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diddybop

Driveway cracks maintenance.

3 years ago

I live in the Vancouver area. My driveway is cracking, and the grass/weeds and moss are widening the cracks. I would like to know what I can use to kill and remove the plant matter that is widening these cracks. And then what I can do to try and fill or prevent the cracks from becoming worse.


Thank you.

Comments (12)

  • 3 years ago

    Something like glyphosate/RoundUp would be the easiest and most efficient approach. As for repairing any cracks, what is your driveway made of? Asphalt is pretty simple - just resurface. Concrete is a bit more complicated.

  • 3 years ago
    last modified: 3 years ago

    Plain Vinegar diluted with water to kill the weeds. Roundup is over-kill!

    ONTARIO BANNED HERBICIDES
    • Weedout
    • Killex
    • Weed and Feed fertilizer-pesticide mix
    • Roundup
    • Wipeout
    • Glyphosate and Glufosinate (found in Roundup and Wipeout)

    Ontario Pesticides

  • 3 years ago
    last modified: 3 years ago

    Vinegar rarely kills anything!! All it does is desiccate the topgrowth so that it looks dead but it is not translocated and the roots remain intact and viable. Not a problem with annual weeds but it is with perennial weeds and those are the ones most likely to crack or displace driveway surfacing.

    And we don't know if the OP is in Canada........there is a Vancouver, WA as well.

    btw, table vinegar is used at full strength for any herbicidal properties but has to be applied in sunlight for any sort of effectiveness.

  • 3 years ago
    last modified: 3 years ago

    Nonsense. I use it for killing Poison Ivy, driveway weeds, etc, etc. There are dozens of youtube videos showing this process.

    I live in Montgomery County Maryland - same restrictions on Glyphosate and Roundup.

    Google on Roundup and you'll find hundreds of cites to the effect of, "Yes, vinegar does kill weeds permanently and is a viable alternative to synthetic chemicals. Distilled, white, and malt vinegar all work well to stop weed growth."

    I used Ontario as an example, similar restrictions exist throughout the USA.

    Sorry to have stepped on your toes re your terrible advice!

    "Roundup, a popular herbicide using glyphosate as the active ingredient, is one of the most widely used weed-killing products in the United States. ... In addition to being fatal to plants, Roundup and other glyphosate products may be dangerous to humans, and may even lead to a cancer diagnosis."

  • 3 years ago

    I live in Vancouver Canada. I just sprayed some Clorox bleach onto the cracks because this is something I read. Not sure if that was a good solution.
    My drive way is not asphalt, it is a small pebble concrete kind of mix. That’s the best way I can describe it.

  • 3 years ago
    last modified: 3 years ago

    Bleach works - possibly Vinegar might be better and easier to use.

    Let us know how it works.

  • 3 years ago

    Vinegar can kill top growth of very young or small weeds effectively, but generally not the roots of established weeds, and by the time you use enough or high enough concentration, it's actually more toxic than RoundUp. Keep in mind that vinegar is a chemical (Acetic Acid) too, just as much as RoundUp is - whether a chemical is synthetic or natural doesn't negate it's potential toxicity. Both RoundUp and vinegar can be effective for weed control, in the right situation, but using one over the other shouldn't be a choice that is dictated by virtue signaling - choose instead based on your needs and your research and make the choice that is right for you.


    https://fairfield.osu.edu/news/vinegar-it-%E2%80%9Csafer%E2%80%9D-herbicide

    https://extension.umd.edu/resource/vinegar-alternative-glyphosate

    https://www.gardenmyths.com/vinegar-weed-killer-myth/

  • 3 years ago
    last modified: 3 years ago

    In this situation, bleach will be far more effective than vinegar. But it may require more than just a quick spray.

    It sounds like your driveway is exposed aggregate concrete. In which case you will need a concrete contractor to make repair recommendations. Not as easy as resurfacing asphalt.

  • 3 years ago

    You want to be careful with vinegar on concrete.

    https://www.gizmoplans.com/does-vinegar-dissolve-concrete/

  • 3 years ago

    It's not nonsense at all!! All manner of websites will explain - just as the publications that sunshine linked to - that table vinegar is not an effective herbicide if one is dealing with any perennial plant, weed or not, as it does not kill the roots. The plant will simply continue to survive and regenerate topgrowth.

    Why is it that cranks fall out of the woodwork any time a contentious subject comes up for discussion? Full of bluster and hot air but very short on any facts!

  • 3 years ago

    I’ve never had good luck with vinegar effectively killing weeds.

    The best method I’ve found is by finding a tool the necessary size (even a knife or screwdriver), getting as much plant and root out as possible, then carefully pouring boiling water on the area.

    I have used Roundup, too, and it works well.

  • 3 years ago

    Some places sell 30% strength "horticultural" vinegar. I have had fairly good luck killing certain weeds in San Antonio (not Canada). There are problems with that stuff. First is it is extremely dangerous to handle. If you get any in your eyes, you are blind for months until your cornea can heal. Second, it does not always kill what you want. Third, it does seem to kill what you want to keep, so overspray is a problem with it. Fourth, you don't want to spray acid near concrete, as was mentioned. On the good side, plants that are going to die are dead and crispy in 20 minutes. Also it smells like my grandmother's salad dressing for an hour - but also don't breathe the stuff into your lungs when you spray it.

    But I don't think the grass in the cracks is THE problem. Giant slabs of concrete are not going to move with a few weeds. If it was brick sized paver stones, then maybe, but not slabs. What does move slabs of concrete is upheaval from frozen soil underneath. Could that be the problem? Non-engineered slabs poured over shifty clay can also break concrete over time. Also, tree roots can move or break concrete over time. Do any of these alternate ideas seem plausible?