Anyone ever used salt to kill off weeds in a gravel driveway? If so, what kind of salt did you use - rock salt, household salt? Did you mix with water (ratio?) and spray or just sprinkle and wait for rain? Was there any problem with salt run-off – damage to grass either side of driveway?
I’m also considering a salt/vinegar/dish soap mixture. Or this other natural stuff called Avenger Weed Killer (citrus based) – heard it’s good. Can’t stand to use Roundup.
Salt will work but it will run off and kill grass on either side. We used to use it in dog kennels before Roundup was invented. I believe we used rock salt. Roundup is more effective and better for the environment.
Following with interest…
Tried using a little seed spreader to spread rock salt all over our gravel driveway and it didn’t work at all. Hate using roundup…
Salt was not effective for me either. I ended up just bringing in more gravel.
Salt didn’t work for me. I ended up using vinegar until I could get to the store for Roundup. Vinegar actually worked on the grass, but not the hard to kill dandelions.
Yes. Exactly this. One of the many great things about glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, is that it binds to soil and is inactivated, so you don’t have many problems with leaching and runoff. Another great thing about Roundup is that it is readily and rapidly biodegraded in the environment. And yet another great thing is that glyphosate is practically non-toxic to anything that isn’t a plant.
I really don’t understand the hate for what is actually an excellent and environmentally friendly herbicide.
I use salt on the gravel around my barn/paddocks/horses. You have to use a LOT of it to really keep the grass and weeds down. I buy 50lb bags at the feed store for around $5/bag and spread it with a larger push spreader.
It works well, but you have to put the salt down at least 3-4 times in the spring and summer. I would rather use salt than any chemical around the animals.
I always end up ‘tasting’ roundup (gross sensation) whenever I use it – always extra careful: non-windy day, wear a mask, etc. – but still taste it – feel like I’ve just poisoned myself.
More food for thought:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/04/150422-glyphosate-roundup-herbicide-weeds/
In my experience the trick to salt/vinegar is direct sun light. I tried it on a suburban sidewalk and it only worked for the section in direct sun.
danacat, if you do some internet trolling there are some that feel glyphosate may cause cancer. When I looked, not sure I trusted the quality of the research done and the opinions are fairly diverse… yes it does, no it doesn’t… IMO, this is a topic best left to the reader to research 
Others may not have a problem with RoundUp, but I refuse to trust my health and that of my animals to Monsanto. They can swear up and down that it’s safe and I still will never believe them.
I use vinegar/Dawn/salt on our gravel walkways and driveway. It works great and I’ve had no problem with runoff, even though the paths travel through several garden beds (I’m a manic gardener). My blend is primarily vinegar. I avoid overspray and spraying on windy days, and I only use the salt where I know I won’t be planting. Of course, this is NW Oregon, and grass grows without any effort on my part For me. a lawn is good for nothing more than hand-grazing.
I think this mixture is the way to go too – I also have one of those weed killing propane torches, but haven’t tried it yet.
What is the size of your driveway? Our property has approximately 1,000 feet of combined driveway, access path that is gravel. We invested in an adjustable (angle and depth) blade for our tractor. My husband drags the driveway and paths a couple of times each summer. No weeds, no bumps or puddles in the driveway.
The propane torch works well in crushed oystershell driveways to keep weeds and grass from growing there.
Can you share the ratio of vinegar/dawn/salt that you use?
I use a cup of kosher salt (I forget why) with 3? cups white vinegar and a squirt of dishsoap. Dish soap makes it stick to the thing you want gone and you do need sun to finish the job.
I mix it in a cheap spray bottle so it may be a bit more than 3 cups vinegar.
Have you considered using a Propane Torch to eliminate the weeds? Works great, and there is no environmental damage, as long as there is no burn ban. Google and youtube have lots of info.
This particular driveway is only a hundred + feet long – it goes back to a small barn and storage shed that I rarely use, so it doesn’t get much traffic. At the beginning of last spring I re-graded and harrowed it to perfection – it looked beautiful. But there were too many weed seeds mixed in and pretty soon the driveway was back to its old weedy self.
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