Heavy Duty Herbicides

[adsm08 4,528]

I'm looking for some heavy duty, industrial grade herbicides. Basically, I have a patch of ground on my property where I want it to be impossible for anything to ever grow again.

 

It's a 20x30 patch between the garage and the woods that I want to gravel and use for parking, but beyond that in the 10 years I've lived here nothing useful ever grows there, and lots of  undesirable things do.

 

At first it was just some English Ivy growing on a downed tree. Then I pulled the tree to use as firewood. After that Locust trees started popping up. I got those mostly rooted out and then American Pokeweed took over. I know that stuff is usually harmless, but I have a reaction to it similar to poison oak. Last year we got that all killed, finally, and now this Spring its full of poison hemlock and some honey suckle.

 

I'm tired of this patch growing the most undesirable plants in the area, and just want it sterilized.

[ri702bill 12,212]

Rock salt.

[JimSraj 579]

Cover it with 6 mil or heavier plastic for the rest of the summer.  It’ll cook everything under there. It won’t stop future growth but, as far asI know, anything you use to stop all future growth is going to be really toxic for a long time. 

[Bar Nuthin 2,517]

[Wayne0 1,569]

Mow it close and apply Ortho Ground Clear.

[pfrederi 20,644]

Be carefull about ground sterilizer if you have well water...If you apply it up to your tree line in may also kill the first row of trees...

[953 nut 66,458]

12 hours ago, JimSraj said:

Cover it with 6 mil or heavier plastic for the rest of the summer.  It’ll cook everything under there. It won’t stop future growth but, as far asI know, anything you use to stop all future growth is going to be really toxic for a long time. 

First rototill or plow the area several times to kill emergent plants by killing their root system. Cover it with plastic and leave the plastic down, cover it with some heavy landscape fabric and gravel.

13 hours ago, adsm08 said:

heavy duty, industrial grade herbicides.

Do you or anyone near you have a well for drinking water?  There is a good reason that a license is required to buy these products, they pose a danger to you and others. 

[rmaynard 17,204]

Glyphosate. Reapply 6 months later. Use common sense (wells, PPE, pets) when applying. 

[ri702bill 12,212]

18 hours ago, ri702bill said:

Rock salt.

I used rock salt around a rubber Fernco sewer pipe connection where it transitioned from the old soil pipe to the new fiberglass one. Tree roots had snuck in and clogged the pipe...

Removed the Fernco, cleaned out the roots & reasembled it with 2 hose clamps per end. Dug under and along the pipe in the directions the roots were coming from & filled that area with rock salt before filling in the hole. That was about 15 years ago - no root issue there.... 👍 I'm positive the roots tried again, but pulled a 180 instead.

Edited 4 hours ago by ri702bill

[adsm08 4,528]

Everyone for several miles, at least, in all directions are one city water.

 

Mowing and rototiller are not viable as I can't get equipment in there right now due to a gravel pile and a disabled vehicle.  The dogs also cannot get back there.

 

I'm going to start with the salt since I already have some.

[kpinnc 18,358]

8 hours ago, Wayne0 said:

Mow it close and apply Ortho Ground Clear.

 

I use this stuff and it's great. Two things to remember:

 

1. Wayne mentioned mowing it close. That is because unlike Roundup, Ground Clear works by leeching into the soil. It must get to the ground to be effective. 

 

2. Because it leeches into the ground, DO NOT spray near shrubs or tree roots you want to keep. It will kill a 40 foot oak tree just like the weeds around it. Generally you don't spray in the same diameter on the ground of the branches overhead. 

 

Otherwise an exceptional product. I spray my fences about twice per year. Lasts 6+ months easily unless you have a period of high rainfall. 

[SylvanLakeWH 31,507]

29 minutes ago, kpinnc said:

Generally you don't spray in the same diameter on the ground of the branches overhead. 

Or anywhere near a well or septic system...