In article ,
Eddy writes:
|
| | I would like to use vinegar on the grass, provided it has a permanent
| | effect on the roots.
|
| Not merely doesn't it have a permanent effect on the roots, it
| doesn't have a significant effect on the leaves. It is purely and
| simply a weak acid. You shouldn't take so much notice of the New
| Age Merkins (which is where I assume that you heard of vinegar as a
| herbicide and the other myths you have picked up).
|
| No, actually the United States Department of Agriculture is doing a lot
| of investigation into the use of vinegar and apparently USA garden
| centres have long stocked strong vinegar specifically for this purpose.
| All news to me too, but true. See:
|
| http://search.usda.gov/search?q=vinegar&requiredfields=
| spsite_id%3A12650400%7Cspsite_id%3A12-50-00-00&x=0&y=0&btnG=
| Go%21&filter=0&as_sitesearch=ars.usda.gov&ie=&outp ut=xml_no_
| dtd&client=usda&lr=&proxystylesheet=ARS&oe=

A quick glance at a few of those confirms my statement. Some plants
suffer leaf burn from it, fairly badly, and others don't. And that
is ALL that it does by way of being a herbicide - you can get the same
effect by peeing on plants, and urea is also a fertiliser. Or you could
water them with brine - that also causes leaf burn.

| Glyphosate should do what you want, and will not impair the planting
| of groundcover, but may need several applications for deep-rooted
| perennial weeds. It will not cause the trouble you are afraid of
| in any normal soils. Alternatively, sodium chlorate will degrade to
| salt, which will wash away, but will need repeated applications.
|
| Thanks very much, Nick, for your assurance re. Glyphosate. Have you
| used it yourself for turning a lawn into a garden?

Yes. Grass is VERY sensitive to glyphosate, so you don't need to use
much and you don't need to do it more than once.

| My concern about it was triggered by the following summary of research:
|
| http://unofficiallyoptimistic.com/?p=24

Yeah. New Age scaremongering. Some of its statements may be true, but
most of it looks very misleading - it reeks of quoting out of context.
I have tried to track down some hard evidence on the claims of the
persistency of glyphosate in the past, and failed.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.