Boost your curb appeal with these tried-and-true weed removal methods
Your driveway is the first thing most people see when they come to your house, so keeping it looking great can really boost your home's curb appeal. Unfortunately, pesky weeds love to grow in just about any crack they can find, which can seriously cramp a home's style. But the good news is that you can get rid of driveway weeds using items that you probably already have. This guide walks you through several different ways to remove weeds from your driveway from start to finish.
A clean driveway is a telltale sign of a beautiful, well-maintained home. In fact, the curb appeal it provides can go a long way toward increasing the value of your home, especially if you eventually decide to sell. Weeds, moss, and other vegetation can have long-term detrimental effects on your driveway by causing cracks to expand, resulting in costly repairs. Luckily, removing these growths is a relatively easy and inexpensive DIY task that handy homeowners can perform regularly.
There are several methods for removing driveway weeds, so the first thing you need to do is decide which one you'll start with. The most straightforward method is to pull the weeds by hand, but this isn't always effective on deep-rooted weeds and can be incredibly tiring and time-consuming.
You can also use boiling water if you have just a few weeds to remove or mix up a homemade solution of vinegar, salt, and lemon juice if you're working with many. Typically, chemical herbicides should only be used as a last resort since it's not great for the environment.
The simplest (but not the easiest) way is to pull weeds up by hand. However, it's time-consuming, especially if you have a lot of weeds, and it's not always effective for weeds with very deep roots. So try the other methods if you have a lot of stubborn weeds or want to save some time.
It's easiest to access the roots of weeds when the soil is wet, so fully saturate the area with water before beginning. Then grab your gardening gloves and a screwdriver.
Dig your screwdriver into the ground around the weed to help loosen and access the weed's root. If you pull the top portion of the weed and not the root, the weed will continue to grow. After loosening the soil with a screwdriver, remove the weed by grabbing near the base and slowly pulling up.
Next, use a vacuum to remove loose soil from the crack, then fill it with masonry caulk. This step will help prevent further weed growth.
Boiling water is often a very effective weed removal solution. Even weeds that like hot weather won't withstand the heat of boiling temperatures. If you have a lot of weeds, this method will probably take too long for your liking, so you should try the next methods instead. However, it's a great option for a few stubborn weeds in one area.
For this step, all you need to do is fill a large pot with water and let it boil. Once it's boiling, carefully remove it from the stove and immediately walk it outside.
Bring the pot of boiling water to just above the weeds—you want it to be close to the weeds so the water can fully saturate the roots. Then slowly pour it over the weeds, giving it time to soak in.
After pouring the water and letting it soak for two minutes or so, remove the weed by hand, making sure to pull it from the roots. You can dig a screwdriver into the ground to help you reach and loosen the roots. Then grab a vacuum to remove loose soil and fill the crack with masonry caulk to prevent more weeds from sprouting up in that space.
Most weeds are no match for a homemade weed killer made of salt, lemon juice, and white vinegar. The acid in vinegar and lemon juice, combined with the drying and osmotic stress that salts put on plants, will swiftly kill them.
Mix 1 cup of regular table salt and 1 cup of lemon juice with 1 gallon of white vinegar containing at least 5% acetic acid. Pickling vinegar can work even better since it's more acidic, but white vinegar should be adequate for most weeds.
Pour the solution into a spray bottle and spray on all of the weeds. Don't be afraid to use a heavy hand here—you want to make sure the solution fully saturates the weeds down to the roots.
Let the solution sit on the weeds for at least several days, then remove them by hand, pulling from the root and using a screwdriver to help, if needed. Finally, vacuum the remaining soil in the crack and fill it with masonry caulk to remove the remaining weeds.
You can also use a propane torch to incinerate weeds sprouting up through concrete. In fact, some torches are specially designed for this purpose, with extra long necks that make it easy to torch each weed without bending over.
Since you're quite literally playing with fire here, you want to make sure to use caution when torching. This method should only be applied to weeds that are surrounded by concrete on all sides. Otherwise, you risk torching your lawn and other nearby vegetation. You should also avoid using this method for asphalt maintenance since the asphalt can melt under the heat.
Turn on your torch and light it directly above the weed using the manufacturer's instructions. Then apply it to the weed, moving it back and forth until the weed is completely charred. Use water to extinguish remaining embers and let it completely cool.
Once the weed is charred and cooled, use a vacuum to remove it, along with remaining soil, from the crack. Then fill the crack with masonry caulk.
If you still have stubborn weeds after trying the previous methods, then use a chemical herbicide with glyphosate as your last line of defense. Unlike other weed killers, solutions with glyphosate will kill both weed grasses and broadleaf weeds. Glyphosate also doesn't linger in the environment for as long as other weed killer types
Wear goggles and plastic gloves to protect your eyes and hands when handling weed killer. Then follow the manufacturer's instructions to add the herbicide solution to a garden sprayer.
Spray the herbicide on all weeds, letting it saturate down to the root. Then let the solution sit for at least one or two days until the weed is completely dead.
Once the weed is dead, pull it from the roots, using a screwdriver to help you loosen it, if necessary. Then vacuum the crack and fill it with masonry caulk to prevent further growth.
Unfortunately, you could be in for a big driveway repair if weeds are allowed to disrupt pavement. Weed removal can get easier as each season passes once you know how to prevent them from forming in the first place. While it seems like weeds can spring up anywhere, creating an inhospitable environment is easier than most people think. Use these tips to stop weeds in their tracks:
1. Add landscaping fabric to create a physical barrier against weeds while still allowing plant roots to be nourished by water, sunlight, and air.
2. Add mulch generously to pathways or landscaping.
3. Water your plants with a drip-irrigation system to nourish roots at the root level while depriving weeds of moisture.
4. Consider using a pre-emergent herbicide that kills weeds in the seed stage.
5. Skip excessive tilling of a new garden bed to avoid moving "sleeping" weeds to the top of the heap for germination.
6. When gardening or landscaping, plant flowers, shrubs, and vegetables at the closest spacing recommended in order to prevent exposed sunny spaces where weeds can flourish.
Weed removal services typically cost around $100 per treatment, so you can save money by removing driveway weeds yourself. Getting rid of driveway weeds is a fairly simple and straightforward project that most homeowners can take on themselves. However, if you want to save some time or find that this project is too physically taxing, you can always call a local weed removal service to help.
Kelly Weimert contributed to this piece.
Landscaping fabric can only help to prevent weed growth in the short term. It's not an ideal long-term solution because dirt will eventually make its way on top of it, causing weeds to sprout. These fabrics can also leave microplastics in the environment for many, many years, so pulling weeds using one of the methods in this guide as soon as you see them is a better long-term prevention strategy.
No, it's not really possible to completely prevent weed growth. Weeds are incredibly resilient—all they usually need is a tiny bit of dirt to sprout, so their eventual appearance is pretty much inevitable. However, you can definitely keep them at bay by getting rid of weeds as soon as you notice them. The longer you let them sit and grow roots, the more they'll spread.
Pulling weeds once per month is typically often enough to keep most weeds at bay. But in general, it's best to pull weeds as soon as you spot them to prevent deep root growth and slow their spread. To make it easier, plan your weed pulling after rain or after the sprinklers run so the soil will be nice and wet and the weeds will be easier to pull. If you notice moss accompanying weeds, make a plan to remove the moss immediately to prevent damage.
