How To Permanently Get Rid of Weeds in Driveway: 8 Methods!

Welcome to my article all about how to permanently get rid of weeds in your driveway!

Weeds are inevitable in any yard since they grow quickly and can tolerate even the harshest conditions.

These unwanted plants also spread fast, with small seeds that can fit into even the tiniest cracks where soil and organic material provide them with the nutrients they need.

Once they start to grow, they can be tricky to get rid of, especially if you keep pulling out the tops and leaving the roots behind.

Luckily, there are a few ways to permanently get rid of weeds in a driveway using the methods I’ll describe below.

Of course, prevention is always better than a cure. Before discussing how to get rid of them, I’ll discuss things you can do to prevent the weeds from growing in your driveway in the first place.

Let’s dive right in!

How To Prevent Weeds From Growing In Your Driveway

Here are things you can do to stop weeds from growing in your driveway to begin with!

Before Installing the Driveway

The best way to prevent weeds from poking through the driveway is to put down a geotextile mesh or landscaping fabric before you install the paving stones, brick, or gravel.

Even a poured driveway can benefit from this since the cement could crack at some point, allowing weeds to poke through without some sort of barrier.

Adding this material before the driveway is in place will prevent those weeds from growing, so your driveway will be free of greenery.

Of course, this method can’t be used on a driveway that’s already in place without a lot of work.

Pull Weeds Early

Pulling the weeds early is a good way to prevent them from growing in your driveway.

It’s best to do so before they go to seed to prevent those seeds from dropping off or getting carried away by the wind and spreading to other cracks.

Once you see those weeds sprouting, pull them out carefully, ensuring that you get the root.

If you leave the root in the ground, it will just grow again, so get it all if possible.

How To Permanently Get Rid of Weeds in Driveway

If weeds have already started growing in your driveway, not to worry! Here are some easy methods you can try to permanently remove them.

Boiling Water

Boiling water is an environmentally-friendly and effective way to kill the weeds sprouting up through your driveway.

The scalding temperatures don’t just kill the weed above the ground either. It works its way down to the root system, destroying the entire plant.

Even dormant seeds in the soil can’t withstand such heat, so they won’t grow into new weeds.

Of course, weeds aren’t the only thing that boiling water can kill.

Any grass or plants that the boiling water touch will also die, so you need to be extra careful where you pour it.

Salt

Using salt on weeds is another great way to get rid of them since it prevents the root system from soaking up any moisture in the soil.

It also dehydrates any of the foliage above the soil at the same time, so it takes care of the entire plant.

There are a few ways to use salt, so you can choose whichever one works best for you.

Keep in mind that Epsom salt works better than table salt and gives you the quickest results.

Salt On It’s Own

You can use salt on its own to make those weeds disappear.

Sprinkle it wherever you like, though be careful not to get it on your other plants. Salt will kill them as effectively as it does the weeds.

You’ll also need to make sure there isn’t a chance of run-off carrying the salt away from your driveway and onto your lawn or into a nearby garden.

If this happens, you may not be able to get anything to grow in those areas again.

Salt and Water

Making a solution of salt and boiling water is another fantastic weed-killer.

It combines the high heat of the boiled water with the dehydrating capabilities of the salt, working twice as well as these two alone.

For this mixture, combine 2 parts water with 1 part salt.

Then pour this solution wherever the weeds are poking through the driveway.

Salt and Vinegar

Vinegar is another fast-working weed killer since it contains acetic acid, which is toxic for all types of plants.

Pickling vinegar is the best choice since it has a higher concentration of acetic acid than the vinegar you’d use in your kitchen.

Commercial vinegar is the highest, with 20% acetic acid, though this product needs to be handled carefully, including the use of gloves and eye protection.

To use vinegar as a weed killer:

1. Combine a gallon of vinegar with a cup of salt.
2. Add 2 tablespoons of dish soap and mix. For an even stronger solution, you can also add a cup of lemon juice.
3. Pour the mixture into a spray bottle
4. Spray the weeds poking up through your driveway, saturating the exposed plant.

After a few days, the plant will have died and you can remove it from the crack.

Weeding Tools

There are weeding tools that are specifically designed to remove weeds from your yard, including your driveway.

These include V-notch weeders that hook the plant and Cape Cod weeders with a narrow hoe-like end and handles of varying lengths.

There are also soil knives available that can remove the plants from crevices in your driveway.

Though they all work in slightly different ways, these tools are all great options for getting rid of those pesky weeds.

Be sure to clean your weeding tools, as well as the rest of your gardening tools, after each use.

Seeds can cling to the tools you’re using, dropping off as you move around your yard, creating an even larger weed problem.

View Weeding Tools on Amazon Here

Commercial Herbicide

Commercial herbicides are a good option to kill those driveway weeds because they work fast, rarely requiring more than one application.

The chemical herbicides aren’t the best for the environment but there are some natural options available.

Keep in mind that some herbicides are selective killers, so you need to make sure you get the right type for the weeds creeping up on your driveway.

Spray them wherever they are needed to kill the weeds on your driveway.

View Natural Herbicides on Amazon Here

Seal the Cracks

A concrete driveway can develop cracks over time, which allows weeds to work their way in.

Paving slabs or bricks have spaces in between each piece, where weeds also love to grow.

To prevent them from sprouting, filling those cracks is the best option.

You can use cement crack filler or caulk to seal these areas and keep the weeds from coming back permanently.

How To Permanently Get Rid of Weeds in Driveway: Conclusion

I hope this article has given you a few ideas on how to permanently kill the weeds in your driveway!

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