought an electric weed scrubber thing from Aldi last year to use on my patio. It takes the tops off too but not roots, and is much quicker to use.

I tried a flame thrower but I couldn't bear shrivelling the poor ants, spiders and other garden insects.

We have quite a lot of paving in one way or another which drives me crazy trying to keep it clear of weeds. It sounds as though it's well worth giving a strong salt solution a try. Thanks to those who suggested it.

I use a mixture of the following to kill weeds:
4 cups white vinegar
2 cups Epsom salt
1/4 cup dish soap
Mix well and pour into a sprayer.
It seems to work well, especially if you spray the roots as well as the leaves.

Oh dear. Why do you use weedkiller?
We had a visiter to our community garden yesterday who had binoculars and was pointing out to me the array of butterflies he could see. A moment later he stopped talking to listen to the birdsong. He could hear nuthatch and black caps and the robin,
In almost the next moment he said it was a shame the garden looked overgrown and that the cabbages last year had been attacked by something - but then he added "but you people don't believe in weedkillers do you".
He really couldn't see the connection!