Weeds on gravel drive

I us eone of those gas fired burners. Works very well.

We have a weed burner with 3 spare gas canisters it was only £15 and its brilliant !

My husband uses one he loves it. Great for weed killing in between delicate plants.
We salt our drive to get rid of the weeds. It rains in and kills them. That is very effective as well.

Another recommendation here for weed burners-brilliant!

I've loads of gravel and the weeds are an endless problem.
Dan the gardener man put down a membrane and new chippings for me, but the weeds come up through the membrane. It's infuriating.
But if I get a weed burner would it set fire to the membrane and then spread? Also, my son. a nature lover, says that weed burners kill lots of innocent little insects.
I'm going outside in a minute to do some more weeding

we have a weed burner too

weed burners kill lots of innocent little insects

This does worry me. Salt is another idea but that will kill insects as well.

I have 40 meters of drive and another small area. I have spent over 5 hours in the last fortnight out there and the main thing to show is the pain in my hands and back! And where I started is already growing back ?

I've decided that I can cope with some weeds, so while I do dig up the dandelions, buttercups and grass (not obsessive about it as there are other things to do in the garden) I leave the milkwort, geraniums, sedum, aquiliegia (sp?), poppies and so on. They look pretty when they are flowering and attract insects. If they get driven over by visitors, so what? And I'm more laid back than I was, which makes a change. ? ?

Sorry, can't advise about a weed burner, which we have thought about but never got round to getting.

I too have a lot of gravel and a lot of weeds. Can’t kneel for more than a few moments and hip now going so have regretfully resorted to weed killer. I have poor sight so weed burner probably isn’t a good idea. I leave the poppies but am plagued by wild mustard. Any suggestions?

I have a gravel drive and the wild flowers and grasses have been a joy. I had a wonderful crop of lovely white feverfew this year . Later on when the grasses have lost their pristine greenery I will ask my son to mow the drive at a high cut. Green alkanet flowers intensely blue beside the darker green hedge and is a joy year after year.

I pull up tree seedlings and briar seedlings, and I don't accept docks, so I am selective.

Why does anyone want sterility as far as the eye can see?

Well said, Caleo. Thank you, I forgot about feverfew, which is another very pretty one decorating our drive. We also have honesty and the odd Aaron's Rod at the edges.

I am happy with wild flowers but it is the fact that the lawn has overflowed and it is not possible to cut it. I don’t need sterility just some order.

Soozikinzi, could you let us know where you bought your weed burner with 3 canisters please?

I bought my weed burner on ebay and buy packs of replacement gas cylinders on ebay as well.

OH originally bought a delicate weed burner with a gas cannister about the size of a hairspray can and loved it. The gas canister was quickly used up and difficult to buy so he attached the rod to our b-b-q gas bottle, he then manufactured a more robust rod. Now it operates like a WW1 flame thrower and he is in his element. Be warned.

I weed by hand because of all the insect life going on down there in the gravel etc....

Farview, I can pull up tree and briar seedlngs when they are about up to six or eight inches, but I can't manage docks and have to poison them with spotkill Roundup. It's not too bad as I don't get many docks.

My attitude to my gravel drive is a long grass lawn in waiting which drains rather well due to the gravel. Cars can drive over it too without sinking in.

I rake and hoe my drive regularly, it's the old fashioned way but it works. The secret is to doing it often , before any weeds show.

Thanks SpringyChicken, I’ll make a note in my diary to try that next year.

.I bought a weed burner but I couldn't bear to kill all those insects every time I used it, so I abandoned it.

Gravel has to be the best seed raising medium ever !

Can you not get a barrier between your garden and your drive, tizliz? A low wall perhaps?

Can you not get a barrier between your garden and your drive, tizliz? A low wall perhaps?

It's on the list !! then will have to take all the gravel off and put a new membrane down. The list however is quite long already.

I was watching the lad who helps in the garden (sounds posh but he only does an hour a week) and felt depressed because 10 years ago it would have been the OH and me cutting back the trees. Old age is hard.

We use Pathclear on our gravel frontage. This works fairly well but as anyone with gravel knows, it isn't foolproof (weedproof?) as the little blighters grow from fresh seeds blown onto the gravel at a later date.

We 'spot' clear the tiny seedlings before they can get a grip.

To mop these up we do use a weed burner - powered by gas cartridges. I say 'we', but it's Mr C that thankfully does this job.

I am afraid that we are not squeamish (sorry) about loss of insect life on any minute seedlings we/he have never spotted anything at the time.

If using a weed burner we feel the gas cartridges are better than the electric burners, as these don't have enough 'welly' to successfully complete the job.

Well I have just ordered one. They are quite cheap so I will see how it goes.