Are weed burners any use?

debs64

Hi all, hoping for unbiased opinions here. I have block paving which was recently jet washed and Re-sanded and already the weeds have returned.

I don’t want to use weed killer as I try to be as environmentally friendly as possible. What do people think about these electric weed burners that I have seen for sale? Are they any good?
is it worth buying an expensive one or are the cheaper ones(£20-£30) any use? 

Pete.8

I have no personal experience of them but I know a couple of people who have used them.
They report that they are good at killing annual weeds, but they do not kill perennial weeds - they just burn off the top growth leaving the roots intact, and a few days later new shoots appear.

robairdmacraignil

Only used the gas fired burners on my parent's driveway and they are good at just killing off the young new growth and if done regularly I think it stops the weeds getting decent roots established so they regrow too fast. They are just to boil the plant tops rather than incinerate them and I found my parents had started a fire when I went to park in their drive one morning when they left some weeds smouldering overnight near a fence that could have caught fire if I had not got a bucket of water as soon as I saw the issue. I think I read that less than a second exposure to the flame is enough to kill most weeds so they are much quicker that manual weeding. For things with established roots in paving I found a tool similar to this one very effective.

Happy gardening!

Palustris

I use a Gas flame gun on the weeds in our gravel drive. Kills everything except Liverwort and Pearlwort. But then neither does weedkiller or Mosskiller.

I did set the ivy on a hedge on fire once though.

Ladybird4

Debs, I have a gas flame gun too and it does just kill off top growth of weeds on my block paved drive.

debs64

It’s so disheartening to be out there all the time they come overnight. Thinking a gadget may persuade fiancé to get involved. 

The ones I have seen are electric no actual flame just heat? 

pinut

I haven't tried a weed burner.

I use a cordless 36v Makita line strimmer for the exact same purpose. The machine can be tilted to attack weeds from many different angles.

Just remember not to bump the strimmer head on hard surfaces.

I have also seen garden maintenance people use a combination of a small head weeding hoe and a barbecue wire brush attached onto the end on a broom stick.

Nanny Beach

Bought hubby an electric one it's useless. He's now got a gas one. Our patio is 30 by 36. He took the whole lot up,re laid,grouted joints,we still get weeds, hence the burner. He's happy with it, got it in Lidl. The drive he does with a proper long handled wire brush. Neighbour just cuts the tops off with a strimmer,makes the dandies grow even faster,Chelsea chop for weeds!

gjautos

We've got a plug in one. No idea of the make but was a cheap one from b&q. I find it good, only use it on the drive but we just hold it on the weed for a few seconds and it seems to kill them off. Much better than using weedkiller imo and saves on painful knees and back!

pinut

@ Nanny Beach

Tell your neighbour to orientate the strimmer head so that it spins in the vertical plane (like a circular saw) so that it can clean along the grooves inbetween the blocks.

Granted this will not kill off deep rooted dandelion tap roots but they do not come back any faster than any other weed if you do it right.