Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Roundup question

Never used Roundup, but I've been advised to treat house pad site before moving mobile home there. Site is about 40 yards by 60 yards (not feet).

Not a jungle by any means, but plenty of fast growing weeds through the rock & gravel.

Any suggestions as to how best apply, how much will be needed, or anything else?

Sorry, dimensions are 25 yards by 40 yards!

If you can run a mower over the area first, I'd definitely recommend doing that, setting as low as you can without hitting rock. If you're planning on using regular Round-up I'd suggest looking at their Driveway clearing chemical. It'll kill everything and it won't come back for up to a year, whereas the standard round-up will have grass returning in a couple of months and you'll be treating again.

Not sure if you want grass around the place or not, but if the pad is rock you probably dont.

Thanks, Mike! Sounds like a good plan.

But since Roundup is taken in by leaves, not roots, wouldn't it be smart to leave plenty of leaves unmown?

I can only speak from personal experience here. Ive used the regular round-up around my fences and outbuildings, and it works fine if you dont mind retreating periodically. I've also used the year long stuff for a driveway of limestone. I mowed the area to 3" prior to the initial treatment and spreading the rock. It killed right down to the dirt. Subsequent treatments were without mowing anything, just spot treating over the rock and it kept the rock completely free of grass till the following year. When I saw grass trying to grow, I'd just hit that spot before it could spread.

That's what I do. Give it time to turn the weeds at least partly brown and then mow them off so they aren't unsightly, but it may also work after you mow them. I just never tried it. If you're setting the mobile home soon and putting underpinning around it, the kill off would probably last and the lack of light should keep new growth from surviving. I generally spray Roundup twice a year and it keeps things under control. As to your question about how much it will take, See how much area the label says a gallon will cover and figure it up from there. I generally spray 16 gallon at a time and it covers a lot of area.

I would look into something like HyVar. It’s a ground sterilization product and nothing will come back for a few years

I recently weed whacked some tall weeds and grasses around the shop then sprayed with Round-Up. It did not kill some of the grasses that had been cut to about 3 inches tall. I suspect because there was not much, if any, green leaves showing to be sprayed. A second application will be needed once it grows some more foliage.

I would spray first then cut/mulch later so long as you are talking about weeds and such that are under a foot tall or so.

Ground sterilizers would be good to check into as well. Just be cautious that some of them can "run-off" after a rain and kill greenery down hill from the application.

Roundup needs 8 hours before a rain and being cut. Dairy farmers can spray a field of hay 10 hours before they cut it. After the hay is bailed and removed from the field the stubble will not come back and die.

I would spray round up 8-10 hours before a rain. If Ag grade put four Oz in a one gallon hand sprayer. I would spray just before sun set about one hour. This time of the night or evening weeds or all plants open up their pours to take in dew for moisture. They will take in the product more effectively and die much faster. It is believed that you can cut spray rates in half if sprayed at dust or at night.

IF the weeds are in seed or in head they will be much more difficult to kill off with any spray. They need to be actively growing for all spray to work. Adding two table spoons of miracle gro 18-18-18 per gallon will really help activate round up and get a good complete burn.

If you want to just spray house hold ammonia straight it will do just as good of a job as round up. Again the weed can't be in head or seed and not growing. Spraying straight ammonia during the day when it is dry is best for a good torch.

Cheers Don.

https://www.menards.com/main/outdoors/ga...ller-2-5-gallon

Mix 4x stronger than standard and spray on a still, dry day. I've killed off around 15k sq ft of land with one spring after mowing down all of the over growth. Planted grass the following summer.

1gal vinegar
2cups Epsom Salt
1/4cup Dawn Dish Soap

Or you can make your own Weed-Be-Gone