Any advice on killing weeds, such as weed killer and a suitable strimmer, please

[6651fcb96c670JDoran]

The house I am now living in has a garden at both the front and back, well,, I say 'garden', but they both mainly consist of stone flags, with parts on the sides that are just soil. And there are a lot of weeds growing between the flags and also of course growing in the open soil parts, and also some long, thick grass that isn't really grass but looks like it (only thicker, and about a foot high). There might be non-weed plants too, but whatever, I want to get rid of all the plant growth, then put down weed killer to prevent more growth for as long as possible.

So I was thinking that I should get a strimmer, is this the best/easiest solution for cutting down the plant-life? What should I look for in a strimmer? And what sort of weed killer should I get (one thing, it MUST be pet friendly, as I have a dog and cat).

Thanks for any answers.

[6651fcb96c8b6Pacmikey]

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[6651fcb96cbf7JosiahJack]

Gas strimmer (call it a weed-eater where I'm from).  I had a cheap rechargable electric one.  I could trim it better wacking it with a stick than that garbage electric Toro one.  There are oldschool manual weedwackers too, sort of like a sideways rake.  Think they might be called grass whips in some places

Salt, rocks, and make sure it drains any water very easily away from any desired no-growth areas (but if you salt it, not drain into areas you do want growth).  If water pools at all after heavy rains, it won't matter what weedkiller you put on it.

Ideally, put down something like a tarp or sheet plastic (thicker is better), then cover in a thin layer of dirt and put the flagstones back on top.  That way any thing that does take root, and it will, will have tiny roots that can't penetrate far so won't get big and that you can yank up.

Counterpoint to the above drainage thing, if you like mossy flagstones, make sure the water can pool.  It should drown out most other things too since all plants need air, they are made of it after all.

Then just plain old yanking them up with your hands, hate to say it.

[6651fcb96cdcfJoin2]

Ever heard of Google bro?

Also gardening lol. That's only for the privileged class of home owners.

[6651fcb96d4aasarge945]

Ever heard of Google bro?

Google will only give AI-written articles presenting no actual information that are designed exclusively to gain clicks.

"Just google it" is so frequently said by people who rarely if ever actually use it to search for useful information. If they did, they would realise how utterly useless it has become in the last 5 years or so.

[6651fcb96d8c8Join2]

Google will only give AI-written articles presenting no actual information that are designed exclusively to gain clicks.

"Just google it" is so frequently said by people who rarely if ever actually use it to search for useful information. If they did, they would realise how utterly useless it has become in the last 5 years or so.

Continues to help me get what I need in most cases. You're telling me if I google "how to kill weeds" or "weed killer tips" I will not in fact find any useful advice?

[6651fcb96dec2RocketMan]

The house I am now living in has a garden at both the front and back, well,, I say 'garden', but they both mainly consist of stone flags, with parts on the sides that are just soil. And there are a lot of weeds growing between the flags and also of course growing in the open soil parts, and also some long, thick grass that isn't really grass but looks like it (only thicker, and about a foot high). There might be non-weed plants too, but whatever, I want to get rid of all the plant growth, then put down weed killer to prevent more growth for as long as possible.

So I was thinking that I should get a strimmer, is this the best/easiest solution for cutting down the plant-life? What should I look for in a strimmer? And what sort of weed killer should I get (one thing, it MUST be pet friendly, as I have a dog and cat).

Thanks for any answers.

The answer is simple.  Buy Killex.  it's the only thing that works.  Just don't get any on you.  It degrades into inert compounds rather quickly so just keep the animals and kids off the lawn for the day and you won't regret it.

For the string trimmer buy a 28cc 2-stroke Husqvarna. 

You won't have need for anything else

[6651fcb96e1d4sarge945]

Continues to help me get what I need in most cases. You're telling me if I google "how to kill weeds" or "weed killer tips" I will not in fact find any useful advice?

Pretty much, yes.

You will find information, and on the surface level it will seem to be useful. It will recommend product X against weed Y, and it might even work.

But you won't find any real information from real people, or anything resembling an actual opinion. It will be from articles summarised by AI or paid-for advertisements.