GardenBanter.co.uk - View Single Post

Martin Brown · 02-06-2010, 03:31 PM posted to uk.rec.gardening

On 02/06/2010 14:58, wrote:
David in wrote:
On 02/06/2010 11:47, wrote:
Now that we can't get Sodium Chlorate what's the best (as in
reasonably cheap + effective) alternative?

I recently used up my last bit of Sodium Chlorate on one part of our
large area of gravel and Pathclear on another area. The Pathclear
seems to have been totally ineffective whereas the Sodium Chlorate
worked well. So I'm not very impressed with Pathclear for a start.

I *want* the weedkiller to stay in the ground for as long as possible
so products that leave 'no residue' are most definitely not what I
want.

It's a big (like getting on for 1000 square metres) area of gravel so
price is quite a major consideration.

My gravel drive is something like 300 metres long. I've used Sodium
Chlorate and I've used Glypohsate. Glyphosate worked out cheaper! One of
those five litre tubs of concentrate is expensive but it lasts a very
long time. The sodium chlorate was no better at killing weeds and new
ones popped up soon after it rained anyway, so it didn't seem to have a
long lasting effect. During Summer I spray the drive every couple of
months. Just don't use Roundup - it is a very expensive way of buying
generic glyphosate.

"Every couple of months" seems very frequent to me. I've got our
gravel pretty well dosed with sodium chlorate and it seems to be
fairly inhospitable to new growth. The trouble with using just
glyphosate is that it has virtually no residual effect so (as you
describe) isn't very long lasting.

Sodium chlorate is pretty soluble though and tends to wash downhill. You
must have put a heck of a lot on if it lasts longer term or live
somewhere very very dry!

Where I live sodium chlorate washes into the soil and or oxidises some
organic matter in the soil and so is spent pretty quickly.

You probably want the old version of Pathclear with Simazine in it -
again now banned by some EU directive because it works too well and
could be misused by amateurs.

Regards,
Martin Brown