Alternatives to Weedeating

Hi Everyone,

What alternatives to weed eating has anyone found that works as well or better than weed eating around objects like fences and buildings?  I'd like it to be a permanent or at least long term solution.  No chemicals, no laying of newspaper or cardboard.  Stone is too expensive, but it does need to be a natural solution.  So no using old roof asphalt shingles, plastic, etc.  And it should also work anywhere not just around fences.

I've tried tamping the soil to compact it so it is more resistant to plant growth, but some plants are really good at growing in compacted soil.  Maybe I'm not tamping enough?

Thank you for the great ideas and inspirations!

With all the qualifications you laid out, mulching is about the only thing left! And even that only works long-term if you put cardboard under it.

I agree with Matt that mulching is about the only solution.  6 inches of wood chips most likely prevent the grass from growing through.

Innoculate with mushrooms would be an added bonus.

The only other solution that I can come up with would be to plant the area with hostas or comfrey.

Strangely enough someone just posted their simple and effective solution in this topic. https://permies.com/t/181289/Brainstorm-sustainable-long-lasting-flower They plant a border of plants that you can mow right up to with the mower slipping under the leaves of the border plants.  Clean cut grass right to its edge with no extra steps.  

We're in the process of mulching out the grass next to our driveway to plant something there for the same reason.   It is a two inch strip of grass with posts from the neighbors fence every 6 feet.  I will be transplanting gulf muhly make a soft hedge instead.  I bought seedlings and planted them throughout the front gardens.  Based on my experience with other native bunching grasses, in a couple of years I will be able to transplant and divide enough to cover the whole strip.  By that point we will hopefully have weakened the existing grasses enough that the muhly will quickly overpower any remaining stragglers. Over time I am sure we will mix in more ornamental but we are limited by not damaging vehicles using the driveway.

A cheap source of stone could be the scrap from a countertop company.
Big flat peices of polished stone can go a long ways towards suppressing growth.
That being said, almost any layering solution can be overwhelmed by fallen biomass, over time.
Entire sidewalks can be covered over time.
Ironically,  weedeating is the preventive measure that prevents this.

The biological alternative of comfrey has been suggested and it should do the job.
It is self maintaining, no weedeating needed.


Another alternative is locking up the nutrition in the soil.
Add enough ash and the PH will be to skewed for anything to grow.
A layer of un-charged charcoal will suck the water and nutrients right out of the soil.
Both if these effects will fade with time, but the materials used can be sourced for free and are natural and be.

Matt Todd wrote:With all the qualifications you laid out, mulching is about the only thing left! And even that only works long-term if you put cardboard under it.

Well, part of this exercise is to expand ideas from what we have already tried.  Thank you for adding mulching.

Anne Miller wrote:I agree with Matt that mulching is about the only solution.  6 inches of wood chips most likely prevent the grass from growing through.

Innoculate with mushrooms would be an added bonus.

The only other solution that I can come up with would be to plant the area with hostas or comfrey.

Its a good solution, however, I have found that to be seasonal.  The mushrooms are nice bonus.  I'll do some searches for DIY mushroom innoculations.

i'm looking for something that would be years and no maintenance during that time.

Casie Becker wrote:...They plant a border of plants that you can mow right up to with the mower slipping under the leaves of the border plants.  Clean cut grass right to its edge with no extra steps.  

This is a nice suggestion and worth a look as long as the plants are very short (for my needs anyway.)  

Ultimately, I'm looking for a dead or "no plant growth" style look.

Has anyone tried vegetable oils to smother?

William Bronson wrote:A cheap source of stone could be the scrap from a countertop company.
Big flat peices of polished stone can go a long ways towards suppressing growth.

This is a great idea for stone sources.  I didn't think to call a countertop company.

William Bronson wrote:That being said, almost any layering solution can be overwhelmed by fallen biomass, over time.
Entire sidewalks can be covered over time.
Ironically,  weedeating is the preventive measure that prevents this.

Yes, but this should be years depending on the amount litter in the area.

William Bronson wrote:Another alternative is locking up the nutrition in the soil.
Add enough ash and the PH will be to skewed for anything to grow.
A layer of un-charged charcoal will suck the water and nutrients right out of the soil.
Both if these effects will fade with time, but the materials used can be sourced for free and are natural and be.

These are great suggestions too.  What is un-charged charcoal?  Is that just regular charcoal blocks as opposed to activated charcoal?

Richie Ring wrote:Has anyone tried vegetable oils to smother?

We have a spot where some unknown oil was spilled at some unknown time.

I would not want anyone to repeat that application on my property.

Have you thought about planting something low growing so it is not necessary to weed eat?

There are some really great low-growing grasses or even some low-growing plants such as Creeping Thyme.

Another option to weed-eating is flame-throwing, have you considered that option.

I'm with Anne on the mulching, 6 or more inches of mulch/wood chips and you'll reduce the seeds germinating from the soil below, and any that start in the mulch are super easy to pull. I've got 10-12" deep woodchip paths in my garden (and convert more paths each year) and the weeds are minimal, since the seeds were removed with the soil, and not present in the woodchips. Just a small amount of easy weeding now and then, and a topping up every year or two.

Charcoal is filled with tiny holes which make it very absorbent.
If it's added to the soil without soaking it in water and nutrients first, it will absorb what is already there.
The process of soaking it in nutrients and water is often referred to as "charging"

Normally adding uncharged charcoal to soil could be a problem because it makes the nutrients unavailable for plants, but for your purposes it's ideal.

William Bronson wrote:...The process of soaking it in nutrients and water is often referred to as "charging"
Normally adding uncharged charcoal to soil could be a problem because it makes the nutrients unavailable for plants, but for your purposes it's ideal.

Thank you for clarifying.  This I may try, but how much do you think you need before it just behaves like bio-char for the soil?

Anne Miller wrote:...Another option to weed-eating is flame-throwing, have you considered that option.

Yes and I do like this method (I use a propane flame torch), however, its results are short term.  A little longer than normal weed eating.  I do not recommend this for anyone who lives in a dry litter area such as the American West.  

Lets take Mulching off the table.  Not because it is not a good idea, its effective and I often use grass to form a dense mat, but I'm hoping all of our great collective minds here can expand into some new ideas.  Each region will have something that will work better in their own region, but maybe we can discover a great idea that is as effective across multiple regions and can be cataloged here.

In some landscaping designs, there is a preference for a barren soil look.  For me, right up against a building a few inches out and around fences and other post.

Edging helps, but its yearly.  

I've heard that if tamping is done right, nothing will grow.  Who has experience with this?  What is the proper technique?  How long does it actually last?

Lets try to think of somethings that once its completed, there is no maintenance for at least 3-5yrs?

How does the earth do it?

Richie Ring wrote:How does the earth do it?

She doesn't - at least not in my biological zone.  We have an area where a former owner dumped a mix of subsoil mixed with some debris and compacted it with machinery driving over it. Himalayan Blackberry and Burdock moved in as they both will grow and break up compacted soil.

If you're looking for 3-5 years, you might be able to make compacted "bricks" on the principle of rammed earth so *really* compacted, but you'd have to add some cement if they're in contact with the ground from the perspective of it being a "foundation" or just accept that they'd gradually deteriorate. However, weeds would start to grow wherever there's a crack between them and I'm not sure how large you could make them and still be able to move them from what ever you use to compact he dirt to where you want them to sit.

I've used salvaged 2x8 lumber (untreated - probably cedar) flat on the ground as paths. Weeds will grow up between every gap, although you could try using a router to make them like a mortice and tenon (I'm sure there's another word for when it's used for flooring) and that would help. However, this is only good for straight lines. If you said how wide a weed-free zone you want, I missed it. I've got some edging by the garden and the grass grows over it in a couple of years. Mother Nature abhors a vacuum!

“although you could try using a router to make them like a mortice and tenon (I'm sure there's another word for when it's used for flooring) and that would help.”

Hi, I think you probably mean tongue-in-groove or shiplap?

I have been experimenting with planting a row of comfrey at the edge of my forest garden.  The comfrey leaves tend to choke out any grass at the interface with the lawn, and it looks quite tidy when mowing up to the edge, without having to weed-whack.

The only place I see naturally "barren" in my area is under dense tree growth after years of being deprived of sunlight, all the undergrowth is dead and there is just ground covered in half decomposed pine needles generally. So given all the restrictions, I'd say massive shade is your next possibility. Growing something fast with big leaves could help at certain times of the year. I imagine rhubarb would shade out a lot and then could be harvested and get the barren look for a while.