Grass B Gone

February 15, 2024 12:58 PM

What's the best and least toxic way to get overgrown grass/weeds off of a stone walkway?

We discovered that the rock pathway that leads from the street to our door actually extends around the front of our yard. We painstakingly scraped and hosed off a square foot but it took a lot of effort. The weeds and grass and in deep and fully cover the pathway. Is there a way to kill this grass so we can pull it up and expose the rock? We are not precious about our yard- very much a pollinator, bunny friendly place, so it doesn't have to be manicured. We just think it would be fun to expose the old pathway. In the Pacific North West.

posted by kittensofthenight to Home & Garden (20 answers total)

Blowtorch. The make them on wands that attach to a propane tank, i think Harbor Freight has them. Takes a few passes, and either do it when it’s damp out (so, like us, you’d want to do it before June) or keep a hose nearby.

You don’t need to burn things to a crisp, you just need to apply enough heat to kill the plant. Better to do a few light passes than one slow one.
posted by supercres at 1:10 PM on February 15 [5 favorites]

Blowtorch. I didn't want to kill things so it was the most sensible thing, weirdly. I bought mine for like 14 to attach to my grill's propane tank.
posted by ReluctantViking at 1:11 PM on February 15 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: Blowtorch is a much cooler answer than I anticipated.
posted by kittensofthenight at 1:15 PM on February 15 [18 favorites]

If blowtorch is a little too cool, boiling water also works.
posted by shadygrove at 1:50 PM on February 15 [7 favorites]

A pressure washer would seem to be the tool for the job (it’s like an entire genre on YouTube). It does the ‘painfully scrape and hose’ part of your manual labor almost instantly.

I can’t see how the blowtorch doesn’t just leave the same labor you’re trying to avoid tbh.
posted by Static Vagabond at 1:59 PM on February 15 [1 favorite]

A flamethrower (blowtorch) would be effective and fun, My brother used one to eliminate weeds from a fairly large (about 10 x 10 m) of gravelled yard. He loves the thing, and calls it his flammenwerfer.
If you want something less ecciting and more unattractive, covering the area with something completely opaque, like thiick black plastic or old carpet, for several months will also work.
posted by Fuchsoid at 2:39 PM on February 15

We use a vinegar spray to kill weeds, etc. on our gravel driveway. Not toxic, works really well... makes the driveway smell like pickles for a day or two, but other than that, it's great. This is one of the brands we've used. Use it sparingly, and be careful not to spray it on anything you don't want to kill.
posted by maryellenreads at 2:55 PM on February 15

Hmm, my weeds laugh loudly at vinegar, even straight vinegar.

The blowtorch works pretty slick. The dying and dead stuff hangs around for a bit even if you don't try to clean it off afterwards, but it will rot and blow away in a couple weeks. If you're energetic enough to get out there 3-4 days after you torch it, using a power washer will clean it off like new.
posted by BlueHorse at 4:16 PM on February 15 [1 favorite]

A slower (and admittedly much less exciting than a blowtorch) method would be to cover the area with a rubber mat or old carpet for a while. Once the weeds get sickly they're much easier to pull.
posted by mezzanayne at 4:19 PM on February 15 [1 favorite]

I have a weed torch for this purpose. I'm sure you can find it someplace other than Home Depot. It's also great for lighting the fire pit and the charcoal chimney.
posted by mollweide at 4:36 PM on February 15

Well now I want an excuse to use a blowtorch on something.
posted by kbanas at 4:49 PM on February 15 [4 favorites]

NO MORE SHOVELING SNOW OFF THE DRIVEWAY FOR THIS GUY.
posted by kbanas at 4:49 PM on February 15 [11 favorites]

The 20% vinegar works best if you spray it right before a really hot, sunny day. Household vinegar is 5%, don’t try to use that instead.

Solarization is the term of art for covering land with something to make it heat up and kill weeds, if that helps for searching. You need pretty warm weather and it takes time, since you want to heat up the top layer of soil to kill the roots.
posted by momus_window at 5:24 PM on February 15 [2 favorites]

We accidentally got borax on a small section of our lawn and nothing has grown in that spot for over 2 years now. Shockingly effective!
posted by platinum at 6:29 PM on February 15

→ The 20% vinegar works best if you spray it right before a really hot, sunny day

Yup. It can attack limestone (and fizzes hilariously) so needs a little care. Also, it has me craving chips.
posted by scruss at 7:25 PM on February 15 [2 favorites]

A string trimmer could probably also help with this, but it might take a few passes.
posted by limeonaire at 7:56 PM on February 15

If you're patient, smother the weeds with cardboard and wood chips.

When you eradicate the tall weeds, you can collect some moss responsibly, put it in a blender with buttermilk, and encourage a nice mossy walk. Thyme, lemon thyme, and other herbs are nice to grow on a pathway. I haven't tried moss, but have a nice patch of thyme for cooking, and it smells lovely.
posted by theora55 at 8:52 PM on February 15 [2 favorites]

Is it over pavers or gravel? If pavers, I’d cut along the edge with a shovel and peel the turf off the pavers in a piece. Immensely gratifying.
posted by clew at 9:03 PM on February 15

I started using a weed torch last summer and it’s absolutely perfect for weeds in rocks or decomposed granite. Great alternative to the toxins from weed killer. And it’s fun! Also very easy on the body as you don’t need to bend or apply force. It’s actually very satisfying to use as it’s like instant gratification watching the weed disintegrate. No need for a huge torch. I recommend one that you can attach a mini propane tank not one that you attach to a large tank as that is cumbersome. You can either burn weed to nothing or just apply a bit of heat and the rest dies over time. I will say that the torch is less effective on over grown grass or nutsedge. Anything perennial seems to come right back. But average weeds and clover like weeds…they go by by. Give it a shot. Be safe and do it in damp conditions or have a hose near by just in case.
posted by ljs30 at 2:32 AM on February 16 [1 favorite]

100% flame weeder. Like thirty dollars on Amazon. You swap out propane, the kind you use on a camping stove.

You don't have to set the weeds on fire, although if you're like most people, you'll want to because of the crazy power you'll be wielding.

But as soon as the heat passes over and the cell walls melt, you're good.

Keep a hose nearby. Doing it after a rain works too (like obviously, don't do it in bone dry fire weather.)
posted by A Terrible Llama at 3:33 AM on February 18