On 23/06/2012 15:01, sweetheart wrote:

"Dave Liquorice" wrote in message
ll.co.uk...
On Sat, 23 Jun 2012 08:38:05 +0100, Martin Brown wrote:

They are a complete waste of time and money unless you are an
Organic(TM) freak and subscribe to the all chemicals are bad scam.
Double irony is that burning weeds *will* make dioxins.

You don't burn the plants with a weed burner though you just waft the
flame
over them enough to cause a visble change in colour and/or wilt. The heat
damages the cell structure and the top growth dies. Depending on the
plant
that may or may not be enough to kill it.

The small gas cannister "walking stick" things are fine for small weeds
between paving or in gravel but not so good for big weeds or large well
vegitated areas.

Glyphosate is considered "safe" though the stronger concentrates have
been
removed from retail sale. They are still available from agri merchants
etc.
Cheap generic "Weed killer" you get from a shed will have as much water
(cheap) and as little active ingredient (expensive) in it that they think
they can get away with. Look at the lables...

I have been using roundup and weedol even tried the 24 hr fast acting
stuff but its all useless.

The 24 hour fast acting stuff is particularly useless. You want a slow
kill over 2-3 weeks to have maximum effect using a translocating
weedkiller like glyphosate with the least amount of chemicals used.

I have cleared acres of stinging nettle and brambles with glyphosate
followed after it is tinder dry with a slash and burn. Doesn't look
pretty with scorched earth but it gets the job done. The you can pick
off any seedlings as they come up against the dark earth.

I started off with nettles a couple of feet high across the back and was
trying to get at them early b ut now they are 10ft high and have started
to "march" across the lawn as the get bigger and more widespread.

Dunno what you are doing then. I allow nettles to grow in the wilder
parts of my garden as butterfly habitat. Seldom more than 8' high. They
stay put and are relatively easy to prize out with a fork when unwanted
(although I have broken a fork once doing exactly that).

Nothing has worked. I know putting a bonfire on the ground clears it for
a time ( and then they start again.

I have tried smothering the ground with thick carpet but they grow through.

It should take them a couple of years though.

This isn't a few dandelions in the patio - so what is there that will
work? And the green wellie chemical free brigade can come and hike in my
stinging nettles and see how they like it, if they want to object - I am
pro anything that will do the job.

For a small area I would just go for physical removal they are fairly
shallow rooted and the roots are bright yellow so hard to miss.

You don't give any indication of the scale. A few square metres to an
acre I would use a hit of generic B&Q glyphosate (the stuff you buy as
concentrate and dilute to use) with a wand sprayer or backpack.

Do not buy the prediluted stuff. It is vastly overpriced impure water
with a huge profit margin. There is no real skill to mixing your own
weedkiller although failure to mix it up properly might explain your
failures. I am pretty certain everything apart from holly and ivy that I
spray with glyphosate will be dead within three weeks.

Nettles show yellow new growth just after a week and in their weakened
state physical removal becomes fairly easy.Wear gloves and chop the tops
off first to avoid getting stung unnecessarily.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown