Weed problem along garden fencing

[kubota4me]

My wife won't let me spray roundup or another chemical around her garden so I've been tasked with keeping the weeds down around the fence line of a chain link fence around her garden. I've come up with putting down some 30# roofing felt/tar paper around the fence on the ground. Any suggestions for keeping the tar paper down on the ground and not fly away? I know if it stays down it will keep weeds from coming up. I just have to keep it in place. I've also read about vinegar, baking soda and salt but I don't know how effective that is.

 

[Sysop]

I wouldn't use tarpaper. Too much stuff leaches out of it and it will not last long. I don't use chemicals in my garden either, and I'd consider tarpaper worse than roundup honestly...

I bag my lawn trimmings and use it as mulch. The heat produced will kill out nearly all the weeds except the toughest, and those are generally few enough you can easily go around and pop them loose with a shovel for disposal. Some weeds are beneficial to a garden, so I'd identify whatever you want to get rid of before doing so.

If you are seriously needing to put some sort of solid barrier down, just use heavy black plastic and put mulch or gravel on it to hold it down. I've also seen folk have good success by digging out under the bottom of the fence and lay cement pavers tight against each other between the posts directly under the fence so nothing could grow up in the fence.

 

[AchingBack]

This home made brew will do the job. How to make your own Weed Killer

Weed killer: 1 gallon vinegar, 2 cups epsom salt, 1/4 cup dish soap.

 

[rekees4300]

Bend some stiff wire (copper wont rust) into a U shape and use for stakes. Salt is effective for weed control but it tends to migrate in the rain so use sparingly. Dunno about vinegar or baking soda. My method of chain link fence weed control is a weed wacker.

 

[Sysop]

This home made brew will do the job. How to make your own Weed Killer

Weed killer: 1 gallon vinegar, 2 cups epsom salt, 1/4 cup dish soap.

Same as the tarpaper, dish soap isn't really a chemical free solution.

 

[kubota4me]

What about using a propane torch like a weed dragon?

 

[Sysop]

I don't think they do well at damaging the root structure without some way of penetrating the soil. Soil doesn't heat up easily so the roots are left mostly intact. Here are a couple styles weighing pros and cons:

 

[the old grind]

I've used roof tab shingles under chain link and stockade fencing to reduce/eliminate mechanical trimming. They last much longer than 30lb felt, and stay put. Little bit of fuss at first, getting them to settle-down and kill what's underneath, but only need to be touched up every 5 yrs or so. Mower decks that are wider than wheel track won't disturb them by not driving over the tabs. Line trimmer gets used a LOT less if at all, and the look from afar resembles that of a carefully applied glypho 'chem-trim'.

Common complaint of "I sprayed and they came back" shows that 'chemical trim' may only account for actively growing weeds vs dormant seeds. Weed burners are great for some sensitive locations, aren't a permanent fix either, but are very effective if you 'burn' ~half as often as you mow.

btw, This could be simpler than having the little lady ask for chemical-free bug control. (always take the easy one ) tog

 

[kubota4me]

I'm leaning towards using the weed dragon to burn them off. Shingle would be an option too, just concerned about chemicals leaching into the soil from the shingles. Thanks a ton for your opinions. I enjoy hearing other perspectives!

 

[fishheadbob]

Landscape fabric.

 

[charlz]

I have not found torching to be very effective, you are just mostly killing the top growth and it just comes right back. I saw somewhere on line where carpet remnants were used and it was very effective... looks a little 'trashy' to me. Maybe something like old rubber conveyor belting... it is heavy enough to stay put and probably will take many years to breakdown if at all.

 

[kubota4me]

Ordered a Weed Dragon this afternoon. Will see how that works out. 420 reviews and 9 out of 10 reviews were very positive. Doesn't have to kill them I guess, just cause them to quit growing

 

[the old grind]

I use three passes with the burner. One to "size 'em down", one to further shrivel/blacken, and one to blow the ashes away. Gave up a kero-powered English burner from the '60s for HFT's propane model, using a 'high pressure' regulator (12-18 or so PSI?) from TSC to full effect with 20lb tank. VERY efficient time & $$ wise. (You'll love the WD and the Mrs will love you for finding it.)

 

[Pilot]

Roundup is safer & better than a homebrew. It's been tested for safety & effectiveness and the weeds it will kill are listed on the label along with all the precautions. Homebrew? You don't really know what the chemical reactions of the combo will be and you don't know what you will get.

 

[Coyote machine]

Roundup has been linked to causing Cancer recently.

 

[Pilot]

Yes, the World Health Organization says it "probably" causes. Doesn't mean it really does. The risk comes from using it on "Roundup Ready" crops. Are you going to eat the weeds you spray? Roundup does nothing in the soil; and it rapidly degrades in the soil. It enters the plant thru the leaves and is transferred inside the plant to the roots where it interferes with an enzyme that is only found in plants. Roundup has been in use for over 30 years and is the most widely used herbicide in the world. If Roundup were to pose a significant problem on the scale one would use when spraying along a fenceline, it certainly would have been found out by now. If after all those years, all they can come up with is "probably" I wouldn't worry about it for a fenceline.

 

[EddieWalker]

Nothing better then Roundup, or the cheaper versions of it. I buy it in the 2 1/2 gallon concentrate for $49 at Atwoods and go through 4 to 5 of them a year. You can spend a lot of time, effort and money using something else, but in the end, it wont be as good.

Eddie

 

[randy41]

a weed wacker works good.

 

[boomer1025]

I've used roof tab shingles under chain link and stockade fencing to reduce/eliminate mechanical trimming. They last much longer than 30lb felt, and stay put. Little bit of fuss at first, getting them to settle-down and kill what's underneath, but only need to be touched up every 5 yrs or so. Mower decks that are wider than wheel track won't disturb them by not driving over the tabs. Line trimmer gets used a LOT less if at all, and the look from afar resembles that of a carefully applied glypho 'chem-trim'.

Common complaint of "I sprayed and they came back" shows that 'chemical trim' may only account for actively growing weeds vs dormant seeds. Weed burners are great for some sensitive locations, aren't a permanent fix either, but are very effective if you 'burn' ~half as often as you mow.

btw, This could be simpler than having the little lady ask for chemical-free bug control. (always take the easy one ) tog

.
:thumbsup: for the shingles

 

[charlz]

Vinegar is pretty much in the category of a 'wives tale' for me. Vinegar is about $2.50 gallon for a 5% solution and you have to soak the ground so the roots uptake the solution which kills the plant.... at that high cost and low coverage area per gallon you might as well just pull the weeds by hand.

Glyphosate runs about $50 for 2.5 gallons of 41% solution concentrate. That works out to about $.31/gallon when mixed at 2oz/gallon and all you have to do it get some on the leaves so the coverage area is vast compared to something like vinegar.