Hi there I've tried searching forums and haven't been able to find anything that answers my query so any help would be much appreciated.....
I've moved into a house with a back yard, which is a mess, with buddleja and allsorts growing through cracked concrete surfacing that slopes towards the house. I've checked other yards on the street and they all slope towards the houses so probably stuck with that. Also, the DPC is about 2inches above the concrete, which seems a bit low.
We want to do something with it and are considering block paving. Main concerns are:
1) Retaining it - I don't want to break out the concrete in case I hit any pipes etc... to put in haunching. Is this something that would HAVE to be done? I'm thinking of a gravel margin against existing house walls, so would need some way of retaining the block paving.
2) Existing plants - tried spraying them with round-up three times over the last 8 weeks but they're still growing (albeit with some burned leaves). Does anyone have suggestions for getting rid?
3) What services would you typically find under a yard? Lead pipes and things? I don't want to damage anything.
Many thanks for any help!!
Cheers
Block paving yard - How easy is it to pave over a yard?
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steve r
- Site Admin
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Best start off looking at the main site web site here : - http://www.pavingexpert.com/pavguide.htm
Steve Rogers
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Grace
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Hi Grinu,
if you have burnt leaves on your plants after spraying with systemic herbicide you have likely oversprayed. The way a systemic (or translocated) herbicide works is that the plant must be actively growing to absorb the chemical, and continue to grow whilst the chemical moves down to the roots where it inhibits the uptake of nutrients via the roothairs.
What you want to see is - absolutely no effect on the plant whatsoever for about three weeks, then one day you get up and the leaves have flopped over (in response to the fact that it has nothing to eat basically) and then let it keel over and die.
Spray it on at exactly the right ratio - too much and you will burn the leaves, they then will be unable to absorb the chemical and take it down into the roots. On average it can take around three weeks for the effects.
The 'quick' weedkillers, eg weedol, are completely different, they are 'contact' weedkillers and just kill the growth it touches. Hope this helps. Follow the instructions on the package to the letter, and it will work. Do not use up spray by spraying a plant twice just because it is in the can.
If I had a weedy spot, I would spec that the area is sprayed at least twice with three week interval between each spray.
You may yet be lucky with your 3 x in 8 weeks - check for the effect I mentioned.
Best of luck,
if you have burnt leaves on your plants after spraying with systemic herbicide you have likely oversprayed. The way a systemic (or translocated) herbicide works is that the plant must be actively growing to absorb the chemical, and continue to grow whilst the chemical moves down to the roots where it inhibits the uptake of nutrients via the roothairs.
What you want to see is - absolutely no effect on the plant whatsoever for about three weeks, then one day you get up and the leaves have flopped over (in response to the fact that it has nothing to eat basically) and then let it keel over and die.
Spray it on at exactly the right ratio - too much and you will burn the leaves, they then will be unable to absorb the chemical and take it down into the roots. On average it can take around three weeks for the effects.
The 'quick' weedkillers, eg weedol, are completely different, they are 'contact' weedkillers and just kill the growth it touches. Hope this helps. Follow the instructions on the package to the letter, and it will work. Do not use up spray by spraying a plant twice just because it is in the can.
If I had a weedy spot, I would spec that the area is sprayed at least twice with three week interval between each spray.
You may yet be lucky with your 3 x in 8 weeks - check for the effect I mentioned.
Best of luck,
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Tony McC
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I'm impressed with Grace's answer regarding the weedkiller: There's a lot of stuff there that's useful to know.
Turning to the paving, given that the existing concrete is only 50mm below DPC, I'd much, much prefer to rip out the existing concrete and start again. Not only is the concrete cracked and weed-infested, it's too high and gravel drains or linear channels laid against the house are only likely to attract the attention of a surveyor if you ever came to sell or re-mortgage the property.
You really shouldn't encounter any services if you do rip out the concrete. Any lecky or gas pipes are usually a good 12-18" (300-450mm) below ground level, drains are usually deeper than that and any water services should be at least 750-900mm deep. If you were to come across any services during excavation work, then it's no big deal to get them reduced to the correct level where they'll be better protected than they are presently.
Laying over the existing concrete is a temporary fix. It'll look good for a while, but it's structurally dubious and unlikely to last anywhere near as long as it should. Breaking out concrete is hard work, but it's money well-spent when you take the longer view.
Turning to the paving, given that the existing concrete is only 50mm below DPC, I'd much, much prefer to rip out the existing concrete and start again. Not only is the concrete cracked and weed-infested, it's too high and gravel drains or linear channels laid against the house are only likely to attract the attention of a surveyor if you ever came to sell or re-mortgage the property.
You really shouldn't encounter any services if you do rip out the concrete. Any lecky or gas pipes are usually a good 12-18" (300-450mm) below ground level, drains are usually deeper than that and any water services should be at least 750-900mm deep. If you were to come across any services during excavation work, then it's no big deal to get them reduced to the correct level where they'll be better protected than they are presently.
Laying over the existing concrete is a temporary fix. It'll look good for a while, but it's structurally dubious and unlikely to last anywhere near as long as it should. Breaking out concrete is hard work, but it's money well-spent when you take the longer view.
Site Agent - Pavingexpert
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Ambrose
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Hello,
For your weed and shrubs (buddleia) problems. I would personally use a high dosage of 'sodium chlorate' usually mixed 1kg - 5 gallon of water, this costs around £1.90 upwards for a 1kg tub, easily available to the public. another tip would be to actually poor it on instead of spraying as this will need to soak through to the soil to kill the roots of whatever you have growing there.
its very cheap and effective, although it does take quite a few weeks to react. A warning though - it will kill all the shrubs and plants that are in ats path. its not dangerous to people or animals though as its mainly 'salt.'
hope this helps.
have you thought of bedding the retaining block paving in with cement ant then working upwards from ther? laying the rest above the bedded in ones onto the usual sand should be fine. - its worked for me in the past.
For your weed and shrubs (buddleia) problems. I would personally use a high dosage of 'sodium chlorate' usually mixed 1kg - 5 gallon of water, this costs around £1.90 upwards for a 1kg tub, easily available to the public. another tip would be to actually poor it on instead of spraying as this will need to soak through to the soil to kill the roots of whatever you have growing there.
its very cheap and effective, although it does take quite a few weeks to react. A warning though - it will kill all the shrubs and plants that are in ats path. its not dangerous to people or animals though as its mainly 'salt.'
hope this helps.
have you thought of bedding the retaining block paving in with cement ant then working upwards from ther? laying the rest above the bedded in ones onto the usual sand should be fine. - its worked for me in the past.
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Ambrose
- Posts: 44
- Joined: Thu Mar 10, 2005 7:50 pm
- Location: North West, Â Manchester
ooops, sorry there,
id miss read part of your message - going through it again regarding the damp proofing etc, i would highly reccomend against the last part of my message about bedding them in on mortar. it has worked for me on various occasions but still it would be best removing the concrete.
As for the sodium chlorate, it does work. after youve dug out the concrete - if you do decide to do that, use it on the bear ground before you begin laying your blocks. - it should help prevent future problems.
id miss read part of your message - going through it again regarding the damp proofing etc, i would highly reccomend against the last part of my message about bedding them in on mortar. it has worked for me on various occasions but still it would be best removing the concrete.
As for the sodium chlorate, it does work. after youve dug out the concrete - if you do decide to do that, use it on the bear ground before you begin laying your blocks. - it should help prevent future problems.