[nano]

Hi everyone! I didnt know what subforum to post this question in as its relating to home improvement type question.

anyways now that the weathers getting good in vancouver I want to clean up the outside around the house, this is what I have to deal with...

http://photos.e46fanatics.com/data/500/medium/photo28.jpg

and its like this all over my compound...

anyways, whats a good way to prevent this or slow the weeds down from becoming like this? I am thinking about powerwashing them out to get rid of them, then should I put a type of sealent coat on the ground to close up the gaps of the tiles so they wont grow again? should i spray it with weed killer before I put sealent on?

thanks

[danned]

i think you can get those sprayers from homedepot/rona

[Spectre_Cdn]

You don't need weed killer. Just google 'natural weedkiller' and you can make your own out of vinegar, salt and dish detergent. Mix it and put it in a spray bottle, then just spray the weeds. Wait about an hour or so and you can pull them out; make sure to remove the root, if you can. You could fill in the cracks with sand afterward, but they may not stop the weeds from coming back. A powerwasher will get rid of the weed above ground, but the root will still be there and the weed will just grow back.

[nano]

^thanks for your post!....im thinking of killing the weeds and then pulling them out....power wash the ground to try to clean out any dirt or remaing weeds....then cover it in with sand then place some type of sealent on it...hopefully that works!

[JordanLee]

Do it the save environmental way by using fire! Seriously. Using a blow torch will kill it for good and wont kill the earth. Using a powerwasher is just going to take out all the sand between the bricks.

Just watch where you torch and dont start a brush fire.

[danned]

don't leave any gaps for the weeds

[subordinate]

don't leave any gaps for the weeds

........


Weeds are tough suckers, it likely broke through the garden cloth that was under the stones.

+1 on the vinegar tip, since we aren't allowed to use pesticides.

[!Aznboi128]

You don't need weed killer. Just google 'natural weedkiller' and you can make your own out of vinegar, salt and dish detergent. Mix it and put it in a spray bottle, then just spray the weeds. Wait about an hour or so and you can pull them out; make sure to remove the root, if you can. You could fill in the cracks with sand afterward, but they may not stop the weeds from coming back. A powerwasher will get rid of the weed above ground, but the root will still be there and the weed will just grow back.
that works!

and for the gaps . that's impossible. what IS possible tho, is if you ever take the bricks up leave a layer of black wrap (they sell it in home depot) it will stop anything like that from growing.

[orange7]

go to Rona and talk to those how-to people.

[FerrariEnzo]

smoke it all and get high!

[fliptuner]

Misleading title. If you go into a store to get advice, refer to them as "patio stones"

[racerman88]

be careful if you have pets.

[ShadowBun]

part of me want to say: smoke them man

but being serious..
your best bet is to re-cement these floors