How to clear thick grass overgrowing a paved driveway
Grass and turf invading the edges of a paved surface create a dense mat that is extremely tedious to pull up by hand. This stubborn overgrowth hides feet of usable driveway space and requires heavy-duty manual or mechanical edging to fully reclaim.
What the numbers show
Counted from the threads quoted below. How we count
- The most recent one is from October 2026.
- This comes up 18.1× more often in r/Landscaping than across the site as a whole.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1Using a machete to clear large amountsDid this help you?
- 2Mowing low or using a weed trimmer to rough up the waxy leaves before spraying herbicideDid this help you?
- 3Raking after the ivy dies and dries out, then burning or sheet mulchingDid this help you?
- 4Raking the debris onto a tarp to fold up and moveDid this help you?
- 5Using a borrowed leaf blower to clear the clippingsDid this help you?
- 6Lightly dethatching with a rake and reseedingDid this help you?
- 7Waiting for the dead layer to eventually rot into the soil over timeDid this help you?
- 8weed whacking 2-3 times a yearDid this help you?
- 9spraying with roundup once a yearDid this help you?
- 10using weed torchesDid this help you?
- 11pulling weeds by the root a few days after sprayingDid this help you?
- 12covering it with a layer of soil and planting grassDid this help you?
- 13Using barrens weed killer and soil sterilantsDid this help you?
- 14Using a propane torch for residual vegetationDid this help you?
- 15Covering the lot with soil to simplify maintenanceDid this help you?
- 16Covering beds with cardboard and fall leaves over the winterDid this help you?
- 17Digging out weeds manually by the rootDid this help you?
- 18Spraying targeted herbicides like sedge hammer for nutsedgeDid this help you?
- 19Spraying Roundup, waiting a few days, and raking out dead weedsDid this help you?
- 20pulling them by handDid this help you?
- 21spraying weed killer like RoundupDid this help you?
- 22putting cardboard down or a tarp to kill themDid this help you?
- 23Watering edges manually with a hose daily or every other dayDid this help you?
- 24Installing soaker hoses around foundations during droughtsDid this help you?
- 25Amending soil with peat moss to retain moisture and lower pHDid this help you?
- 26Replacing turf near walls and fences with rock bordersDid this help you?
- 27Shoveling directly into a wheelbarrow using brute forceDid this help you?
- 28Building a quick screen out of 2x4s and hardware cloth to sift the gravel and dirt mixDid this help you?
- 29Leveling the area and spraying with weed killer instead of removing the rocksDid this help you?
- 30Raking the edges and putting dirt right on top of the gravelDid this help you?
- 31Using a scarifier to pull up dead grass and rootsDid this help you?
- 32Renting a rototiller to churn up the soil and rake out leftover rootsDid this help you?
- 33Renting a small skid steerDid this help you?
- 34Applying vegetation killer and waiting up to a full year before seedingDid this help you?
- 35Adding a fresh layer of gravel.Did this help you?
- 36Mixing fast-acting and long-lasting chemical herbicides.Did this help you?
- 37Burning the weeds with a gas-powered torch.Did this help you?
- 38Regrading the gravel surface every few years.Did this help you?
- 39Spraying dissolved calcium chloride ice melter on the gravel.Did this help you?
- 40Raking away fallen leaves to remove nutrient sources.Did this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“I’ve been pulling them by hand and trying to get the roots, but there are so many that it’s taking forever.”source ↗
“I recently bought a home in the Dallas area, and I'm not sure if what I'm seeing in my lawn is normal for this heat. The first picture shows the side of my house, and the second shows the fence line on that same side. The grass there is. I water 3–4 times a week with the sprinkler system. Is this just heat stress, or something I should treat?”source ↗
“I’m completely renovating and changing a my front yard to tall fescue. I bought decent seed from Lawn Synergy and I’m removing 50 years of a mix of grasses which is mostly Bermuda.”source ↗
“I was hoping my scarifier would get most of the roots and grass out but it’s not enough. I don’t want to half ass this, and then end up with part fescue and part Bermuda.”source ↗
“I also don’t have a ton of money. If I did I’d rent a small skid steer but I don’t have the budget for that.”source ↗
“I THEN tried to mulch it up, and all that happened was a thick layer of dead grass that makes my mower cut out when I try to cut the new grass growing through.”source ↗
“I can't mulch it up, it won't pick up into a lawnmower bag by mowing, and when I try to rake it (it's a big enough area) all that happens is everything gets pulled up..”source ↗
“I’ve just been pulling them by hand but it's going to take me a couple days to pull them all up and theres small patches of grass too.”source ↗
“It’s dead. Like dead dead. But I would go ballistic if all this work meant that I eventually saw ANY of that Bermuda and crab grass come back.”source ↗
“I pulled all the weeds by hand trying to get as much of the root as possible. Now I want to pull the gravel and level the dirt, its all in mounds and looks terrible.”source ↗
“What's my options? Just dig it up and hose it off? Or doing it by hand which would take forever?”source ↗
“I have about a half acre mat of dense English ivy in my yard.”source ↗
“I tried pulling up sections but it’s very tedious.”source ↗
“Its totally overgrown now, and since we own it we will need to maintain it.”source ↗
“Can we expect our maintenance company to mow this stuff? Can you weed wack an entire frickin lot? Or do we need to look at covering it with soil to make it easier to maintain?”source ↗
“Its totally overgrown now, and since we own it we will need to maintain it.”source ↗
“Can we expect our maintenance company to mow this stuff? Can you weed wack an entire frickin lot? Or do we need to look at covering it with soil to make it easier to maintain?”source ↗
“Honestly, I battled a similar mess two summers ago and the back pain still haunts me.”source ↗
“When GroundClear stops working, it's time for another layer of gravel. In this situation rn.”source ↗
“We tried the torch and that was fun, but it didn't last long at all and it cost a tank of gas.”source ↗
“I have not found any way to keep them from returning and I have not read anything online about that being possible.”source ↗
“I have a ton of grass and weeds starting to grow up in my gravel driveway.”source ↗
“Currently living in a townhouse and recently discovered that we are missing out on about three feet of driveway space that is completely covered in grass. Wondering what the best way to tackle removing this would be.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 4How to clear stiltgrass from a large wooded area
- 4Are deep lawn edges along sidewalks dangerous?
- 8Do I need to check my lawn for debris before mowing?
- 6How to fix yard grading under existing paving stones
- 11How to clear poison ivy and deep roots without digging up the whole yard
- 112How to get rid of creeping weeds without breaking roots