Basically I'd like to know if I can use weed/grass killer -- or ground clear/vegetation killer -- to keep grass from encroaching near a walkway and drive way.

I've trimmed back my grass from my walkway and drive way.

From the walkway -- it's only about a 1/2 inch back -- like a normal edger would trim it back (it's MAYBE an inch in some places)

From my drive way it's trimmed back about an inch and a-half to two inches.

Now that it's trimmed back...can I use a spray stream of weed/grass killer sprayed along the edge of the driveway and walkway -- to keep the grass from growing back into that area.

I do NOT want to kill any more grass back from where it is. I just don't want it to grow into where I've trimmed it from.

If I'm careful not to get any spray on the grass blades can I do this -- use the grass/weed killer?

I don't know how long grass roots are...I wont' kill any of the grass I want to keep will I?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: clbselah,

All of those poisons need to be sprayed on plant material. None work unless they contact plants so if the space has been cleared of vegetation it would be a waste of your money to spray that area now as well as detrimental to the environment.

Because it is such a narrow band of soil you are dealing with, it may be very hard to keep any spray compressed to just that area. Careful spraying with some sort of board or barrier that can be moved along the path of spray would be helpful. Putting a mechanical barrier like an L shaped plastic retainer might possibly be a better option.

The issue with the grass and weed killer is often it still allows other weeds to germinate in the area. There is also a soil sterilizer (works for 6-9 months at an application) We have used it in concrete cracks and under/next to fencing where we did not want to trim. Again careful application on a windless day is necessary.

And if some of the roots that are in the cleared area get hit by the vegetation killer, it will travel & kill the grass it's attached to. Could go in a few more inches.

I DO have the black rubber edging right against the drive way. (The kind that has little side tabs that you stake down, not the kind that goes straight down)

And I'm trying to keep my grass -- especially my crabgrass back from that edging about an inch. Slowly but surely, it just keeps encroaching back.

So one option is another row of some kind of edging to keep the grass away from my......edging

Any other ideas about how to keep it at bay?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: clbselah,

Pre-emergent will keep the crabgrass from germinating if you apply it in the early spring, and depending on your zone, again during the summer.

As Mgt has mentioned, liquid weed killers travel to nearby roots; you cant possibly control the way the liquid would move through the soil.
Why not use the weed whacker by turning it ov4r and cut a line sharply. Grass that is growing too near the walkway, use your hands to pull it out.
The weed whacker can make a very defined space between the grass and the walk and used in this way you can look back with admiration of how it cuts so well.

I've been using a manual -- foot edger -- the kind with the tall handle with a full-sized foot peddle that you step on like a scooter and rock like a half moon as you step along.

But then you have to go back and pull out and pick up the inch strip you've cut back.
Maybe now that I've really trimmed it back good...my landscaper can KEEP it there.

I have to admit, the last time i truly CUT BACK that edge was two years ago.
My landcscpaer TRIMS it with a string edger -- but that doesn't stop the grass from eventually encroaching back into the area.

If you have Quack Grass that will send its Rhizomes down 10 inches, maybe more, to get under any barrier you might put in place, so you need something that will go that deep into the soil.
Spraying poisons repeatedly to control unwanted plant growth is extremely harmful to our environment.

I've got tall fescue -- oh yeah -- and crabgrass like you wouldn't believe.

While I'm asking - what's the best most aggressive crabgrass protocol you'd recommend....spring THROUGH summer.

I have a yard service that does my weed preventer and fertilizer work....5 treatments early spring preventers, then a spring treatment...a summer, late summer and fall...

But I declare every year about this time -- actually by about early sept -- I've got crabgrass like crazy. Sometimes I think if it weren't for crabgrass I'd have no grass at all.

Obviously it's not LITERALLY that bad, and when the lawn is mowed you can't see it.

But every year after my aeration and seeding...you can see that the aeration exposed just how MUCH crabgrass I have....yikes

This is going to sound strange, perhaps, but are you over fertilizing? I can't imagine any lawn needing to be fertilized more than perhaps twice a year, and even then you'd be applying only half the recommended amount at each application. Say, if you need 10 pounds a year for the size of your yard, you'd only apply 5 pounds at the time so as to not overfertilize.

You can purchase just the crab grass preventer (pre-emergent) without the fertilizer too.

Note: Every time the soil is disturbed by aeration, raking, digging, heavy weed whacking...anything that disturbs the soil skin layer...the potentially dormant crabgrass seeds can then germinate.

Most all commercial lawn services apply far too much fertilizer because what they use does not stay in the soil but washes out and into the ground water where it pollutes your drinking water. Most all turf grasses need about 2 pounds of Nitrogen per year to maintain good, healthy growth. Mulch mowing, putting the grass clippings right back into that turf can supply up to 1/2 of that need, cutting the amount of fertilizer needed even more.
Lawns that are fertilized 5 times a growing season are lawns on drugs, unhealthy.

I'll talk to them about exactly what my treatments are and report back here.