# Getting rid of grass in a gravel driveway?



## RedTartan (May 2, 2006)

I have a very wide gravel driveway. My house used to be a restaurant and my driveway is actually a long narrow parking lot  Hey, it's great for entertaining! My problem is that grass and weeds are taking over my driveway. Last year I actually had to mow the edges of my driveway! I don't want to use Round Up as my boys like to play in the rocks sometimes and I have free-ranging chickens.

Is there any natural way I can get rid of this vegetation? 

Thanks so much,

 RedTartan

P.S. The tub drain you all helped me with a few weeks ago is still running fast and smooth...


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## compier (Aug 23, 2007)

maybe a portable chicken pen, they eat grass, dont they?


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## Ardie/WI (May 10, 2002)

Boiling water or vinegar (hot) will kill vegatation.


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## THETOOLMAN (Feb 15, 2008)

Thats a problem I WISH I HAD!. I have a gravel drive way & the grass keeps the road from washing away! I try and make it grow!


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## Cabin Fever (May 10, 2002)

I agree with Toolman. Unless you live in the city and are worried about "looks," what's wrong with grass in your driveway? Many of the suggestions you'll get...like Ardie's....will only be temporary at best. It will be a constant battle.


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## Beaners (Feb 23, 2005)

We had a gravel and stone driveway when I was growing up...we paved it when I was older.

Although my mother never liked grass and weeds in the gravel, my father did, for the same reason THETOOLMAN mentions. Torrential rains would wash huge ruts and rivers into the driveway. I would say keep mowing it if it gets too high, maybe weedwhack if you don't want to put the mower blade in constant danger.

Or I could bring my dog up and let her pee all over your driveway. She kills off the grass pretty well here.

Kayleigh


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## sueacurrin (Jan 20, 2008)

torch it.


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## TNHermit (Jul 14, 2005)

http://www.groworganic.com/item_PWC211_BurnOut_II_Concentrate_25_Gallon.html?welcome=T


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## YuccaFlatsRanch (May 3, 2004)

Round up and the other glycophosphate plant killers are only active on the plants for 24 hours or less. Light and the soils inactivate them after that time - whats the problem?? Round UP is even OK in Organic practices I think.


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## PineRidge (May 2, 2006)

HaHaHaHa!

You think you can actually kill the grass, ha ha!

Sorry about that. I feel your pain. I have the same problem. I love the grass strip in the center of my driveway, and I have grass on either side....but I hate how the edges try and creep in every year. Vinegar does work, gallons and gallons of it every week  Laying a dark tarp over the area will kill the grass during a hot spell in July will work. Weed killer works. The only problem is nothing works for very long.

My dh wants to get one of those torches to burn it this year, but I'm sure the grass will come back again. I'm starting to think the gravel gives off some minerals that grass loves.


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## wy_white_wolf (Oct 14, 2004)

Drive over it more! LOL


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## Tricky Grama (Oct 7, 2006)

Straight 10% vinegar will do it. May have to repeat.

Patty


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## RedTartan (May 2, 2006)

Well, crud. I was really hoping there would be a way to do this 

I live in a township around an historic circle. I'm not bragging when I say I have THE most beautiful place in our little town. It's a very formal-looking yellow Colonial Revival style house with black shutters and a fancy white porch with columns built in 1825. It used to be a restaurant and half the town has taken the trouble to tell me all about how they ate here as a child. The whole town cares about how my house is maintained! LOL! So, I admit that I am concerned about looks as silly as it may seem to some. I know the people here take pride in MY home even though it isn't theirs.

I know it's time to add more gravel, so I guess I'll start there and then fight the ones that come up with vinegar... Sigh.

 RedTartan


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## ricky (Jul 31, 2006)

i have always said if you want a nice lawn just put gravel down.


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## Tiffin (Feb 23, 2006)

Torch is the best way I have found but it is strictly for looks.


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## watcher (Sep 4, 2006)

How about the old salting the soil?


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

Tiffin said:


> Torch is the best way I have found but it is strictly for looks.


400,000 BTU OF GRASS KILLER but it takes a tank of propane 

i just use mine to get around the fence ,and in the garden ocationaly, but watch out for the all the fires you start might want to keep a hose handy , best if it reaches were you are burning.


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## naturewoman (Nov 12, 2002)

watcher said:


> How about the old salting the soil?


Oh yes...let's contaminate the soil and ground water while we are at it.

I also have grass and weeds (more weeds than grass) in my gravel driveway and paths and need to find a way to control it. I've been considering the torch. If anyone has used it, I'd like to know how expensive it is to do it that way (in terms of fuel cost to run the torch per sq foot).

The problem with grass and weeds in the driveway is it makes it harder to rake up debris, which I need to keep cleared so I don't trip on it, and also it grows in tufts that I tend to trip on (plus I have to mow it), and the weeds go to seed and try to spread to my lawns. So I want it cleared out. 

I've tried roundup without a lot of success, and it's expensive too. I have a 300' driveway and lots of paths, so I need something cost effective.


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## uncle Will in In. (May 11, 2002)

Running a good grader up and down it will knock down the weeds and grass for quite a while. Find someone with a rear grader blade for their tractor and have them go over it whenever necessary. Adding some stone makes it easier to grade well.


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## watcher (Sep 4, 2006)

naturewoman said:


> Oh yes...let's contaminate the soil and ground water while we are at it.


For that I'd suggest what we used to do when I was a kid, spray the used motor oil from all the machinery where you don't want the grass to grow. We also used to pour it around the base of the buildings, keep ants, termites and other bugs from being a bother.

Just how much salt do you think it would take to kill off the grass? If it were me I'd find out where the local road dept buys their road salt and buy me a truck load and have at it.




naturewoman said:


> I also have grass and weeds (more weeds than grass) in my gravel driveway and paths and need to find a way to control it. I've been considering the torch. If anyone has used it, I'd like to know how expensive it is to do it that way (in terms of fuel cost to run the torch per sq foot).
> 
> The problem with grass and weeds in the driveway is it makes it harder to rake up debris, which I need to keep cleared so I don't trip on it, and also it grows in tufts that I tend to trip on (plus I have to mow it), and the weeds go to seed and try to spread to my lawns. So I want it cleared out.
> 
> I've tried roundup without a lot of success, and it's expensive too. I have a 300' driveway and lots of paths, so I need something cost effective.


I don't know if its a 'controlled' product but there is/was some product you could buy that would chemically 'kill' the soil. Was supposed to keep almost anything from growing for a couple of years. We never used it because the ag agent said he didn't know how safe it'd be around horses. IIRC, it had a name that sounded a lot like sevin in sevin dust.


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## naturewoman (Nov 12, 2002)

Watcher, there are always environmental arguments in cities that use salt or chemicals for snow and ice for roadways or airports, because they do contaminate soil and any water catching runoff. Salt is also a contaminant. Have you ever seen a lot of bare earth along roadways that use salt? I doubt it...it would take a lot of salt to kill off vegetation. A lot more than they use on roadways. By the time you put down enough to keep your driveway clear, you'd be wiping out any gardens and lawns it can run off into. And contaminating groundwater, streams, etc. And salt doesn't go away. It ruins the soil forever.


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## KCM (Sep 26, 2005)

I have a gravel driveway and I think it looks more natural when a bit of grass pokes up through it.

I'd like to think if my whole town were concerned about how I maintained MY driveway, I might assign each of them a specific day to come over and pick grass/weeds out of the gravel. That should do it!


You can go ahead and add more gravel but the grass will creep into it very quickly.

Round-up is safe after 24 hours. Expensive, but works!

Or you could black top or cement it.


Or just 'paint' your grass a 'gravel' color.


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## whinnyninny (Aug 17, 2005)

sueacurrin said:


> torch it.


That doesn't work for the grass in my driveway, burn it to a char and it comes right back! (It's bermuda...)


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## Kevingr (Mar 10, 2006)

I have an old metal bed frame that I put a few pallets on for weight and few times a summer after a good raid I drag the driveway with that. As long as I do it 4-5 times a summer that holds the grass at bay. And it's kind of fun dragging that behind the 4-wheeler once and a while, we all need mindless chores once and a while.


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## TundraGypsy (Feb 25, 2005)

Our little house sits back from the road a ways and between two newer homes. I let the grass grow in the driveway and cut is once in a while. No one notices there is a house back between the two other houses and I like it that way. I even let the willow tree limbs grow down across the road for the same reason.


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## Rockin'B (Jan 20, 2006)

We use a box blade behind the tractor.


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## HopeFarms (Mar 7, 2008)

We have the same problem. It doesn't bother me, but drives dh mad!! He tried vinegar and burning it, etc..to no avail.

Now he just drags it. Rakes it. Drags it again. This spring he actually rototilled it, then raked the clumps of grass out of it. Short-term fix.

Green gravel perhaps?? 

I feel your pain.


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## RedTartan (May 2, 2006)

You know, the thing that gets me the most about it is that my neighbor across the street is preoccupied with his yard. I swear to you that he mows 3X a week in the summer. He has a gravel driveway and it is PERFECT. It looks like they just put the gravel down yesterday. Not a weed anywhere. Sigh. I don't know how he does it.

I guess maybe I should ask! LOL!

 RedTartan


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## suitcase_sally (Mar 20, 2006)

I have one of those propane torches - bought to get around the fences. Does it work? NO! It's difficult to burn GREEN grass.


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