Weedkiller

[Douglas2]

Hello, I need to clear around 40-50 sqm of garden which is currently soil with weeds growing on it. Nettles, grass, and various other weeds. Have tried using 10 litres of resolva on it applied in a watering can, but it just seems to have discouraged rather than killed. I used sodium cholrate on another area of garden and it worked, but I can't find the stuff in B&Q/Homebase anymore? Assume that it is now banned?

What will kill my weeds for 6 months or more?

 

[quercus320]

It really depends on what you want to use the ground for afterwards.

If I was going to use a weedkiller to do this, I'd probably use one based on glyphosate (e.g. Roundup), as it degrades in the soil after it has done its job, rather than hanging around to kill anything you might want to plant in the future.

However, over 6 months, glyphosate will probably need 2 or 3 applications to keep the area clear.


A better way would probably be to do one application of glyphosate, leave for a few weeks for the weeds to die off or weaken, then cover with weed fabric to block out light, which will finish the job and stop anything else growing. But this is more expensive.

The big benefit of the weed fabric is that ground which has been ruthlessly cleared of plants will often dry out and become concrete-like to dig if you do want to cultivate it later. By covering with weed fabric, the soil will retain much more moisture, and be a lot easier to dig later on.

Good luck!