# Is iceplant that tolerant?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-iceplant-that-tolerant/47922>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [December 31, 2000, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-iceplant-that-tolerant/47922 "2000-12-31T19:01:08Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![And\_Salt\_to\_You](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e8cbc/32.png) [@And\_Salt\_to\_You](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/And_Salt_to_You)\
**Post date:** [December 31, 2000, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-iceplant-that-tolerant/47922/1 "2000-12-31T19:01:08Z")

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I’ve got some chemicals from the garden shop, big jugs of it, that say “Weed killer for iceplant”.

And it works. We have the slip area covered in iceplant over gravel, where it’s impossible to weed, and it works fine.

But why is iceplant the only thing left standing.  
Is it the world’s toughest plant? Is that why the higway department loves it so much?

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**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\
**Post date:** [December 31, 2000, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-iceplant-that-tolerant/47922/2 "2000-12-31T19:28:27Z")

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Are you trying to get rid of the iceplant, or just removing weeds that grow in amongst it?

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**Author:** ![Yeah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/dbc845/32.png) [@Yeah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yeah)\
**Post date:** [December 31, 2000, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-iceplant-that-tolerant/47922/3 "2000-12-31T21:27:17Z")

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It’s not a question of how “tough” ice plant is. If you use a selective herbicide, it will kill things that it is supposed to kill and will not harm things that it is not supposed to harm. I have used broad-leafed weed killer around liriope and it doesn’t seem to harm the liriope at all. That doesn’t mean that liriope is the world’s toughest plant.

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**Author:** ![What\_a](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a9a28c/32.png) [@What\_a](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_a)\
**Post date:** [January 1, 2001, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-iceplant-that-tolerant/47922/4 "2001-01-01T19:50:01Z")

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“Weed killer for iceplant” says right on it that it only works in iceplant.

Iceplant is popular for 2 reasons, well 3, well…

1-It has flowers that look lovely at the right time of year, adding a blanket of color to scenic highway overpasses.  
2-It forms a tight net over steep slopes, making it good for keeping overpass butress dirt from sliding onto the roadway.  
3-It can tolerate salt air.  
4-It can outlast a drought. Even if dead, the roots all interconnect to retain the soil, and it will grow back the next rainy season.  
5-It’s hard to walk on, so it keeps people to the pathways and off the parking berms.

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**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\
**Post date:** [January 1, 2001, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-iceplant-that-tolerant/47922/5 "2001-01-01T21:37:51Z")

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If you lay down weed-blocking fabric and then put gravel over it, you don’t need to be messing with big jugs of herbicide.