Overgrown towpaths and moorings, blind bends by overgrowth.

[GUMPY]

Can somebody suggest a good way of keeping my paths free of weeds as apart from Glyphosate I can't find anything that works.

 

[Jerra]

39 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

The point is that DEFA (as of August 2020 article) say they have not issued any derogations, but you are suggesting they have.

No I am saying they do when put under enough pressure.  Environmental issues should not/cannot be allowed to be controlled by vested interests.

[BWM]

13 minutes ago, john.k said:

Roundup is neutralized by contact with soil....and its approved by the Brisbane City Council for resident use on  weed and grass controll without any restictions.

No its not, Roundup is broken down in the presence of sunlight but the process is slowed to a near standstill in water - fairly obvious really when you consider the substance is generally diluted in water...

[Alan de Enfield]

33 minutes ago, Jerra said:

No I am saying they do when put under enough pressure.  Environmental issues should not/cannot be allowed to be controlled by vested interests.

 

 

What you actually said was :

 

"I suspect you are thinking of neonicotinoids which this wonderful government keeps giving "temporary" licences to..." 

 

Which, according to DEFRA is an incorrect statement.

 

Trying to widen it out to 'environmental issues' does not change what you actually wrote.

[Jerra]

37 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

 

What you actually said was :

 

"I suspect you are thinking of neonicotinoids which this wonderful government keeps giving "temporary" licences to..." 

 

Which, according to DEFRA is an incorrect statement.

 

Trying to widen it out to 'environmental issues' does not change what you actually wrote.

Which it does just they don't happen to have given recently.  Not too difficult to understand.   Had they completely banned neonics I would have not been able to say that.

[MartinC]

1 hour ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

The point is that DEFA (as of August 2020 article) say they have not issued any derogations, but you are suggesting they have.

 

Both sides of the coin ! March 2022 DEFRA statement:

 

"After careful consideration of all the issues, the government has decided to grant an application for emergency authorisation to allow use of a product containing the neonicotinoid thiamethoxam for the treatment of sugar beet seed in 2021. This is in recognition of the potential danger posed to the 2021 crop from beet yellows virus.

During 2021, however, sugar beet seeds were not treated with thiamethoxam. The government attached various conditions to the emergency authorisation. The final decision was dependent on the results of a forecast of virus levels in the 2021 sugar beet crop. This forecast, produced on 1 March, predicted that 8.37 % of the national sugar beet area would be affected by virus yellows by the end of August 2021. This figure was substantially reduced as a consequence of the low winter temperatures. As a result it was below the 9% threshold set for use of the thiamethoxam product."

[Tracy D'arth]

1 hour ago, john.k said:

Roundup is neutralized by contact with soil....and its approved by the Brisbane City Council for resident use on  weed and grass controll without any restictions.

Oh, West Island its good so it must be OK, silly British folk worrying about death.

[Stroudwater1]

I’m confused here, Isn’t Glyphosate a herbicide for killing pesky weeds, and neonicatinoids a chemical pesticide killing pests- insects that sadly affect bees in their life cycle being insects? I think some countries term herbicides pesticides to confuse as certain plants are pests!
 

I didn’t think Glyphosate did anything to insects, can someone show me where that is? 

 

The US Environment agency have just concluded that Glyphosate is NOT cancer causing. As a risk averse culture I suspect that the USEPA would be most cautious in its assessment 

 

https://www.epa.gov/ingredients-used-pesticide-products/glyphosate

 

I wouldn’t support glyphosate being used generally on a towpath but it is about the only way to control certain weeds such as perennial thistles, couch grass, bindweed and other deep rooted perennials. 

[Jerra]

2 minutes ago, Tracy D'arth said:

Oh, West Island its good so it must be OK, silly British folk worrying about death.

It would appear the "neutralises when it hits the ground" isn't quite correct.  It has a half life of between 7 and 60 days depending on the soil, it binds to clay particles and can last up to a year and in sandy soil it can leach out into ground water.

[Jerra]

14 minutes ago, Stroudwater1 said:

I’m confused here, Isn’t Glyphosate a herbicide for killing pesky weeds, and neonicatinoids a chemical pesticide killing pests- insects that sadly affect bees in their life cycle being insects? I think some countries term herbicides pesticides to confuse as certain plants are pests!
 

I didn’t think Glyphosate did anything to insects, can someone show me where that is? 

 

The US Environment agency have just concluded that Glyphosate is NOT cancer causing. As a risk averse culture I suspect that the USEPA would be most cautious in its assessment 

 

https://www.epa.gov/ingredients-used-pesticide-products/glyphosate

 

I wouldn’t support glyphosate being used generally on a towpath but it is about the only way to control certain weeds such as perennial thistles, couch grass, bindweed and other deep rooted perennials. 

From a paper about Glyphosate:

 

Glyphosate-containing herbicides are used to control plants considered to be weeds, or to clear vegetation. But other plants, animals, invertebrates (e.g. insects) and micro-organisms may also be exposed to glyphosate-containing herbicides:  when glyphosate is being sprayed, for example insects flying through;  from eating treated crops, (See Below) or by eating prey that has been feeding on treated crops (or of course weeds that have been treated);  from herbicide spray that has been blown by wind onto field margins, or into wild habitats next to a treated area;  from glyphosate applied to rural or urban areas that has been washed by the rain into groundwater, streams, rivers and coastal waters;  from glyphosate spray that has fallen onto the soil, moved through plants to their roots, or been incorporated into the soil when a treated plant dies.

 

N.B.  In some countries GM crops are grown which aren't damaged by Glyphosate so crops can be sprayed to allow killing of weeds between rows.

[LadyG]

3 hours ago, john.k said:

Keeping up with current grass overgrown in my backyard is more like it.......all nicley brown this week......glyphosate is proved harmless over a very  long period.......just because Roche  got their asses kicked  by the crooked US legal system , hokey evidence is dreamed up by lawyers and crooked experts .........someday the whole US system will collapse under the weight of fraud being supported by the insurance industry

I can assure you that glycophosphate is a not harmless, I have used it in aerosols is spray,  for gardening, and felt ill the next day. I continued to use it as it is useful, but I put it in a watering can.

It's a mainstay of modern arable farming.

I would not be surprised if spray operators who spend days spraying were affected by cancers , very difficult to prove.

Edited July 15, 2022 by LadyG

[Midnight]

7 hours ago, Loddon said:

Can somebody suggest a good way of keeping my paths free of weeds as apart from Glyphosate I can't find anything that works.

 

Paraquat?

[MtB]

2 minutes ago, Midnight said:

Paraquat?

 

A goat... 

[Midnight]

3 minutes ago, MtB said:

 

A goat... 

No that was Billy

[Paul C]

7 hours ago, Loddon said:

Can somebody suggest a good way of keeping my paths free of weeds as apart from Glyphosate I can't find anything that works.

 

 

Use weed control fabric installed properly (at the appropriate depth), if/when the few weeds do come through, keep on top of weeding them. My driveway is weed-free after over a year.

[Alan de Enfield]

10 minutes ago, MtB said:

 

A goat... 

 

Are you a Troll ?

[GUMPY]

10 minutes ago, Paul C said:

 

Use weed control fabric installed properly (at the appropriate depth), if/when the few weeds do come through, keep on top of weeding them. My driveway is weed-free after over a year.

Paths have been down since 1987 l'm not lifting them to lay fabric.

Might look for some Agent Orange

[LadyG]

2 minutes ago, Loddon said:

Paths have been down since 1987 l'm not lifting them to lay fabric.

Might look for some Agent Orange

You can buy a small flamethrower.

[Paul C]

5 minutes ago, Loddon said:

Paths have been down since 1987 l'm not lifting them to lay fabric.

Might look for some Agent Orange

 

Yeah....if they've been down that long, there is not much hope. You can't buy the decent strength weedkillers retail nowadays. Maybe a gardening contractor can take the job on and get the proper stuff.

 

Or a paving contractor re-does it if you don't want to lift stuff yourself.

[GUMPY]

20 minutes ago, Paul C said:

 

 

 

Or a paving contractor re-does it if you don't want to lift stuff yourself.

I didn't win the lottery tonight 🤭

[George and Dragon]

9 hours ago, Loddon said:

Can somebody suggest a good way of keeping my paths free of weeds as apart from Glyphosate I can't find anything that works.

 

Sodium chlorate.

[Stroudwater1]

6 hours ago, LadyG said:

I can assure you that glycophosphate is a not harmless, I have used it in aerosols is spray,  for gardening, and felt ill the next day. I continued to use it as it is useful, but I put it in a watering can.

It's a mainstay of modern arable farming.

I would not be surprised if spray operators who spend days spraying were affected by cancers , very difficult to prove.

 

Perhaps something else caused you to feel ill the next day?  The  the US Environment agency have just cleared it, its not that difficult to prove an occupational link with cancer, theres quite a lot over the years from Azo dyes asbestos coal mining  to tar that are proven. 

 

 

9 hours ago, Loddon said:

Can somebody suggest a good way of keeping my paths free of weeds as apart from Glyphosate I can't find anything that works.

 

There isnt anything, other than black polythene or the fabric-  keep on with glyphosate as usual. 

 

8 hours ago, Jerra said:

From a paper about Glyphosate:

 

Glyphosate-containing herbicides are used to control plants considered to be weeds, or to clear vegetation. But other plants, animals, invertebrates (e.g. insects) and micro-organisms may also be exposed to glyphosate-containing herbicides:  when glyphosate is being sprayed, for example insects flying through;  from eating treated crops, (See Below) or by eating prey that has been feeding on treated crops (or of course weeds that have been treated);  from herbicide spray that has been blown by wind onto field margins, or into wild habitats next to a treated area;  from glyphosate applied to rural or urban areas that has been washed by the rain into groundwater, streams, rivers and coastal waters;  from glyphosate spray that has fallen onto the soil, moved through plants to their roots, or been incorporated into the soil when a treated plant dies.

 

N.B.  In some countries GM crops are grown which aren't damaged by Glyphosate so crops can be sprayed to allow killing of weeds between rows.

 

Indeed, though that paper you quote doesnt mention harm just that inevitably some organisms will get sprayed. Perhaps its somewhere else on the paper, it isnt designed as a pesticide as we term them. 

 

Perhaps if Glyphosate wasn't linked with Monsanto of GM food claim things would be less edgy with it? 

[john.k]

 just had 20l of the new high strength Glypho delivered ,and as a bonus they are giving away a bottle of Associate with each purchase.....Ive found a sprinkle of Associate in each 50 l tank of spray keeps the weeds at bay for 12 months.

[Idle Days]

18 hours ago, Loddon said:

Can somebody suggest a good way of keeping my paths free of weeds as apart from Glyphosate I can't find anything that works.

 

Flame thrower.

Edited July 16, 2022 by Idle Days
link added.

[Rambling Boater]

15 hours ago, Jerra said:

From a paper about Glyphosate:

 

Glyphosate-containing herbicides are used to control plants considered to be weeds, or to clear vegetation.

Seems to be a contradiction in the first sentence. 'Vegetation' includes non weeds. Anyway the definition of a weed is an unwanted plant, that's subjective.

 

Many 'weeds' are very nutritious with health benefits, well until they are poisoned.

 

If I have to moor up next to long grass and weeds, I cut it with shears.