Weed advice

[kdn]

Hi all,

I have a weedy patch of area on top of a retaining wall about 20m2, the weeds are veracious, to give you an idea, I attached a photo I took was today, about 10 months ago we had the gardeners in who pulled all the weeds and put down weed mat, it was completely bare and now we are back to a forest.

What I want to do is use something that will kill everything off and never return, I know that is a big ask but actually I want to cover that area in stone pebbles and don't want/need anything to ever grow there again.

I have sprayed over the counter roundup at it which achieved absolutely nothing also tried salt and vinegar, I was looking at buying straight glyphosate but wondering if that is going to be a waste of money aswell? is there anything stronger I could use or any better ideas?

thanks!

 

[Oliver Buckle]

If you just leave something for ten months that is going to happen every time. Weeds are tough, gardeners have been selecting for the survivors for a very long time. If you want to cover it with stone maybe clear it and treat it with something like sodium chlorate that will kill everything and then lay some concrete to put your stones on. If you leave any viable seed or roots they will break through the concrete eventually, and of course as soon as you get a crack or some moss growing ...

The fight against nature to maintain an artificial environment is a constant one, and in the end nature always wins, even castles built of solid stone blocks end up covered in ivy.

 

[lifegardener]

Smothering the area would be more ideal. Doing that though, given the amount of growth, would take some time an energy - still
better than spraying chemicals.

Have you made a decision yet on what approach to take?