[Greengage]

Saw this South Dublin CC have introduced a ban in spraying roundup in Public places but when anyone know of an alternative.
http://www.independent.ie/business/farming/tillage/local-council-votes-to-ban-controversial-weed-killer-35683634.html

[Blowin]

We refuse to use sprays like that but have found common salt - cheap enough at our local farmers' co-op. Best applied in a dry spell, so that it 'burns' the weeds, but does no damage to the environment when the next shower washes it away.

[Sue Deacon]

I agree we have to stop using this poison, but go steady with the salt Blowin. You don't want too much of that in the soil either and for goodness sake keep it away from concrete.

I used to use Glyphosate and believed all the blurb about it - I now believe something completely different! I wish there was a safe alternative.

[Blowin]

Point made, Sue, but we do only use it on our driveway, so no salt ever gets on to soil. I should have mentioned that.

[Sue Deacon]

A couple of winters back we had ice build up on the path at the back of the house. I got so sick of skidding across it that I got a bit slap-happy with the salt. The result is a collection of potholes in the concrete!

[Blowin]

Interesting. I don't know if there's any difference between the salt they use on the roads and food grade salt but we use the latter. Plus our driveway is tarmac.

[Greengage]

Anyone use Clopyralid as a selective herbicide it is available in a bottle called Greenor as a selective, systemic, post emergence turf herbicide. Greenor controls broad-leaved weeds in amenity turf including daisy, dandelion and knotgrass.

[tagwex]

Road salt is a form of table salt or sodium chloride (NaCl). Table salt is purified and road salt contains mineral impurities which gives it its grey or brown colouring. Additives, such as sugar, may be mixed with the road salt to prevent it clumping together and makes it easier to exit the gritting machines.

[Gautama]

Back when I was young, free and single I had an allotment and grew many fruit and vegetables.
I was one of those bore-ganic types and I loved to hate Roundup. I used to preach about its evils, practically.
I even flipped my lid one day with my neighbour about his use of Roundup on his plot. I cringe when I remember that incident.
One of the board members of the allotment association used to really get on my nerves by sending a broadcast email to all members about Tesco branded Glyphosate being on special offer.

But now that I've two small children Roundup is my saviour. I can't get enough of the stuff and always make sure there is some in the chemicals cabinet in the garage. The Doff brand in Aldi is very cheap.
I just don't have time to hand weed, either the garden or the driveway. I get so little free time to garden as it is I have to maximise the narrow windows of opportunity I get. Instead of spending two weeks weeding, say, the semi-circle bed at the end of the house, I can now spray it in 30mins and in two weeks time it's fully clear and ready for the next step.
If Glyphosate didn't exist, neither would my garden or this hobby.

OK, some research shows that it can be carcinogenic. However, excess sunshine can be carcinogenic! Ferns can contaminate the water supply with carcinogens! Too much Vitamin C can cause cancer!

Pick your poison, eh?!

[Sue Deacon]

I'm the opposite of you. I used to use glyphosate for weed clearance on paths and borders, believing the blurb about it becoming 'inert on contact with the soil '. I now believe this to be untrue. There is a growing body of research out there that suggests that it is a slow poison of both the land and us.

This is a quote from a recent paper published by two scientists, one with MIT, the other retired. ' Glyphosate's claimed mechanism of action in plants is the disruption of the Shikimate Pathway which is involved with the synthesis of essential aromatic amino acids, ..... The currently accepted dogma is that Glyphosate is not harmful to humans or any mammals because the Shikimate Pathway is absent in all animals.

However the pathway is present in gut bacteria which play an important and heretofore largely overlooked role in human physiology.'

That's enough for me to give Glyphosate a wide berth! I agree using it is the easiest way of clearing a weed-ridden path or border, but at what cost?

The last time I used it was in my friend's garden to clear the weeds from a truckload of soil cleared for a house-build, good soil but chock full of pernicious weeds. I used three lots of the stuff. The border is now waist high in dock, rushes, nettles couch grass and goose grass. Glyphosate barely made a dent in it. But when you turn the soil there is nothing wriggling around in it, no worms, beetles, nothing.