Avoid spraying on windy days as this will increase the likelihood of ingestion as well as reduce the amount of product that is absorbed on the leaf. If you spot bad weather on the horizon, stop what you’re doing and wait for dry weather. Protect wildlife ROUNDUP® Fast Action Ready To Use Weedkiller degrades naturally in soil leaving no residue, meaning you can start replanting in just 7 days. How to use Residual weed killers: These weed killers target the soil and kill weeds as they’re absorbed through the roots. They’re effective and long-lasting, but their awesome power comes at a price, hanging around in your garden and affecting the soil quality and future plant growth. The person working there was actually very knowledgeable, and he smiled when I told him this before asking me if I’d watered the weeds a little before spraying. Of course, I told him that I hadn’t as I wanted the things dead, not growing and thriving! With the testing out of the way – let’s take a look at what I learned. I put together a buyers guide based on my testing and years of experience that should help you considerably. What you need to know before using weed killer

There are also products out there called weed and feed, and these are usually good for lawns as they are a mix of chemicals that can kill weeds but also fertilise your lawn, giving you the best of both worlds. The effectiveness of these kinds of products does vary quite a lot from brand to brand, so watch what you spend your money on. Possible problems with weed killers These weed killers are also lethal to bees – it peturbs their gut. For that reason using weed killer in Winter has its merits if you can find a dry spell. The bees won’t be about to be harmed. I am quite serious about preventing bee population decline and written on the matter extensively. For this reason, where possible, I would ask you to consider a weed burner or if generaly weeding, a weed puller or a hoe first. Ideal time to apply weed killer

Keep children and pets out of treated areas until the product has dried. Do no re-use empty bottle. Product ingredients Weed killers are products that are used by gardeners and farmers to get rid of, and control the growth and spread of, unwanted plants, better known as weeds. In terms of active herbicide the Resolva weed killer uses it’s the old it goes for the old mecoprop-p and dicamba combo. Here’s the safety sheet if you’re interested but there’s nothing out the ordinary – safety wise: respiratory kit, don’t get it on your hands and definitely not in your eyes – with regards to wildlife, you don’t want this going anywhere near your pond or water sources like all the other weed killers. Generally you can use these product damp but it’s not worth it and you need to think about protecting wildlife and the environment. If you’re going to do it then do it right is where we need to be. This also means don’t clean your drive or patio prior either if you intend to use weed killer. The healthier the weed, the better these systemic weed killers actually work because healthy leaves absorb more toxin basically.

It’s pretty easy to use – just drop 15ml per 5 litres of water if applying with a watering can – personally I like to use a garden sprayer so the ratio changes to 15ml per litre – as far as I’m concerned, more water and dilution means less MCPA and Fluroxypyr that settles on the leaves. I have to say though, the watering can method is less vapour so probably a bit better in terms of safety: According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, glyphosate is safe for human health, however, some homeowners prefer less aggressive alternatives or natural solutions like botanic oils. For example, pelargonic acid works well on small seedling broadleaf weeds but is not efficient in cold weather. So where I wasn’t quite as liberal with the Roundup I did have a problem though – moral of the story is really douse this in weed killer: I missed a patch of RoundUp or didn’t spray enough – a little concerning though What better way to test the best and strongest weed killers in the UK by literally lining them up against each other, applying them on the same weeds, (in rows) following the manufacturer guidelines in terms of how much weed killer should be used. We want to work out value too since I know all these work well. Here’s the tests I did: We’ve got three very different products. The easiest is Roundup. This is just a pump and go sprayer – premixed and ready to use. And so dictates how we will use the other weed killers too for a fair test.You need to be very careful to make sure these weed killers don’t make their way into your pond. Killing your fish and aquatic life is a real possibility. It’s scientifically proven to cause embryonic development failure to aquatic life. So please be careful about allowing weed killers to run into water sources. It’s a 5-litre bottle so heavy enough to know it’s there. I wouldn’t say it’s too heavy though and it has an integral handle with finger grips for easy portability.

The same rules apply in terms of application – make sure you don’t let any get into water (ponds specifically) and do wear your respiratory equipment, especially if you’re using a garden sprayer. Obviously when a product claims to be fast acting within 48 hours you naturally assume finished, so can be a little disappointing. Never fear, it’ll work alright! From my experience, it works really well on both annual and perennial weeds. It’s particularly effective against your normal problems like stinging nettles, dandelions, and even hardier thistle. With the deep rooted weeds you’ll find they take longer to die off, don’t lose faith. Glyphosate is an incredibly powerful chemical and does it’s job well. This is a premixed formula, so you can use it straight from the bottle. The sprayer comes with an extendable wand and a one-touch trigger system. Here’s another great weed killer. This time it’s an offering from Weedol. I am going to go right off the bat and say this is an incredible product in testing. He then explained that we had recently just had a particularly dry spell for the last few weeks, and that the weeds would be reacting to drought and this can make them less likely to absorb the weed killer. Therefore, giving them a light watering for a day or two before applying the weed killer should help.The Weedol tubes treat 30m2 each and are designed to go into one litre of water – so we will load 2 litres and two tubes: Two tubes of Weedol into a couple of litres of water For the Roundup things are much more straightforward being a ready mix weed killer however they are very vague about coverage so I worked this out to be about 1.5-2 litres needed. Roundup– going to use 2 litres max in this test based on 60m2 And two months later there was literally nothing left. I have to say I was very impressed by gallup and how well it performed. Pound for pound it was hard to beat: I went home and followed his advice, and wouldn’t you know it, this time it worked wonders. So, if ever you’re having problems getting a product to work as expected, keep my little story in mind. You don’t want to apply weed killer in wet conditions as it will be washed away and run off, but you also don’t want to spray in drought conditions without watering the weeds a little first. So let’s say that’s going to be 60m2 per weed killer. I’ve added 36ml of Gallup to 1.5 litres. Following the manufacturer recommended for concentration. Measuring out Gallup concentrate in our test