Managing a gravel drive

[dannydan]

Hi all,
Anyone have some good tips for maintaining a gravel driveway? Mine gives me fits - and I'd rather spend the $4000-5000 on toys than a paving job.
The edges get all over the place, I am sick of buying RoundUp to kill the grass/weeds. I do have a nice Kubota to help keep it up, but the gravel just tends to spread again, getting all in the grass, etc.
Also, does anyone have a recipe for some home made RoundUp? That stuff seems to me overpriced.
Any thoughts would be welcome....
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[gsganzer]

I have the same problem with my driveway. I run a box blade down it to level and define the edges. I still have to spray some roundup. You're right, the stuff is too darned expensive. I've been using a similar product manufactured by Bayer. It's a little cheaper. The patent has run out on Monsanto's Roundup, so there's some cheaper brands coming out. The best thing I've found for the driveway is road base. Here in Texas it's ground up limestone (Called 1/2" base). It packs almost like concrete, but will get a little spongy after a lot of rain. It's a little dusty too. I spread some dry concrete mix with a drop spreader and it helps bind up all the fines.

The other key is keeping a crown to prevent standing puddles. The puddles lead to pot holes. If you can keep the water from pooling then you've won half the battle.

[Hakim]

RE: Roundup. Here is a link to Gardenweb which has a thread on Roundup -- said to be available as generic at WalMart for around $6 a gallon. Plus they have formulas to make it yourself.

All About Roundup on the Cheap

[Fishman]

Glyphosate has got to be one of the cheapest chemicals out there right now. Get the generic 41-53% in at least a gallon size and you will be set for a while. Four ounces in a 2 gallon sprayer is a good mix for just about any grass or shrub. Price sounds cheap to me compared to weeding by hand. [img]/forums/images/icons/blush.gif[/img]

Now if you want expensive, check the price of Sonar, a specialty aquatic herbicide I often use in my lake management business. Costs me almost $1,500 per gallon. [img]/forums/images/icons/shocked.gif[/img]