This a good idea to stop weeds coming thru landscape stones?

[rockie12_us]

We have a brick patio with a perimeter pebble stones in a 2 foot wide area, which we have tried weed fabric, plastic etc to keep weeds at bay, but nothing works.

So I thought what if we take the stones out and put down a 2 inch layer of quikcrete that will be down from the top of the patio by an inch. Then putting the stones back on top of the stones once the concrete hardens.

I will put drains in the concrete to keep water drainage.

We live on Ohio, so there is the freezing and thawing to worry about with the concrete heaving

What does this sound like to keep the weed away?

Thanks in advance
Dean-O

[MountainMamma]

I'm not an expert but I would think it would depend on what you are planting and how deep their roots grow. If its something that has a shallow root depth I'd think that the method would work. However have you ever tried layering newspaper I have found it to work a lot better than the fabric. Just my thoughts excited to see what other people think. Good Luck!!

[rockie12_us]

We don't plan on planting anything in this stone area. See image

[MountainMamma]

I think that it would be a good idea if you don't plan on planting anything. Would definitely keep weeds out. Your patio is gorgeous love the pavers. A woman I work with did something similar but she used pea gravel then got larger stones to dress it up and she has had great success with that.

[rockie12_us]

I plan to put drainage pipes in the concrete too shed water away from under the stones too. I will post pics as I do this.

[Dillbert]

odds are, a two inch thick 'slab' will crack and break up with the frost heave, then the weeds / grass grows through the cracks.

if you do go ahead with that plan, the idea of doing it "wet" ie mixed Quickcrete may be problematic.
getting the finish smooth and level enough to lay pavers directly on the concrete is not going to be easy.
an option is to tamp the Quickcrete in dry and immediately lay the pavers on the dry mix. it will eventually absorb water and turn to concrete.

in my hardscape the stupid weeds blow / fall in the cracks between the pavers and sprout.

[rockie12_us]

I do not plan on putting pavers over the quikcrete. I plan on putting the tan pebbles back

[*dim*]

just spray with roundup whenever weeds appear .... it may be your cheapest (and most effective) solution

[watermelonpunch]

Isn't there a certain depth of stones that would completely inhibit anything growing through them?

I don't know much about this... but my idea would be that it just needs to be thicker & deeper with stones.

[RamonaGS]

Deeper stones works to a point, but after awhile soil settles into them, and weeds start to grow again. And I have had trouble with Round Up, because it works for other people, but for some reason it doesn't work for me. What works for me to kill weeds and keeps them away for a good long time is white vinegar mixed with as much salt as it can take, and you spray it on the weed and soak it in the ground. But that is only something you want to use if you plan on growing NOTHING there for a good long while.

[watermelonpunch]

Deeper stones works to a point, but after awhile soil settles into them, and weeds start to grow again. And I have had trouble with Round Up, because it works for other people, but for some reason it doesn't work for me. What works for me to kill weeds and keeps them away for a good long time is white vinegar mixed with as much salt as it can take, and you spray it on the weed and soak it in the ground. But that is only something you want to use if you plan on growing NOTHING there for a good long while.

@ RamonaGS

Will a vinegar & salt mixture work to stop weeds & grass growing up through old cracked sidewalk & where old sidewalk meets old pavement, and would it be harmful to the pavement?

I ask because I wound up in this thread and others looking for a way to remove an abundance of weeds in a situation like this... without having to dig & wind up crumbling more of the sidewalk in the process.

The places I have a problem with are within inches to 1-1/2 feet from flowerbeds, lawn, or nice bushes.
I want the weeds GONE from the cracks, but don't want anything that's going to bleed into the lawn, bushes, or flowerbeds.

I don't want to use commercial chemical herbicides, mainly because I'm concerned they might be ineffective because these areas get run off from the neighbor who has professional treatments of their lawn & landscape regularly... so I suspect they have a tolerance from getting weak treatments.
That's how it works right? Acclimating them to poison over generations. I'm assuming that's how they bred round-up impervious vegetable crops on purpose - by exposing them a little at a time, and breeding the ones that were able to survive more & more of it.
What's more I would need something capable of killing grass - because that's also growing there... and probably boosted by low levels of the neighbor's grass fertilizer!!

I'm assuming salt & vinegar would work because it's a broad plant life killer, rather than a chemical targeting only certain plants?
Sounds perfect for a place you don't want anything to grow. But how often do you have to do it?
How sparingly must it be used to be effected but not bleed into other areas or be damaging?

[RamonaGS]

My mother has used the salt an vinegar on weeds and grass growing up through cracks in her patio and sidewalk, and it worked to kill the weeds, but the bricks and concrete/cement were fine. As far as killing anything that close to flowers and plants you want to save, I'm not sure if the salt and vinegar would not bleed into the soil of the beds you want to grow. The closest I have used it to something like that was about 6-7 inches away from the red honeysuckle bushes, and they were very large, about 7-8 feet tall. How long the weed killing lasts depends on a couple of things. The mixture creates a hostile environment in the soil for plants, as I'm sure you understand, so depending on how much water an area gets, and how exposed it is to those types of conditions is how long it can take for weeds to grow back. In mom's patio, where the cracks were treated, it has lasted about 8 months in a USDA zone 8 area, but in rock beds where the area is more open and exposed I've had it last about 5-6 months in the same area. It also depends on how much you soak the area. Since I treated an area that I was trying to keep plants out completely, and was not near anything that I wanted to grow, I soaked it pretty well, but you may not be able to do the same if it's within inches of lawn and flowers you want to keep. I hope that helps Watermelon. All I can speak from are my own experience, LOL

[tomf]

If it was me I would do the put in drainage, and put some pavers down that would look nice with what you have. this would meke your patio larger, having the rocks is just space you can't use.