Tips for Keeping Brick Areas Weed Free

Bricks are beautiful to look at in your outdoor areas. Many people choose to do brick work because it greatly enhances the look of their property, and it might also raise the value. Bricks are also versatile. You can use them for walkways, drive ways, or simple landscaping. You can dig them into the ground to create the right depth and height, and you can layer them to make them more interesting. Not only that, but bricks come in all types of sizes and shapes, as well as colors. All in all, bricks can be an amazing addition to your landscaping. However, it is important that you know how to properly care for them. Keeping them clean and in good shape is one thing - but keeping those brick areas free of weeds is another all together.

Weeds can ruin a good brick area in less than a couple of days. Bricks are susceptible to weeds because of the way that they naturally fit together, with cracks between them. The cracks are perfect areas for weeds to grow, and if your brick work is tightly put together as it should be, the cracks are much too small for you to pull out root structures once they've gotten a hold. You can spend each day snapping off the weeds as you see them, but as long as those roots are down there you are in for some trouble. Luckily, there are several things that you can do to keep your brick areas weed free for as long as you have them.

Start Fresh

The first and most important thing that you can do to keep your brick areas weed free is to start from the beginning as freshly as possible. Before you put your bricks into the ground, there are a few things that you can do to insure a lesser chance of weeds. The first thing to do is to scrape the area clean of all vegetation before you put the bricks down. Clearly mark the areas you would like them to be, and then clear out everything that is growing underneath them.

After you have a clear dirt area in which to put your bricks, don't put them down quite yet. There are still a couple of things that you should do. The first thing that you should do is to treat the area with a weed killer, which will lessen the chances of weeds appearing later on. There are many kinds that you can use - both chemical and organic - to prevent weeds from even getting started.

Next, you need to lay down a layer of plastic between the ground and your bricks. You should pack this down as tightly as possible, and remember that the point is to get rid of all vegetation under the bricks. You want to have the plastic down as close to the ground and into the dirt as possible, so that there is no room for air or moisture to get to the dirt underneath the plastic. Your plastic should be exactly where you want your brickwork to go, and should be fastened into the ground. Try using old tent pegs, or something else to keep the plastic as flat as possible.

After you have done this preparatory work, you can lay down your brick work. You should be able to lay them very close together and should be able to see a vast change in the amount of weeds that will come up.

Sometimes, however, you can do all of this prep work beforehand and still have weeds to deal with. Or, it might be that you have purchased the house after the brick work was laid, and do not wish to dig it up to put down plastic. Perhaps you even laid the bricks yourself, but for whatever reason were not able to put down plastic to start with. If you have a brick area that constantly has weeds, there are still some things that you can do about it.

First and foremost, you are going to need a good weed killer. The reason that many weed killers don't work on bricks is that they don't kill the roots and the weed continues to grow. Therefore, you should be purchasing a weed killer that will work on the roots and that will kill the weeds completely. Also, you should be sure that you are treating the areas as often as is recommended to prevent re-growth.

Another way that you can keep weeds from returning to brick work is to limit the amount of moisture that the brick work gets. If you can help it, do not water the bricks or the areas that are done with brick. This will also help with weeds.

All in all, the best way to rid your brick areas of weeds is constant care and attention.