Weeds + cement driveway = annoying. Help?

Question

My house has a driveway made up of big 8-to-10-foot square concrete slabs. Between these big "tiles" of concrete, weeds like to grow (of course). I know a weed-killer like Round-Up is obviously one solution to dealing with them, but that seems to be a solution you have to keep doing repeatedly, every season or whatever.

My question is, is there a more permanent way to prevent weeds from ever growing between the slabs - like filling the seams, or would that, for some reason, be a bad idea or look like crap? Should they be left as they are so that the driveway has room to expand and shift? What product would I buy to fill the seams?

Answer 1

From my experience, nothing kills permanently. But items like Spectracide Season Plus total vegetation killer will kill everything it touches and in the soil for an entire year. That is 10 months more than the Round up.

Answer 2

I read (I don't remember where) that you can pour hot vinegar on the weeds and it will kill them. It's not permanent.

A groundcover plant like creeping thyme is nice, but make sure it's super tough so it can be driven over and doesn't mind the hot-cold-water-running-off aspects of a driveway. You can try sealer--if the driveway needs to expand, it'll do its thing. Some look better than others, but they usually look kinda shiny and goopy. You could pour sand between the cracks, or gravel if the cracks are really wide. Kill the weeds first, remove the dead matter, then pour in the filler material.

Answer 3

Why not kill the weeds and plant dwarf thyme? It won't look like crap, will smell good when crushed and will keep excess water and weeds from making cracks larger.

You can certainly use a rubber sealant to fill cracks in, just ask at your local home center. I personally thing that will look crappy, but beauty is in the eye of the beholder...

Answer 4

My father poured bleach on weeds in cracks in the sidewalk. Try it on a spot. It works. They do not grow back.