I need a way to kill off all the plants growing in one section of my yard. We have a ‘pit’ in one corner with a retaining wall on 2 sides and fence on the other 2 with stairs leading down into it. Currently wildflowers, grass, groundcover and weeds are growing down there and I want to kill it all off so we can either put grass down there or maybe pave it with patio stones. I don’t want to use large amounts of chemicals because we have a dog that plays in the yard and I don’t want to put anything down that could harm her, and if we do decide to plant something else down there I don’t want the ground full of chemicals. Pulling all of it out would take forever.
Currently the only idea I have is to put something over the whole area, like a tarp, and leave it there until everything dies. Would this work? I got the idea from noticing the dead spot in our lawn where we had some wood piled. How long would this take? Does anyone else have any amazing ideas?
If you’re not in a hurry your tarp idea is what I came in to suggest as well. My guess would be that it’ll take 10 days to 2 weeks, depending on the type of plant. Also, you’ll probably still need to clean up the dead stuff after you remove the cover.
Alternatively, you could just put a weed blanket down and then place sod or sand and pavers on top.
Glyphosate (such as “Roundup” by Monsanto) which has no soil residue, is absorbed quickly, and thefoliage can be sprayed with water to clear 24 hours later.
I realise you were not looking for chemicals, but this one is fairly good, and does not have the side effects you are trying to avoid
I’m not opposed to Roundup if it’s really ok for the soil and the dog, but wouldn’t I need a ton of it to cover so much? I was under the impression that Roundup was more for spraying individual weeds and such.
The idea of pouring gas all over scares me a little.
Waverly - I know, this is the first time I have ever had trouble killing plants! Maybe I should just try to get them to grow, that ought to take care of them.
I’m sorry, but this just makes me giggle. Considering how many millions of acres are sprayed with the stuff each year… Most Roundup is not sprayed on little individual weeds. Most Roundup is applied with machines like this onto large fields. That said, it’s quite simple to use with a hand sprayer or even squirt bottle in a confined space. Just read the directions on the jug in the store to see how much you need. It’s only a couple bucks an acre if you’re buying in bulk, but I imagine it’s rather more expensive in small containers.
Anyways, Roundup would be the quickest method for killing the plants, and isn’t a danger to your dog or the soil. The tarp trick will work perfectly well too, but will take longer. Gasoline is a bad idea, as it will contaminate the soil.
Can you tell I did not grow up on a farm? I have a spray bottle of Round Up that is used for, say, spraying directly on one dandelion. Considering the warning labels on that stuff I never thought it would be ok to use it around anything you didn’t want to die.
Sounds like either Roundup or the tarp will work ok (I’m not in a big hurry).
Now if only I had a crop duster, application would be much more exciting.
You shouldn’t use Roundup to kill a single dandelion. Roundup is a non selective plant killer. You should really use a product such as WeedBGone which will kill the weed without harming your grass.
Grassing over is actually a recognised method of removing persistent weeds such as bindweed and horsetails.
Basically, run over it with a brushcutter at regular intervals, only grass and a few short perennial weeds can survive this sort of treatment and after a while, you can switch to mowing. You only need to apply grass seed if there isn’t already some growing in there as a weed.
Black Plastic over the patch of grass can get hot enough to kill the above ground foliage.
Roundup is probably the least toxic of any herbicide:
Oral: The daily dose of 500 mg/kg b.w. given to dogs for one year did not cause adverse effects.
Meaning, if your dog is say 40 lbs, which is 18Kg, taking in 9 grams of the stuff DAILY wouldn’t do it harm, according to the above.
Simply keep your dog out of the area where roundup is sprayed until it dries and your dog will be fine. We use this around our dog all the time and she’s not been poisoned or even affected.
Roundup was frequently used to kill clumps of jubata grass in a habitat reserve here because cutting it out took forever, and the leaves are like knife blades. So it was determined roundup was the safest option.
