Killing Grass

[wdshiver]

Hey guys,

I have another question. How do you kill grass in a selected area. I dont want to dig up the grass but if it is nessersarry (sp?) I guess I will need to. I was thinking along the lines of Round up or something of that sort but as it is a poisonous chemical I don't know what effects it may have on the human and the environment. All i really want to kill is the top layer of grass about 200mm wide for the run in and also for selected areas to dig because it is hard to dig through it and it is just random shit to put in the jumps.

So here is the question

1. How do I kill a small track of grass for a run in?
2. Is round up a sensible thing to use to do this?
3. If I was to need to dig the grass out what would be the easiest way to do so?

..::SHIV::..

 

[Big_Chief]

yeah. that grass sure is a pain.

 

[2 smooth 4 u]

put lots of salt in the area you can do cool stuff like write your name or like name of trails n stuff

 

[wdshiver]

put lots of salt in the area you can do cool stuff like write your name or like name of trails n stuff

How long does it take to rid of the damned stuff?

 

[Jon]

Hot water if available is the best and not toxic,local councils use steam for weed control in sensitive areas.
cheers jon

 

[alpinestar12]

get a shovel and put yer arms into it ya poser!

 

[faith_rider]

Some decent and damn right stupid ideas here:

http://vpfree.pinkbike.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=120579

 

[Goocharlton]

get a shovel and put yer arms into it ya poser!

I like ur style

 

[NH_]

jsut get a rake (sp?) and pull off ya go easiest way

 

[djdom]

burn it?...that way u get to play with fire to yayy..jkn jkn

 

[demo9pro]

Just use round up on it. Make sure that it isnt forecasted to rain for the next 3 days after spraying it. Then after when it does rain, the water will wash it away....

No Harm done...

 

[tinkerbell]

if you can i say lay carpet on it on sun will kill it .
or get a law mower and drop it rite down to the grown.

 

[Atomizer]

The easiest method of killing grass is obviously using any herbicide based on glyphosate ie. Roundup. The only issue here is if there is creek where you will be spraying and the risk of poisoning the waterway, and spraying plants other than grass accidentally.

Another method if don't need to kill of football ground size area of grass is plastic sheeting. In summer you can use clear plastic, pegged down over the grass. One hot day will created enough heat under the plastic to burn the grass. Don't use clear plastic in winter, as this will merely create an ideal micro-climate for the grass to grow more, use black or orange plastic. Pegged down over the grass it blocks what the grass needs to grow; light. Left on for a week or two the grass' chlorophyll with disappear, turning the grass white, and when the grass is exposed to light without it will be killed off pretty quickly.

 

[tinkerbell]

I wouldent use any thing in the way of a grass,weed killer any thing could go wrong . as Atomizer said may end up in a creek or water way.
plus mite end on killing some type of wild life.

 

[Arete]

You all have no idea. I spent a while running a bush regen crew as a job... we used roundup every day in sensitive areas.

If you're worried about environmental damage, use Roundup Biactive. If it rains within 3 hours of application however, it won't kill the grass. If you get it on anything you don't want dead, rub dirt or better yet clay on it, it deactivates the glyphosate. Oh and don;t get it in creeks, drains etc. It's bad for frogs.

Human damage, roundup has no officially known effects on humans, however there is evidence it can disrupt cellular metabolism and there is one report of a man dying after purposely consuming glyphosate. All in all, if you intend to use it once, or infrequently and don't go out of your way to ingest it, I'd say you'd be ok.

here's the MSDS link for Monsanto roundup products:

http://www.mindfully.org/Pesticide/Monsanto-Roundup-MSDS-Docs.htm

Don't spray it near waterways, or just before or after rain and you'll be fine. wear some gloves and a hat... and if this is public land don't even think about it, there's serious trouble to be had for unauthorised use of herbicides on public land.

The plastic idea atomizer suggested sounds good if you're not confident about herbicide. Or if you ride on grass enough, it will die anyway.

 

[arpit]

Would Glyphosate based herbicides harm animals (such as cats) which ate the grass? It doesn't LOOK like it from the MSDSs, but I'd just like to make sure...

Cheers

 

[Pedal monster]

if you have to kill the grass use round up at 10ml/litre. if you want a longer term fix use simazine (active compound atrazine) which will have a residual effect for about 12 months. Be aware that herbicide application on land other than yours is illegal,particularly if the vegetation is native
Best of all, dig it out by hand.