Photo: Bruce McLean

What kills grass growing in concrete?

A mixture of salt and white vinegar (5 percent acetic acid) spread on pavement will kill most weeds and grasses.

thespruce.com - How to Kill Weeds in Sidewalks, Driveways, and Patios - The Spruce

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Grasses and weeds growing out of pavement cracks in sidewalks, driveways, and patios is a common annoyance. Sometimes it seems as though these unwanted plants grow even better in tiny pavement crevices than they do in the lawn and garden. This defies all logic since pavement surfaces are brutally hot and dry places where you might think that nothing could survive. But not only do these tenacious grasses and weeds survive, but they also seem to positively thrive in this no man's land of blistering hot pavement. And because of this genetic tenacity, grasses and broadleaf weeds that sprout up through the cracks in the pavement are very hard to control. It is easy enough to pluck the top off at pavement level or sever them with a string trimmer, but unless you extract or kill the entire root, the plant often simply sprouts up again. The reality is that pavement weed control is an ongoing landscaping maintenance task for homeowners, but the work is easier if you have a variety of workable strategies to choose from.

When to Kill Pavement Weeds

You can stay on top of weed control by devoting a bit of time to the job each week. Many homeowners like to conclude weekly mowing or garden work with a few minutes spent plucking or killing the weeds that sprout out the pavement cracks around the landscape. You will quickly recognize that various weeds have their favorite seasons, and are vulnerable to different control methods. The damp spring might be best suited to plucking weeds by hand, while during the dry months of late summer, chemical herbicides might be the better strategy.

Before Getting Started

Successful weed control begins with knowing your foe's likes and dislikes and habits. In their own way, weeds are marvels of genetic evolution. Driveway and sidewalk cracks turn out to be surprisingly friendly places for weeds. These cracks can hold a considerable amount of soil and organic matter, a perfect bed for grass and weed seeds, which are often very tiny. And just below the surface of the paving there is often trapped moisture that can be accessed by any plant that sends its roots down below the slab. Some grasses and weeds thrive in the heat. Crabgrass, for instance, is a warm-season annual grass that thrives in driveway and patio cracks. Its seeds are very tiny and can penetrate the smallest cracks. Quackgrass is even more diabolical because it is a perennial weed that can survive even if just small pieces of root remain beneath the slab. If the exposed portion of the grass is removed, a new shoot will pop up in no time at all. In cold weather, a dark-colored asphalt driveway absorbs sunlight and keeps the soil beneath warmer than the surrounding landscape. Some grasses and weeds can easily tolerate the salts in ice-melt products. Fescue, for instance, is a cool-season grass that is somewhat salt-tolerant and might have a good chance of surviving through the winter in a driveway. Sedge is a grass relative that tends to stay green in winter. And then there are the cold-happy weeds such as chickweed that seem to scoff at temperatures at which other plants have long disappeared. In other words, the weeds and grasses that thrive in pavement cracks do so because they are genetically well adapted to the conditions created by concrete, brick, or asphalt paving. It will take repeated efforts using a variety of methods to control these invasive super plants.

1:39 Click Play to Learn How to Get Rid of Weeds

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