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.
Weed problem along garden fencing
- Thread starter kubota4me
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Sysop
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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.
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
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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.
Weed killer: 1 gallon vinegar, 2 cups epsom salt, 1/4 cup dish soap.
rekees4300
Elite Member
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
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Same as the tarpaper, dish soap isn't really a chemical free solution.
Sysop
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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
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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
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
) togI'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
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Landscape fabric.