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 people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1Using a machete to clear large amounts
- 2Mowing low or using a weed trimmer to rough up the waxy leaves before spraying herbicide
- 3Raking after the ivy dies and dries out, then burning or sheet mulching
- 4Raking the debris onto a tarp to fold up and move
- 5Using a borrowed leaf blower to clear the clippings
- 6Lightly dethatching with a rake and reseeding
- 7Waiting for the dead layer to eventually rot into the soil over time
- 8weed whacking 2-3 times a year
- 9spraying with roundup once a year
- 10using weed torches
- 11pulling weeds by the root a few days after spraying
- 12covering it with a layer of soil and planting grass
- 13Using barrens weed killer and soil sterilants
- 14Using a propane torch for residual vegetation
- 15Covering the lot with soil to simplify maintenance
In their words
Unedited, most upvoted first, each linked to the thread it came from.
“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 ↗
“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 ↗
“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
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- 6How to handle a massive amount of autumn leaves on a big lawn
- 2Cracked polymeric sand and weeds in a new paver patio
- 2How to prep a weed and mulch area for laying sod