# Best total-kill herbicide to clear off my back yard **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 27, 2018, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-total-kill-herbicide-to-clear-off-my-back-yard/820382 "2018-08-27T22:06:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d9b06d/32.png) [@Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boozahol_Squid_P.I)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2018, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-total-kill-herbicide-to-clear-off-my-back-yard/820382/41 "2018-08-28T19:21:39Z")
> [@Alpha\_Twit](#): > > Is it even legal to have sheep or goats running around your yard? People keep suggesting them as a viable option when it may not be. Can you rent a herd without getting a ticket from the police when your neighbors register a complaint? Presumably Wyoming is a bit more relaxed about this than many other places but that doesn’t mean that livestock are welcome in every subdivision. It obviously all depends on your specific locality, but there are multiple goat rental services in my area. The city even used one to clear out the undergrowth around a park near my house. They’re honestly not very intrusive: a few small yappy dogs make much more noise than a half dozen goats. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2018, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-total-kill-herbicide-to-clear-off-my-back-yard/820382/42 "2018-08-28T22:12:10Z")
It sounds like drainage won’t be a problem on this plot. Apparently goats are also the preferred method for poison ivy, too. > [@Ulfreida](#): > > … > One of the most effective and completely ecologically benign ways to kill weeds short term is called “solarizing”. essentially you just cover the area with thick black plastic and wait. I have done this on a very large scale (part of a wetlands restoration project involving acres of invasive non-natives). … Hmm - so you aren’t concerned about getting the dormant seeds to germinate and die? Huh. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2018, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-total-kill-herbicide-to-clear-off-my-back-yard/820382/43 "2018-08-29T00:10:27Z")
> [@suretytek](#): > > I too have heard that sheep are much more damaging to plants than goats. Goats eat plants down to a certain point which allows them to come back. Sheep on the other hand eat down into the roots and damage them enough to where many don’t come back. I’m not sure that you’ll find a place to rent sheep though. Maybe just keep a small herd in the back yard for a few years. 🙂 The only way goats (or sheep) are useful in this scenario is if they are owned and managed by professionals. Sheep eat grass, mainly. Goats eat forbs and shrubs, mainly.That is only one of the many differences between them. Any animal that is starving will eat anything they can get, which is the scenario you are envisioning here. They are not machines, and require both knowledge and equipment in order to manage them. I’m also wondering how you imagine your rocks are going to stay put with that kind of a slope. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2018, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-total-kill-herbicide-to-clear-off-my-back-yard/820382/44 "2018-08-29T00:11:42Z")
> [@j666](#): > > It sounds like drainage won’t be a problem on this plot. > > Apparently goats are also the preferred method for poison ivy, too. > Hmm - so you aren’t concerned about getting the dormant seeds to germinate and die? Huh. The heat kills seeds. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2018, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-total-kill-herbicide-to-clear-off-my-back-yard/820382/45 "2018-08-29T00:32:04Z")
> [@Kron](#): > > The intent is to remove the current vegetation, fabric the whole thing, and lay down white landscaping rock. The whole backyard is steeply inclined (25% grade) except for a small bench right next to the house, so it is highly impractical to mow, and the soil is absolute crap… and rock looks better than weeds. You may want to lay down erosion control fabric after you remove the plants whose roots are holding everything in place. Again, contractors’ supply companies have large rolls of this economically. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2018, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-total-kill-herbicide-to-clear-off-my-back-yard/820382/46 "2018-08-29T00:41:25Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > The only way goats (or sheep) are useful in this scenario is if they are owned and managed by professionals. Haven’t read the whole thread yet, but yes to this. You could put sheep on 10 acres of grass, weeds, whatever and have a nice, expensive apple tree triple-fenced off from them. They will kill the apple tree first. Then cry and make a racket for hay. ---
**Author:** ![Alpha\_Twit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alpha_twit/32/265_2.png) [@Alpha\_Twit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alpha_Twit)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2018, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-total-kill-herbicide-to-clear-off-my-back-yard/820382/47 "2018-08-29T00:56:23Z")
> [@Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](#): > > It obviously all depends on your specific locality, but there are multiple goat rental services in my area. The city even used one to clear out the undergrowth around a park near my house. The OP does not live in your area. North Carolina and Wyoming are not near each other. What is legal in North Carolina is not automatically significant to a Wyoming resident. IMHO, if the OP wished to pursue this, it’s not unwise for the OP to investigate the legality of turning livestock loose on his property before proceeding. Am I wrong? > [@Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](#): > > They’re honestly not very intrusive: a few small yappy dogs make much more noise than a half dozen goats. I agree. My family used to raise goat and I like the sneaky jerks. It wouldn’t bother me if my neighbors wanted to move in some goats. This fact does not make them legal in my area and I would be fined if I tried to have them on my property. What you or I think of this is irrelevant. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2018, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-total-kill-herbicide-to-clear-off-my-back-yard/820382/48 "2018-08-29T01:32:08Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > The heat kills seeds. That makes perfect sense in a wetlands, but some previously thought extinct species have come back in the fire ravaged areas of the west coast. I offer this more to say that weeds will find a way than to argue with a trained professional. I’m still grappling with the possibility that North Carolina is more goat friendly that Wyoming. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2018, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-total-kill-herbicide-to-clear-off-my-back-yard/820382/49 "2018-08-29T05:26:10Z")
> [@j666](#): > > I’m still grappling with the possibility that North Carolina is more goat friendly that Wyoming. We don’t want the OP to start a new range war! ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2018, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-total-kill-herbicide-to-clear-off-my-back-yard/820382/50 "2018-08-29T05:38:48Z")
Wyoming has no need for goats: they have these awesome little things called “pronghorns”. Those fuckers are everywhere, because they eat the kind of stuff that grows there. In fact, I have heard that pronghorns eat so much sage that if you manage to bring one down, the meat is already seasoned for you. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-total-kill-herbicide-to-clear-off-my-back-yard/820382.md?page=2)