Opinions on veggie garden walkways - need help

[lazy gardener]

Where you have an established invasive in your walk ways, I think it would be important to spend at least one season eradicating it from the walk ways, and keep removing it from the beds as it shows up. The choice re: round up is only one that you can make. If I were dealing with this situation in my yard, I'd heavily mulch the walk ways with cardboard or news paper covered with a layer of straw or shavings or wood chips. Or you could cover with old carpet (least desirable IMO) to exclude light and kill off the main growth of plants. Then go after the weeds in the garden beds with heavy weeding followed by mulch to exclude light from the soil. Any weed growth that breaks through should be lighter and easier to remove. A tiller may only break up the root system and encourage more vegetative propogation. (I'm not familiar with your specific weed) I don't think there is an easy fast way to get rid of an invasive, but heavy mulching and persistence should accomplish the task over several seasons. Let the mulch do the work for you.

 

[lazy gardener]

Sorry dbl post.

 

[Life is Good!]

We installed pea gravel walkways between our raised beds at our last house.
we had to start weeding the gravel, so you might want to research a better weed block.

This is what I want to avoid! I already have to weed our gravel driveway (175' long!)...I'm tired of finding weeds coming up into my raised beds. Was hoping to find alternative.

I'm thinking planks! Seriously, that'd be way too $$$.

Sigh. Guess I'm stuck - not sure what's the best method at the moment.....

 

[droidlizard]

The only thing worse than shoveling all that gravel in by hand is going to be getting it back out when it doesn't work. I have a concrete slab behind the barn twenty five feet wide by seventy feet long and six inches thick. Long before I moved in weeds started in that first crack and now it has all but been turned back into gravel. Tree roots heave up city sidewalks and tear down basement walls. Nature is a powerful force. Even that little bit of grass in time will surely make its way. I kinda like the rototiller idea, but only because I have one.

 

[CSWolffe]

Don't use Roundup! For two reason, practical and political. Roundup can be detected in culinary plants up to six feet away from where it's sprayed. I don't know about you, but I don't want Roudup in my carrots. As for the political, well, I have a bit of a thing against the maker of Roundup, Monsanto. That is on evil corporation, and I do everything I can to avoid giving them any of my hard earned money. Monsanto makes the pesticides that are mostly responsible for bees dying off, they are also the biggest maker of GMO crops, and are now lobbying Congress for a bill saying they no longer have to label GMO foods as such. I find that rather frightening. Rototill or use cardboard, then cover with pea gravel.
I have pea gravel between my raised garden beds. I have wire mesh over or around my beds to keep the chickens out, so I can just let them scratch around in the gravel. I've yet to pull a single weed this year, those girls get everything!

 

[Life is Good!]

I have pea gravel between my raised garden beds. I have wire mesh over or around my beds to keep the chickens out, so I can just let them scratch around in the gravel. I've yet to pull a single weed this year, those girls get everything!

I hadn't thought about wire mesh around the raised beds to keep the chickens out. Thank you! I think I've found the solution. However, the girls definitely prefer to scratch underneath our pine trees 50' from the garden....and in front of the neighbor's house (eek!).....but I can see about having them search the gravel by shutting the gate with me in there (me to protect the harvest!)

As for the political reasons - that's why I'm asking for alternatives. I refuse to use the stuff whenever and wherever possible. My bees thank me for it, as do the gravel grasshoppers (the ones I still haven't id'd yet). I'm off to find some abundant free cardboard! And some more wire mesh - more?! I thought I'd be done purchasing the stuff once the coop and run were complete. Now, I'm finding uses for it just about everywhere!

 

[gramakoko]

I would rototill it up, then lay down course sand....That's what I did years ago. It's a proven back/time saver.

 

[Life is Good!]

Sand? Really? I'm on clay - so not sure that sand would stick around. But I'll ask some folks in the know 'round here....
It's a good alternative, if I can figure out how to keep it from getting sucked under the grass!