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For the benefit of Clk Sec, I'll start off the weedkiller thread ~ I wish I was allowed to still use sodium chlorate on our block paved drive.
Last edited by: L'escargot on Fri 26 Apr 13 at 09:15
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Did the usual round of squirty stuff last week. Unlike in the old days, the weeds are only just beginning to yellow now. Another couple of weeks and they might die, but of course another zillion have appeared since last week.
Wonder how iffy is getting on with his weed burner he was pleased with.
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>>For the benefit of Clk Sec, I'll start off the weedkiller thread ~ I wish I was allowed to still use sodium chlorate<<
Well thank you, Sir...
I, too, wish that sodium Chlorate was still available, as it did the job extremely well for very little cost.
Funnily enough I was going to crack open a 3L container of Relolva (as recommended on a previous weedkiller thread by the knowledgeable Zero) this morning, but there is rain in the air, so I'll leave it a while longer.
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I keep a trigger spray of salt solution to hand.
This year I'm going to give the drive a power wash and brush new sand/salt in to see if that works.
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They do as say that vinegar works better than salt, and vinegar in washing up liquid works better yet, and horticultural vinegar works best of all. Not tried any of those myself, although perhaps I should.
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>> They do as say that vinegar works better than salt, and vinegar in washing up
>> liquid works better yet, and horticultural vinegar works best of all. Not tried any of
>> those myself, although perhaps I should.
I think salt may have less of an odour problem, although it could be a way of upsetting the neighbours. It certainly lingers when SWMBO uses it in the kitchen.
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>> I keep a trigger spray of salt solution to hand.
I sprinkle table salt on the centre of weeds in the lawn such as dandelions and thistles. It's cheap and effective.
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>> >> I keep a trigger spray of salt solution to hand.
>>
>> I sprinkle table salt on the centre of weeds in the lawn such as dandelions
>> and thistles. It's cheap and effective.
>>
Lazy! I pull them out by hand, smooth the hole and resow.
(That's why my lawn looks a mess.. err no it's the moles..)
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I use effective stuff called 'Glysophate' over here. There are quite a few weedkillers on the French market that don't seem to be allowed anywhere else, you won't be surprised to hear.
Last week I noticed that Lidl was selling weedburners again - €19.99 for a pushbutton-igniting version with a cylinder of gas mix included. I was tempted but decided to just buy a couple of spare gas cylinders at half the hardware store price for my existing Lidl weedburner, now in it's 12th season of service.
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>>
I use effective stuff called 'Glysophate' over here>>
It seems to be the main type of weedkiller available these days - it is effective.
You don't seem able to buy the weed/bugs killers that were once available other than in small spray bottle form and, apart from the fact that quite a lot is wasted, they are expensive.
Fortunately we have a discount range of stores in my area known as B and M and I bought a one litre spray bottle of Resolva for £2.97 yesterday from our local store - much cheaper than the £5 or more at Tesco and other outlets.
Where does Zero recommend getting Resolva to use in diluted form? Means that the 5L spray bottle I bought some years ago would once again be of use..:-)
Mind you, Jeyes Fluid can also prove very effective on patios and paving/flag stones and, again, is much cheaper at B and M or Wilkinsons. I paid £5.99 per litre can last year.
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>>Mind you, Jeyes Fluid can also prove very effective on patios and paving/flag stones and, again, is much cheaper at B and M or Wilkinsons. I paid £5.99 per litre can last year.<<
I found that Jeyes Fluid worked well around the patio and flag stones once I had removed the few existing weeds, after which no more sprouted that year. It didn't seem very effective, though, at killing established weeds.
It's good for keeping the wheelie bins fresh, and it's much cheaper in Wilkinson's than in Sainsbury's.
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Jeyes is also very effective at killing off the green algae or whatever it's called on paving/flagstones, especially on the rough surface types; these paving/flagstones can prove very slippy when wet otherwise.
It's not intended as a weedkiller though; specific types of products are intended for that purpose.
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>>It's not intended as a weedkiller though;
You are quite right; there is no mention of its weed killing ability on the tin.
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>> >>It's not intended as a weedkiller though;
>>
>> You are quite right; there is no mention of its weed killing ability on the
>> tin.
>>
It would have to pass (expensive) tests if it had......
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>> >>It's not intended as a weedkiller though;
>>
>> You are quite right; there is no mention of its weed killing ability on the
>> tin.
>>
Jeyes Fluid has similar ingredients to Armillatox. Both products have weed-killing properties, but European legislation prevents them from being advertised as such without prohibitively expensive testing. www.armillatox.com/
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>>Jeyes Fluid has similar ingredients to Armillatox. Both products have weed-killing properties, but European legislation prevents them from being advertised as such without prohibitively expensive testing. www.armillatox.com/>>
But if it killed weeds as well as the green algae, I wouldn't need to buy Resolva or similar..:-)
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>> ........... I bought a one litre spray bottle of Resolva .......
I've used Revolva on weeds and it's not long before they're shot!
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With quick draw McGraw, the weeds hit the floor!
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Jeyes Fluid is toxic to animals
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>> Jeyes Fluid is toxic to animals
>>
Jeyes Fluid recommends its use for cleaning the abodes of pets and animals, and I've no doubt they've researched the matter.
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>>Jeyes Fluid is toxic to animals>>
Once the area or pets' housing given Jeyes Fluid treatment has dried and is well ventilated, it is quite safe for their use; however, pets such as cats should be kept away whilst the treatment is being applied.
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The reason I posted is that I took this claim up with an animal protection outfit, probably Cats Protection, which was horrfied and said they would get on to Jeyes to stop it. I don't know what the current claim is.
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I know that this isn't about weedkillers, but you may find that some of your preferred insecticides will have been missing from the selves, seems that there are three well used chemicals that may cause issues with the bee population so some garden centres have voluntarily decided to remove them.
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I don't garden, so perhaps that's why I don't like weedkiller, even on paths and drives. I like moss between stones, clover, daisies, speedwell and so on on lawns, primroses all over the place not just in flowerbeds. Something natural and intrusive to soften and subvert all the sadistic gardeners' military discipline (I don't mean herself who has good taste and is a thoughtful gardener, I just mean gardeners in general).
Sorry to go on about this, but the back lawn trimmed yesterday isn't too bad for something brought on a lorry a few months ago, but there are some yellowish bits. Looks to me as if it needs some grass food and artificial watering... of course the huge amounts of rain earlier were a mixed blessing really. Perhaps some ornamental weed and clover seeds can be surreptitiously added at the same time. It'll look a bit better in a year or so provided the damn moles don't come back.
In fact I do feel a bit sadistic towards moles although they mean no harm. Perhaps the rural undertow is turning me into a gardener. I hope no one in London finds out.
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In the nearby woodland which usually has a lot of (English) bluebells in season, we noticed a day or so ago that deer have cropped a lot of the bluebell plants very short. Something to do with the low recent temperatures and shortage of grass perhaps, I wouldn't know really. There were lots of primroses and wood anemones. Deer don't eat those although they scoff daffodils with a will.
We didn't see any deer yesterday although there are lots about. What we did see was an old double mattress dumped on the road verge at the other end of the wood. Made me feel quite nostalgic for Kensal Rise and Notting Dale but I don't think herself was too pleased.
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Too many deer around now - they are becoming a nuisance and destroying crops and young trees. Lots of muntjac around here - found one trapped in the raileings of the security fence around the allotment yesterday. Managed to get the thing out but I suspect it will repay my kindness by eating all my broad beens.
Last edited by: CGNorwich on Sun 28 Apr 13 at 18:01
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>> Too many deer around now - they are becoming a nuisance and destroying crops and
>> young trees. Lots of muntjac around here - found one trapped in the raileings of
>> the security fence around the allotment yesterday. Managed to get the thing out but I
>> suspect it will repay my kindness by eating all my broad beens.
>>
I've been reading about that in your neck of the woods, loads around Thetford forest by all accounts. I know someone who shoots them just over the border in Suffolk. They had a big shoot as well that neck of the woods last year. Hopefully another one this year and I can get some venison again.
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Cute little things aren't they CGN?
Tasty too of course, although you could hardly murder it with your bare hands while it was trapped.
I did shoot a deer once with a 12 bore using largish buckshot. Killed it pretty cleanly spine and head but it went on twitching for ages. I felt so guilty about killing the thing for no really pressing reason that I've never done it again although I have nothing against hunting or blood sports. Just less of a murderer than I used to be. Haven't even assassinated a sitting pheasant for ten years or more.
It's illegal to shoot deer with a shotgun now and may have been even then. Some of the young here have proper licensed rifles which are legal. We sometimes get a bit of venison but not that often.
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"Tasty too of course, although you could hardly murder it with your bare hands while it was trapped. "
It did occur to me that I might have to - I was the only person around and I didn't want to let it die a lingering death. I had a crow bar with me - had been repairing the shed and I suppose a hefty blow would have killed it outright.
The trouble was it kept struggling forward getting even more jammed. I eventually managed to get round the other side of he fence and pushed it back after putting my coat over its head to quieten it down. It ran off so I suppose it was OK.
Funnily enough I was driving back to Norwich through Thetford Forest this afternoon and I saw two recently killed deer in the carriageway. Wouldn't want to hit even a muntjac at 70mph
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>
>> Funnily enough I was driving back to Norwich through Thetford Forest this afternoon and I
>> saw two recently killed deer in the carriageway. Wouldn't want to hit even a muntjac
>> at 70mph
>>
I remember hitting one a few years ago, south of Kings Lynn. Ran full tilt into the nearside wing, quite lucky for me anyway. A few tywraps and a bit fettling and the car was fine. The deer had managed to still wonder off a bit, despite me doing about 50. It was pretty much done for by the time I got there.
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>> Funnily enough I was driving back to Norwich through Thetford Forest this afternoon and I
>> saw two recently killed deer in the carriageway. Wouldn't want to hit even a muntjac
>> at 70mph
Thetford? The likely road kill round there is Aliens from out of space.
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>>I felt so guilty about killing the thing for no really pressing reason that I've never done it again
Same here, about a wild boar. Admittedly, the situation was tense, carbine cocked, safety off. It suddenly appeared, running fast away from me, and I shot it without thinking. Luckily, it was a clean shot through the spine. The boar leapt in the air and must have been dead when it hit the gound. My workers were delighted to get some free meat but I felt terrible just the same. (The terrorists I was anticipating were killed but not then and not by me.)
I had to kill again but I have a clear conscience about despatching a goat with a broken leg, a gibbon ape with an arm wrenched off, a hopelessly diseased and helpless dog (possibly rabid) and my own, badly-wounded dog.
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>> My workers were delighted to get some free meat
Malaya draiber? I remember a recently shot wild boar in Ceylon when I was about 8 or 9, a hot day, several holes in it, already smelling to my innocent nostrils not all that nice.
Of course no one would waste a game animal. My deer was skinned, gralloched and cut up the same night, on a garden table at the end after dark, a lurid painting by Goya or someone... it didn't get wasted.
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>>Malaya draiber?
Yes, mid-Fifties. 4 terrorists were in fact killed near the same spot about the same time, in an ambush led by Police Lieutenant Roy Follows, as described in his book "The Jungle Beat". I saw the vehicle carrying him, his party and the bodies pass below my bungalow.
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Sounds interesting draiber! Ordered from Amazon. Late father was in Malaya twice: latterly stationed in Ipoh working with the Malayan police, even though he was with Intelligence. Suppose there was quite an overlap, but may find out more from the book.
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>>Sounds interesting draiber!
I have a lengthy, partly annotated booklist on Malaya/Malaysia that I can send you, if you let me have an email or geographic address.
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Very kind, thanks. You can use this one: sheridan_waters@icloud.com
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>> Yes, mid-Fifties.
You must be one of the few here who are my age or older. School contemporaries of mine had to do a stint in Malaya hunting 'CTs' during their national service. Fortunately a childhood operation had left me with a hole in my skull so I was unexpectedly excused national service on medical grounds.
In the subsequent mixed feelings, relief slightly exceeded disappointment. Always hated being woken up by a bugle in the middle of the night and ordered about and having to look keen and display OLQs.
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>>Always hated being woken up by a bugle in the middle of the night and ordered about and having to look keen and display OLQs.
There were admittedly some inconveniences about my 3 months of basic training but the remaining 21 months were the idlest, least disciplined and free-est of my life. It was a question of luck with postings and a certain guile. I joined the Education Corps and, instead of Malaya or Korea, I drew a UK Army sanatorium, then passed a pleasant year in Trieste.
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Oh, and later, various civilain jobs including 16 not-so-pleasant years in Malaysia, as a planter.
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>> various civilain jobs including 16 not-so-pleasant years in Malaysia, as a planter.
So yr wild boar episode came from the early years of that job? I can't remember when the country changed its name from Malaya to Malaysia.
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>>So yr wild boar episode came from the early years of that job?
Yes
>>I can't remember when the country changed its name from Malaya to Malaysia.
The name dates from 1963 although independence dates from 1957. The final composition was only decided in 1965. See Wikipedia on the rather complex evolution of the present country.
I expect the OP expects something on weedkilers any time soon...
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>> I expect the OP expects something on weedkilers any time soon...
I was hoping that in the course of our interesting historical digression the Gastropod might slowly come round to the idea of some weeds and moss between his flagstones and on the middle of his driveway.
Gastropods are quite delicate and many of their tender parts are exposed. I doubt if any pesticide is good for them. More lasting damage from weedkiller than from innocent nipppers poking their horns to make them go in, then watching the eyes come smoothly back up the horns as they re-emerge...
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Thanks for the list Frank.
Merdeka. 'Twas ongoing whilst we were in Ipoh! The Chinese (not the CT's though) were apparently rather miffed that the UK forces were likely to be off home: trade down.
I'll shut up now....
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Weedkillers - Crankcase
