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Avatar for ltlredwagon
May 26, 2023 4:20 PM CST
Thread OP
Los Angeles, CA
Is glyphosate safe to use against weeds in a driveway? I've tried "organic" weed killers and for me they just don't work. I tend not to trust any government reports. What I've read (Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020 Oct; 17(20): 7519. Published online 2020 Oct 15. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17207519 PMCID: PMC7602795 PMID: 33076575 Herbicide Glyphosate: Toxicity and Microbial Degradation) suggests that much is not known about glyphosate biodegradation.
Are there other products which kill weeds, roots and all, but are acceptable for driveway use -- considering both soil contamination (under concrete) and potential rain runoff into sewers?
Thanks for considering my question.
Avatar for porkpal
May 26, 2023 4:27 PM CST
Name: Porkpal
Richmond, TX (Zone 9a)
Cat Lover Charter ATP Member Keeper of Poultry I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Dog Lover Keeps Horses
Roses Plant Identifier Farmer Raises cows Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Garden Ideas: Level 2
I consider glyphosate safe for that purpose. It binds to soil becoming inactive and is probably no more environmentally harmful than the driveway itself. Boiling water might work too - depending on the area needing to be treated.
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May 26, 2023 4:59 PM CST
California Central Valley (Zone 8b)
Region: California
I agree With one exception: Boiling water will only kill the parts of the weeds hit by the boiling water.
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May 26, 2023 5:16 PM CST
Name: Rj
Just S of the twin cities of M (Zone 4b)
Forum moderator Million Pollinator Garden Challenge Plant Identifier Garden Ideas: Level 1
Welcome to the site!

A flat head screwdriver works great.
As Yogi Berra said, “It's tough to make predictions, especially about the future.”
Avatar for Ed_L
May 26, 2023 6:09 PM CST
Griffith, Indiana
I have not tried this, since I just saw it yesterday -
The Recipe
Pour 1 gallon of white vinegar into a bucket. 5-percent household white vinegar is fine. ...
Add 1 cup of table salt. ...
Stir in 1 tablespoon of liquid dishwashing soap. ...
Blend all thoroughly and then funnel the weed killer into a plastic spray bottle.
Vinegar. ...
Salt. ...
Soap.

How to Make a Homemade Weed Killer
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May 26, 2023 6:32 PM CST
California Central Valley (Zone 8b)
Region: California
That's the recipe for how to destroy the earth. Roundup is better, at least it doesn't stay permanently.

https://www.gardenmyths.com/ho...
Avatar for Ed_L
May 26, 2023 6:56 PM CST
Griffith, Indiana
OK, I learned something. Thank you!
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May 26, 2023 6:58 PM CST
California Central Valley (Zone 8b)
Region: California
Thumbs up
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May 26, 2023 7:07 PM CST
Name: Nancy
Northeastern Illinois (Zone 5b)
Hummingbirder Birds Bird Bath, Fountain and Waterfall Hydrangeas Adeniums Daylilies
Salvias Container Gardener Enjoys or suffers cold winters Butterflies Dragonflies Million Pollinator Garden Challenge
I have about a 50' long driveway that goes into a huge combination driveway/patio that's about 40'x40' in the back, and the weeds grow nonstop all summer in the cracks throughout every inch of it. They can get very tall too, and trying to keep weeding them is an endless daily job in the summer heat that I can't keep up with at my age.

I finally got desperate enough to try RoundUp 365 Max and that works and keeps the weeds gone all summer with just 1 application in spring. Do it on a sunny non-windy day, it's a long wand that you spray only 1" from the pavement, so I never worry about inhaling it or spraying it around. I don't spray right up to the ends of the concrete, I stay maybe 5"-6" away from grass/plants. If you go right up to where the grass or plants start, you'll end up killing maybe 2" dia in that spot. Once it dries though, it doesn't run off with the rain... you'd know if it did because it would kill anything at the ends of the concrete cracks.

It's a very controlled spray if you keep the wand right above the cracks, and keep it away from any soil and the edges where the cracks meet the grass or plants. It hurts my back to do it because I have to bend over to keep the wand that close to the ground, but I don't want to risk overspray getting anywhere. You don't have to drench it so that it gets under the concrete, and it dries pretty quickly. Just wet the surface of the cracks only.
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May 27, 2023 6:47 AM CST
Name: stone
near Macon Georgia (USA) (Zone 8a)
Garden Sages Million Pollinator Garden Challenge Plant Identifier
Hmmm....
Pull plants after a rain storm?

Hit with string trimmer?

Use a propane torch to singe plant?

https://www.tandfonline.com/do...
Increasing evidence shows that glyphosate and glyphosate-based herbicides exhibit cytotoxic and genotoxic effects, increase oxidative stress, disrupt the estrogen pathway, impair some cerebral functions, and allegedly correlate with some cancers. Glyphosate effects on the immune system appear to alter the complement cascade, phagocytic function, and lymphocyte responses, and increase the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines in fish. In mammals, including humans, glyphosate mainly has cytotoxic and genotoxic effects, causes inflammation, and affects lymphocyte functions and the interactions between microorganisms and the immune system.


Yeah, they need to print this out in simpler terms...
The important question... is... do you really want to be exposed to something like this when you are only concerned about plants coming up?
The cars aren't bothered by those plants...
If we get sick from our exposure to these toxic chemicals... is Monsanto going to pay our hospital expenses?

further in the article:
Monsanto allegedly interfered with the publication of valuable information on glyphosate toxicity and ghost-wrote papers proving glyphosate safety (McHenry Citation2018).

I wouldn't trust a word of Monsanto's claims of safety...

Remember... wasn't that long ago that the drug companies were assuring the public how safe OxyContin was... no chance of addiction, they said...

Can't just take industry assurances.
Avatar for ltlredwagon
May 27, 2023 1:30 PM CST
Thread OP
Los Angeles, CA
Thanks to all for these responses. I would say that stone's approach seems most rational.
Avatar for kreemoweet
May 27, 2023 1:43 PM CST
Name: K
Seattle, WA (Zone 9a)
The ill effects of any substance when artificially introduced into this or that animal in massive quantities is irrelevant. The question regulatory agencies should and do ask is whether use as directed on labels can be expected to cause unreasonable risk of harm. The great majority of such agencies have determined that such use of glyphosate has no such risk. These are not "industry" assurances, and they are based on a massive body of investigatory results. We only have to look at the absurdities of California labeling regulations to see what departure from the usual standards of risk evaluation leads to.
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May 27, 2023 2:19 PM CST
Name: Zoë
Albuquerque NM, Elev 5310 ft (Zone 7b)
Bee Lover Salvias Region: New Mexico Herbs Container Gardener Composter
Cat Lover Butterflies Bookworm Birds Enjoys or suffers hot summers
Thing is, nearly all previous focus has been on these products' potential harm to humans. However, in the past few years numerous studies have shown how damaging these weedkillers are to bees, previously discounted. Since one of the biggest threats to the Earth's ecological health is the dwindling insect population, that might be a consideration worth moving up on your priority list.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/...

https://beyondpesticides.org/d...
Avatar for ltlredwagon
May 27, 2023 2:38 PM CST
Thread OP
Los Angeles, CA
Thanks, NM. That's a great point I hadn't thought of. I've had a wonderful hive of bees in a stucco wall next to my driveway for many years. They left during a heatwave in 2018 and then returned a few years later in a bee "tornado" (video attached). I've got 3 varieties of orange, kumquats, tangerines, grapefruit, lemons, and avocados (all trees many decades old), plus nectarines, apricots, figs, and apples, so I'd like to keep the bees happy.
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May 27, 2023 4:10 PM CST
Name: Tiffany purpleinopp
Opp, AL @--`--,----- (Zone 8b)
Region: United States of America Houseplants Overwinters Tender Plants Indoors Garden Sages Plant Identifier Garden Ideas: Level 2
Organic Gardener Composter Miniature Gardening Million Pollinator Garden Challenge Tender Perennials Butterflies
What kind of driveway is it? Patch the cracks?
The golden rule: Do to others only that which you would have done to you.
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Avatar for porkpal
May 27, 2023 4:11 PM CST
Name: Porkpal
Richmond, TX (Zone 9a)
Cat Lover Charter ATP Member Keeper of Poultry I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Dog Lover Keeps Horses
Roses Plant Identifier Farmer Raises cows Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Garden Ideas: Level 2
There's a thought!
Avatar for AuntieEm
Jun 4, 2023 6:18 AM CST
west central Ohio
Kids playing on the driveway led me to use boiling water. It's extremely effective during a hot day. The cracks actually direct the water straight to the root zone.
Avatar for Heuchera
Jun 4, 2023 8:47 AM CST
Name: Ruth Moxom

I just use a pair of needle nose pliers to reach into the cracks and remove both the weed and its root system.
RoundUp is too dangerous-stay away from it.
The only ones who dispute this are the manufacturers.
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Jun 4, 2023 9:56 AM CST
Name: Nancy
Northeastern Illinois (Zone 5b)
Hummingbirder Birds Bird Bath, Fountain and Waterfall Hydrangeas Adeniums Daylilies
Salvias Container Gardener Enjoys or suffers cold winters Butterflies Dragonflies Million Pollinator Garden Challenge
Polymeric sand is supposed to patch up those cracks, even the tiniest of them, so weeds can no longer take root. It's a process to do correctly though, cleaning out between old cracks, watering afterwards, brushing excess away, etc. But it's worth checking out if it's your home and you want a more permanent solution.
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