I was told vinegar would work,wil it?I'm clearing a path thru the woods on my property and the brush grows back very quickly and I am looking for someway to allieviate this problem without the use of conventional herbicide that will eliminate me also in the long run.
Juglone. You should be able to scout up some black walnut trees where you are. Whatever you can shred up, the leaves, bark, hulls, they all contain juglone, which should make a good mulch for your paths that will keep unwanted plants from sprouting.
Also, drive something heavy up and down it regularly - you'll kill off any annual weeds germinating and pack the earth down hard to make it harder for everything to thrive. Busy tracks rarely get overgrown.
You don't want it bare dirt because unless it's packed very hard it will erode in rainstorms and make a ditch instead of a path. Ask me how I know! We inherited a lovely walking trail-turned ditch. Now we let weeds grow and every couple of weeks I go through with my cheapo lightweight push mower to chop it all down low again.
Renate Haeckler wrote:You don't want it bare dirt because unless it's packed very hard it will erode in rainstorms and make a ditch instead of a path. Ask me how I know! We inherited a lovely walking trail-turned ditch. Now we let weeds grow and every couple of weeks I go through with my cheapo lightweight push mower to chop it all down low again.
This is what we do, too, with a particular emphasis on putting woody overgrowth down -- brambles and other things that are hard to deal with. The woody stuff seems to resist regrowth better than the rest, even if a bit inconvenient to walk on at first. It still has to be trod upon regularly though, or it may get unruly.
If you can get the local wildlife using the track regularly then they will help keep it cleared depending on how big of a path you want. Maybe some food sources (alfalfa etc) placed strategically along the trail?
I have always found the best way to keep a path clear is to walk it often. I wouldn't use wood chips. In my experience they break down into more organic mater and coupled with compaction you just end up slogging threw more and more mud in one of those cycles. I obviously don't know your particular situation. I also don't know any bramble I can out compete with wood chips. I've been fighting a very nasty Himalayan blackberry infestation myself. You could try putting down log causeways like they did in medieval russia.
Evan McDivitt wrote:Long term, try growing moss? Not sure how to grow moss but it grows well on rotten and moist logs. It might help make wet logs less slippery.
As someone who has owned a little tug for gathering beach comb logs on the west coast, I can assure you that wet moss does not make things less slippery. Moss is slow growing and it does not do well with foot traffic.
Creek rock? Stepping "stones" made of log crWe are so sorry if we have put any of your home's at risk.
There have been no signs of infestation at our house.
Had there been we most likely would not have come on this trip.
Love, the BCT's.oss sections? I have bound/screwed scrap lumber into 3 and 4' sections of boardwalk, to good effect.
Faggots (bundles of branches) could work, or maybe reeds, or any other thatching material.
I have an inch of card board on some spots in my yard, and some hardboard(no chemicals! ) that has been on the ground for over a year and still is going strong.
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Moss is slow growing and it does not do well with foot traffic.
