What's the best way to kill grass and weeds and keep them from growing back?

Question

I'm trying to kill the grass and weeds under my deck and porch steps and keep them from growing back. Left unchecked, they seem to overwhelm everything. Amazing how with limited sunlight they grow better than anything out in the yard.

Answer 1

Brush-be-Gone by Ortho to kill everything Ortho weed-be-gone to kill just the weeds

Answer 2

I would spray Vinegar. Then sprinkle lots of salt. (with salt nothing grows and you can't use that soil anymore to grow anything.)  

Answer 3

I'm not into herbicides and spraying stuff.

I use a scuffle hoe.  It clears the grass and weeds in a matter of minutes.  You can buy one at any hardware store for about $15.  You just scrape it back and forth across the ground and it removes the plants at ground level.  I would then put down some landscape fabric ( weed block ) and cover it with the material of your choosing ( mulch, gravel, etc ).  I opt for mulch since I get it for free from a municipal site nearby.  It looks nice and lasts a long time.

Answer 4

ROUNDUP  

It works. Be careful, though. You want to keep any spray from getting on other plants. Spray real close to weeds. Give it a few days and you will have dead weeds.

Answer 5

Round up.  If you want better results get the super concentrate and mix it up a little stronger than what the bottle says.  

Answer 6

I would suggest putting a small patch of  " BlackTop" over the area you don't want anything to grow. You must realize though, " NOTHING" is going to stop it. This is a natural process of the planet and no matter what " Man" constructs, shapes, or modifies..given enough time and natural forces will tear it down and bring it back to the unmodified state. This is why everything we have changed to suit us must be maintained on a regular basis.

For you, you can only slow down the growth for a time then it must be maintained again or the natural forces will allow growth to continue as it did before that modification was in place.

Blacktop, Cement, or any other means can slow it down for a few years at its best - then you'll have to redo it again to continue to prevent grass from growing in that area.

Chemicals will do it but for a much shorter time period, and they may harm the land or other lifeforms in the process.

Cement .. if it comes in contact with wood " Will Rot The Wood Over Time" .. The Romans Learned this in the day of the Roman Empire ( they invented cement).

So if you do lay down cement make sure rain will not cause it to loose particles that will soak into nearby wooden porch post or anything like that ... That cement patch may lead to rotting your post .. replacing your portch, for example.

Just one reason to decide against cement if your have necessary wood nearby.