Found a new way to kill weeds & grass

[stardust3]

This is new to me, but may be old news to some. Either way I thought I would share.
I opened our pool up a couple of weeks ago and went through the usual buying salt, ph increaser, calcium, stabilizer, ect. I had about half of a bag (25lbs) of stock salt left over($6.00 from the farm supply store for 50 lbs).
Anyhow I came home from work one day about a week and a half ago to find the wife sprinkling handfuls of salt on our gravel driveway. I asked "What in the world are you trying to accomplish?". She said, " I am eradicating the weeds and grass from the driveway". I told her she was crazy & that would not work. Well, I am now eating crow because the grass & weeds are DEAD, gone, kaput.
She only used probably about 10 lbs on 30' x 60' area. I am really impressed with the results. I have done a little research and found that salt was used as a war tactic in WWII on peoples crops, they say it killed everything & nothing would grow after that for a long time.
Anyone have pros or cons on salt as a weed killer or have we been duped by the chemical factories into buying their expensive products.

 

[dfergie]

Good idea I might try that as recent rains and the shift I am working now has me covered up...

 

[HD MM]

Salt can be used on areas where you don't grow any other sort of vegetation or grass. DON'T put it on the lawn or any areas of vegetation though. It can poison the ground water and would make it tough to grow anything in the areas for a very long time as the OP has mentioned.

Another method that can be used for weed killing is a mixture of Vinegar/Soap......

Mix 1 quart vinegar with 2 tbsp of dish soap in a spray bottle. Simply spray the mixture on the leaves of the plant. Be careful not to spray this solution on desirable plants, any exposed leaves. Within hours the plant or grass will wilt and start turning brown. Repeat if necessary.

 

[Rey]

i've tried the salt thing as well. it works exactly as others stated. if you plan on growing anything where you salted you'll have to wait a long time or put in new dirt and lots of it.

 

[navychop]

I've had limited success using vinegar. I'll try adding the soap, thank you.

 

[Van]

Yep the salt does work, it dries out the plant and sours the soil for a long time unless it gets allot of water saturation over a length of time to wash the salt away.

You can get a weed torch the kind they list in the backs of certain zines such as mother earth news or popular science/mechanics, this device can be used to melt ice on side walks and cement porches however it is recommended to use caution in drought climates and in general.

 

[navychop]

Saw a video somewhere (here?) of some guy who turned around while running one and melted his siding.

 

[rhdj]

Salt can be used on areas where you don't grow any other sort of vegetation or grass. DON'T put it on the lawn or any areas of vegetation though. It can poison the ground water and would make it tough to grow anything in the areas for a very long time as the OP has mentioned.

Another method that can be used for weed killing is a mixture of Vinegar/Soap......

Mix 1 quart vinegar with 2 tbsp of dish soap in a spray bottle. Simply spray the mixture on the leaves of the plant. Be careful not to spray this solution on desirable plants, any exposed leaves. Within hours the plant or grass will wilt and start turning brown. Repeat if necessary.

Does brand/type of dishsoap matter?

 

[Van]

No it doesn't matter though the older stuff that's been around for a while like borax or one of the others but I would avoid the newer stuff that has all the added stuff like anti bacterial or skin softeners so go with the cheapo stuff.

 

[TNGTony]

I have done a little research and found that salt was used as a war tactic in WWII on peoples crops, they say it killed everything & nothing would grow after that for a long time. .

If you would have done a little more you would have found that this tactic was used by the Romans to destroy Carthage and scatter the population after the third time Rome was attacked by the Carthaginians. They laid waste to the lands and made them barren by salting the lands. They actually plowed salt into the fields.

This was in B. C. 149.

See ya
Tony

 

[Rey]

If you would have done a little more you would have found that this tactic was used by the Romans to destroy Carthage and scatter the population after the third time Rome was attacked by the Carthaginians. They laid waste to the lands and made them barren by salting the lands. They actually plowed salt into the fields.

This was in B. C. 149.

See ya
Tony

hey look at me........ i'm learning here at satguys! :up

 

[HD MM]

Does brand/type of dishsoap matter?

Nope. Use any kind.

 

[navychop]

If you would have done a little more you would have found that this tactic was used by the Romans to destroy Carthage and scatter the population after the third time Rome was attacked by the Carthaginians. They laid waste to the lands and made them barren by salting the lands. They actually plowed salt into the fields.

This was in B. C. 149.

See ya
Tony

I thought they determined that they actually did it by pumping salt water onto the fields.

 

[Watusi]

Wow i can believe am reading this here, I've being looking all over the place for solution on killing weeds, am definitely trying the soap and vinegar first thing tomorrow morning, and while am on it ail add some salt to mixture.

 

[Dee_Ann]

What about to kill trees?

The guy next door to me has a bunch of garbage trees that grew right on the fence line. Birds eat seeds then sit on the fence and poop, trees grow up and lazy people never cut them down.

Both of the trees hang over into my yard, one is over my driveway and it covers my cars with sticky black sap that is impossible to get off. It's so sticky I can't even open the car doors. :rant:

Other trees along the line hang over in the back yard and drop limbs on my power line and damaged my meter, that cost a fortune to fix.

And of course they block my satellites up. I have a lot of trouble with White Springs and the one with "This" tv because of the trees. He won't cut them down and I certainly am not able to nor can I afford to.

Even though the trunks are right against the fence, on his side, they lean over into my yard and make trouble for me, not for him. He says that because they hang over my yard that it's my problem, not his. Hence, he will do nothing about them. And he very well can afford to have them cut down, I can not. :rant:

What can I poison those trees with? Salt? I want to poison them so they will just die. One is a Chinese tallow tree (Texas weed) but I do not know what the other one is that drips sap on everything.

I'm open to any suggestions but I have limited resources so the cheaper the better. I do have about 10lbs of rock salt left from making ice cream last year. How much would I need to kill two trees?

Thank you!

 

[TNGTony]

I thought they determined that they actually did it by pumping salt water onto the fields.

Now there are some that are saying that this historic event never happened and that it was manufactured by a German historian in the late 19th century to make the event more dramatic in his history book. So really who knows how or if it was done. I just know I was taught this in school and it was in my history books.

But none of this changes the fact that salt is a great herbicide.

 

[lakebum431]

What about to kill trees?

The guy next door to me has a bunch of garbage trees that grew right on the fence line. Birds eat seeds then sit on the fence and poop, trees grow up and lazy people never cut them down.

Both of the trees hang over into my yard, one is over my driveway and it covers my cars with sticky black sap that is impossible to get off. It's so sticky I can't even open the car doors. :rant:

Other trees along the line hang over in the back yard and drop limbs on my power line and damaged my meter, that cost a fortune to fix.

And of course they block my satellites up. I have a lot of trouble with White Springs and the one with "This" tv because of the trees. He won't cut them down and I certainly am not able to nor can I afford to.

Even though the trunks are right against the fence, on his side, they lean over into my yard and make trouble for me, not for him. He says that because they hang over my yard that it's my problem, not his. Hence, he will do nothing about them. And he very well can afford to have them cut down, I can not. :rant:

What can I poison those trees with? Salt? I want to poison them so they will just die. One is a Chinese tallow tree (Texas weed) but I do not know what the other one is that drips sap on everything.

I'm open to any suggestions but I have limited resources so the cheaper the better. I do have about 10lbs of rock salt left from making ice cream last year. How much would I need to kill two trees?

Thank you!

What you are suggesting is highly illegal. If you poison his trees he can take you to court and make you pay the fair value of the trees (if well established trees, this will likely be very very expensive). You have no right to do anything to the trees on HIS property. You do however have the legal right to trim any branches that come across the property line.

 

[SatelliteGAL]

ok Some of you have said this will not let anything grow "for a long time". Are we talking years here? How close can you come to something you do not want to kill?

 

[navychop]

Girdling will kill a tree. Not difficult. But certain to result in a call to the cops.

Another great avatar, SatGal. But I'm a sucker for all feline avatars.

 

[TNGTony]

ok Some of you have said this will not let anything grow "for a long time". Are we talking years here? How close can you come to something you do not want to kill?

Depends on the amount of salt and the amount of rain you get. Generally a couple of years at most.

How close? Depends on soil type and root systems.

See ya
Tony